Flood Plain

It's my first day off from my whirl of tennis playing. After four straight days, I deserved some R&R, I thought, so I decided to have a look at the big river to see if was comparable to the Red River in Fargo. I drove to the north entrance to Hidden Falls Park and found it blocked off from vehicle traffic by the city. Undaunted, I parked on a side street and burned some shoe leather. I was nearly alone in the park, but it didn't seem to be very dangerous. The Mississippi River is running high, not Red River high, but up on the banks and claiming some territory that is usually used for picnicking. [That is the correct spelling of picnicking.] St Paul's city fathers were smart enough to build the city on the bluffs above the flood plain and it seems impossible for the city to ever be inconvenienced by a spring flood. It would require a Lake Agassiz level disaster to even get close. I'm feeling pretty safe.


After about an hour in the flood plain, I climbed the hill by Hidden Falls and headed to Lund's to buy the raw materials for lunch. Incidentally, it is possible to see Hidden Falls this time of year from the entrance road. The tree foliage has yet to close off the view and thus return its status to "hidden."

A photo from yesterday when the Prairie Princess was getting ready for a bike ride. It wasn't purely recreational - she had an errand to run - and she had to borrow Herb's bike helmet, because hers is somewhere near Lake Harriet where she's currently residing. She and Herb congregated near the confluence of the back door and the kitchen bathroom and willingly posed for their tousan. As you can tell from their attire, spring has not permanently sprung here in this part of the tundra.



We are expecting snow again tonight. There are often April snow storms here, notably in early 1980 and 1983 to announce the arrival of Herb and PP to Minnesota. It's still March.