The strength of any river demands respect. I watch as mankind tries to control the mighty Mississippi by building levees and constructing enormous dams yet when Mother Nature rebels to those restraints, she demonstrates who controls the river’s destiny. Each spring, the residents of Missouri wait patiently for the rains to subside. The rising waters ignore the man-made boundaries as if they are merely lines on paper. Huge trees float precariously through swift waters, quick and silent like an unmanned kayak bound for an unknown destination. Destruction and disappointment follow the repetitious events.
Still, when the waters recede, people return to the flooded neighborhoods to reestablish their stake hold, digging out the wayward mud, repairing broken windows and disinfecting the molded walls that surround their homes, as if they are taking back what is theirs. If river dwellers are nothing else, they are resilient. They seem not to comprehend that control of the flood plains belongs to a force greater than man. Fortunately, man and river coexist for many years with relatively few problems. However, just as certain as the sun rises in the east, when the rains persist for days on end, humans must relinquish control of the land to its natural owner.