Photos of the river’s many moods
The river's face is ever changing. It can be mirror-like on still days, reflecting whatever is nearby--clouds, trees, photographers. On a windy day, white-caps roll and churn and roil the water. Objects below the surface send ripples to the top, subtle expressions that reveal potential hazards to those who can interpret their language. As the sun crosses up and over
In Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain wrote "one cannot see too many summer sunrises on the Mississippi." I'm not much of a morning person, so I don't have the breadth of experience to judge the quality of sunrises, but I have seen my share of sunsets along the Mississippi. They aren't too bad, either. As
Ice can begin to set in by November in the shallow backwaters of the Upper Mississippi and stick around until April. During those months, the ice can look remarkably different from place to place and day to day, as it is shaped and reshaped by wind, thawing and freezing, the river's current, and other forces. The photos
Fog can envelop the Mississippi Valley any time of year, but there's something especially magical about those fall mornings when the air is colder than the water and wisps of mist drift up from the river. Those are the mornings I reach for a heavy jacket, fill my thermos with fresh coffee, and pick a spot to
Places along the Mississippi from Quad Cities south to northern Missouri experienced near-record flood levels in the summer of 2008.
