Laughing Waters

This has very little to do with π or even square roots, although I must admit to a lame idea of taking a photo of nine or ten apples in the snow arranged in the shape of π and blogging about apple π. Or even nine or ten miniature apple pies arranged in the shape of π, and blogging about apple pie π. Instead I went for a walk over in Minneapolis to see the falls in the mantle of snow, and perhaps to find a metaphor to use here. The falls were just dribbling water over the edge. We've seen that before. But, because the creek which feeds the falls is also very low, I decided to try to get close to the statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, his Dakotah bride. I managed to ford the stream walking on stones. Up close I found there is actually an inscription at the base of the statue:

Over wide and rushing rivers
In his arms he bore the maiden;
               -The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hiawatha and Minnehaha statue at the big park in Minneapolis next to Minnehaha Creek.
 

A side view not often seen of the famous statue.

The creek named for the Dakotah maiden just upstream from the statue is still flowing. You can readily see how how low the stream is. We are still officially in drought in Minnesota.

I spend some time walking around in the park, not wogging, just walking. I decided to stay on the upper level today. The stairs down to the lower level are closed, or at least there are signs that say they are closed, but the human footsteps on the stairs say that very few folk are paying attention.  Just us senior citizens.

I guess that the falls can serve as a metaphor for the fiscal cliff that our government is wrestling with.

Minnehaha apparently means "laughing waters."