Conveyor belts from grain elevators to load river barges
There are a lot of corn farms around here. They truck their harvest to the grain elevators here and then the grain is delivered by conveyor belt to waiting river barges.
Often, when I’m not overburdened by house repairs, or evicting varmints from the house, or wrestling with the jungle of rapidly growing plants around my house, I think that I live in a veritable paradise. I awake to a cacophony of bird calls so loud and diverse that I think I’m living in a jungle. By day, my house is filled with the scent of fragrant magnolia flowers; extraordinarily colorful birds and squirrels frolic on the grass; cats and dogs lounge on porches, occasionally chasing a bird or squirrel for fun; kids ride their skateboards in the street, sometimes launching themselves off my elevated front porch (which I don’t encourage – liability concerns ...). Or one might see kids riding their bicycles down the boat ramp right into the river! Or one might see kids racing a four wheel ATV down the street, or riding in the back of a pickup truck. Oddly, this sort of behavior reminds me of my own carefree and free childhood. The fact that I notice it here underscores the fact that I don’t see this sort of freewheeling play among kids in California anymore. Come nightfall, I watch the fireflies winking on and off outside my window, and go to sleep to the sound of crickets madly chirping in the night.
Today (13-May-07) I carried my kayak down the river for a couple of hours of serene paddling on the Mississippi River. Since I don’t have a truck, I have to carry my ten foot long, 30 pound kayak on my shoulder a quarter mile down to the river. It’s not so difficult going down the hill, but coming back up after kayaking for a couple of hours is a bit taxing. For a long time I’ve been thinking about taking my camera out and shooting some photos, so today I finally did so. Here are the results.
It was surprisingly difficult to take these photos. It was windy today and there was a vigorous current. So when I’d stop the kayak, by the time I got the camera out of its plastic bag, the wind and currents had spun me around in the wrong direction or moved me to where I didn’t want to be. Plus, the kayak was bobbing in the slightly choppy water, which you can sort of see in the picture below. As a result of the “rough seas,” several of the photos I took turned out blurry.
I was leery about stopping the kayak anyway, because the other day my plumber related a story about himself and his cousin who were fishing in the river and a snake crawled into their boat, at which point my plumber and his cousin jumped out of the boat. Personally, I think jumping out of the boat and into the river is akin to jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. The river is muddy and opaque and teeming with critters. Every few minutes large fish – I think they're catfish – literally jump out of the water right and left. So who knows what else is lurking in that muddy water. Every time something thuds against my little kayak I recall that scene in the movie “Jaws” in which the clever shark is ramming the boat in the dead of night.
Conveyor belts from grain elevators to load river barges
There are a lot of corn farms around here. They truck their harvest to the grain elevators here
and then the grain is delivered by conveyor belt to waiting river barges.
Looking across the Mississippi river at missouri
This is looking from the mouth of the channel (or harbor) where I kayak across the main part of
the Mississippi River. The trees on the horizon are in Missouri, on the other side of the river. I
haven't had the nerve yet to venture out into the main part of the river. Not only am I concerned
that the current might be too strong to paddle upstream against, but several people have told me
that there are whirlpools in the river.
Tug boats for moving the barges around
The cars in the background are waiting for the ferry to come and take them across the river to
Dorena, Missouri.
And here comes the ferry
Car ferry loading
The cars that were waiting are now loading on to the ferry for the trip to Dorena, Missouri.
It costs $10 to cross the river one way, and $15 for a round trip. Taking the ferry is a most
enjoyable way to cross the river.
The muddy Mississippi
You can see why the river is sometimes called the “Muddy Mississippi.”
Swamp
Just like in the movies, we've got swamps here. Some of them are downright spooky, especially
when you can feel the underside of the kayak scraping things under the water. In the still water
there are bugs that can literally walk on water. They dart across the water, come to a complete
stop on the surface of the water, linger for a few seconds, and then dart off.
More swamps
Another picturesque shot of a swamp. It might look inviting, but I’d sure hate to fall in the
water here.
Wilderness
Kayaking on the river really gives one a sense of being in the wilderness.
More wilderness
Every direction you look is like the pictures above. Swamps and dense woods surround much of
the river. If you fall into the water here, there really isn’t any land to swim to. The trees
you see here are growing in the swamp. I don’t know how far you’d have to swim through these
swamps to find dry land. Several people have warned me about water moccasins in the river, so
there’s more to worry about than just catfish. You really don’t want to fall in here!
Coming in for a landing
This is where I launch and land my kayak.