Nicollet Island
When the temperature is near zero (F) and windchill is subzero, it's not really a good time for a photography stroll. But I did anyway. *laugh* I received an email about a group heading out to roam Nicollet Island as the full moon rose, so of course I couldn't resist that kind of opportunity. We had 3 people knowledgeable about the local lore who served as tour guides during the walk. I didn't know anyone there, but I still learned a few fun facts about the island. The sights were beautiful too.
Nicollet Island hosts the only falls on the entire length of the Mississippi River. It's only about 50 feet total, but it's still an impressive fact. The local natives didn't live on the island but they did visit it frequently. Some would arrive to tap the trees for syrup, but women would go there at childbirth as well.
I've long thought that noisy babies are a HUGE liability when you want to avoid predatory animals or other humans. Apparently the natives agreed and found a solution to the problem. The women would use the noise from the rapids near the falls to cover for the noisy infants. The women would stay there until they had taught the infants to remain silent (by covering their nose and mouth), then they could return and join the rest of the tribe.
It was terribly cold out there, and I was shivering so much that I ruined several photos. The two daytime photos were taken early on, so I wasn't shaking so much then. The last one would have been beautiful, with the full moon shining in the background, but... the shaking caused the whole thing to blur. *sigh*
The main falls were further downstream, so I couldn't see them. Here's an upstream human-crafted section of the falls.
With the river surface flowing so quickly along the falls area, there's not a lot of ice here like in other parts of the river I've seen this winter.
That blur above the skyline is actually the rising moon rather than another bright city light.
Nicollet Island hosts the only falls on the entire length of the Mississippi River. It's only about 50 feet total, but it's still an impressive fact. The local natives didn't live on the island but they did visit it frequently. Some would arrive to tap the trees for syrup, but women would go there at childbirth as well.
I've long thought that noisy babies are a HUGE liability when you want to avoid predatory animals or other humans. Apparently the natives agreed and found a solution to the problem. The women would use the noise from the rapids near the falls to cover for the noisy infants. The women would stay there until they had taught the infants to remain silent (by covering their nose and mouth), then they could return and join the rest of the tribe.
It was terribly cold out there, and I was shivering so much that I ruined several photos. The two daytime photos were taken early on, so I wasn't shaking so much then. The last one would have been beautiful, with the full moon shining in the background, but... the shaking caused the whole thing to blur. *sigh*
The main falls were further downstream, so I couldn't see them. Here's an upstream human-crafted section of the falls.
With the river surface flowing so quickly along the falls area, there's not a lot of ice here like in other parts of the river I've seen this winter.
That blur above the skyline is actually the rising moon rather than another bright city light.