Life by the Missipi (or is it the Misi-ziibi?)

 

 

"The River Runs Through It - runs through what? The Twin Cities of course!"

Ha! Bet you thought I forgot how to spell. But no, I am talking about our home town (and home state river), the Mississippi. I once hated that word as it was the bane to many on spelling tests. It had way too many "s" and "p" and "i". It caused many a young youth my age to go down in flames. I could only wish we were asked to spell Ohio instead.

I got recently got spanked by some of my friends by sharing an article about letting the Mississippi River be restored to it's normal course through Minneapolis. Now I will say this - of all the goofy ideas that Mayor Betsy or the Met Council have come up with, I like this one the best. Why? My wife and I love the North Woods and the start of the "Great River".

Why did I get spanked? First off, the cost. It will cost money. How much, I don't know. However, I bet it will be less than the Viking Stadium. Next I like is the safeguard about the Asian Carp. It is felt they cannot run the gauntlet of the rapids. Plus (and this is a big plus), it will attract urban Eagles and other water birds. How cool is that? Finally, it will allow white water rafting in an urban setting. Could be unique in the entire world the way this is setting up. All I know is this - with the lock and dam system shutting down, it is time to "think outside the box". When I saw this idea, I liked it. I mean, I really, really liked it.

One of the questions was raised was about the hydro power. Would it be lost? True, It could be. But the research I have been doing (wind turbines excluded) shows a promising future ahead for power other than hydro (and I am not talking wind). Fossil fuels will be gone long before this decade is.

There is nothing about Minneapolis right now which sets it apart from the ordinary. I know, there are craft beers, the North Loop, the parks and the city lakes. All of which can be duplicated elsewhere. But having a whitewater river running through town? Now we are talking!

My Conservative friends can skewer me on this one, and for that I am sorry. I am a nature guy. The thought of the river returning to its natural state excites me. The thought of our Mill City turning into a Manhattan type city (as with Thrive 2040), does not.

So for now, I will think about how the Frenchmen thought about the River Missipi or the original Ojibwa thought of it as Misi-ziibi. Restoring the land, restoring the waters, restoring the rivers, or maybe even some of the land to its original state is not always a bad thing. The Ojibwa taught us many things about our land, about our water, about our environment. Some of which we could learn from.