October 8, 2023

Every day is different when you live on a river, next to the Great River Road. When people admire the view from our home, we tell them that it’s a piece of art that constantly changes. In January, it is covered with ice, a highway for snowmobiles. Deer cross easily from the islands to the shore in search of food. It’s not quite as plentiful at this time of year, but they usually can find enough twigs and leaves to get by. If not, they have been known to nibble on our arborvitaes.

Eagles come by frequently, and can sometimes be seen sitting on the ice eating their catch. We’ve been visited by Sandhill Cranes, turkeys, fox, and stray cats and dogs as well. A few robins stay through the winter, and appreciate the small openings in the ice where they can get a drink. Cedar Waxwings may stop to dine on the hackberries.

The ice usually goes out in March, sometimes taking a few trees, and often leaving scars on the trees along the riverbank. There’s no guarantee that we won’t still get snow, though.

With spring, the river rises, flooding the yard, occasionally washing away docks and boat lifts, as well as other water toys. Most people wait a few weeks to put their boats in just to be sure the river won’t go up again. It’s not uncommon to see entire trees floating down during flood events.

Spring brings many visitors to the river, swans, pelicans, loons, all returning to their summer homes. Beavers are looking for good dam sites; muskrats, otters are fishing, as are the eagles. We are fortunate to have a nesting pair of eagles only a couple of miles from here.

As the weather warms up, people return to the river, with their pontoon boats, deck boats, jet boats, water skis, jet skis, canoes and kayaks. We are frequently entertained with music from the island near our home. I would like to explain to some folks that while we may sometimes like their music, we often don’t, especially when it’s loud enough to hear in the next county. Oh well, it’s a short season, so we put up with it. Most are done by mid-October, but we will see a few die-hards on warm fall days.

Along with the people, there are frogs and turtles, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. There are colorful birds, squirrels, raccoons (who like to eat our raspberries), and deer of course (who consider our flower gardens their personal salad bar.)

One day I even saw dragonflies hatching by the river. The nymphs climbed out of the water onto a warm rock. Then, they started emerging from their shells, head first, looking like small aliens. Next the wings emerged, and soon they were ready to fly. It was fascinating to watch.

Our local river neighborhood has been putting on a Fourth of July fireworks show for quite a few years. We are close enough to enjoy it from our yard. Others on the river begin showing up in their boats after dusk, adding their own lights to the show.

You don’t have to live on the Mississippi River to enjoy the Northern Lights, but you do have to live far enough north. We don’t often get to see them, but when we do, it’s a true delight.

On a daily basis, we experience only a small section of this great river. So much of our nation’s history centers on the Mississippi River, which was a route for many people to begin moving west, especially after the Louisiana Purchase. Many came from Kentucky, Tennessee and surrounding states to find a new home in the new territory, building flatboats to float their possessions down the Ohio River to the Mississippi, then dismantling the boats to build new homes, or wagons for the next phase of their journeys. The Mississippi has also served as a major commercial highway, moving goods up and down, and across the country via its many tributaries. A large part of our country was accessible by tributaries of the Mississippi River.

We hope to learn more about this mighty river on our upcoming Mississippi River cruise, just a few days from now. We have been waiting three years to take this trip, since our first reservation was cancelled due to COVID. We began exploring the Great River Road in anticipation of that earlier cruise, so some of the posts you will read are already three years old! I’ve done my best to update them where appropriate. Enjoy the journey with us!