Mississippi River Archives - Page 2 of 3

Gettin’ My Fix

May 16, 2014 by Gayle Harper 3 Comments

Hello!!

I’ve missed you! Things in Serendipity-land have been fun and exciting, although sometimes keeping up with it feels a bit like trying to drink from a fire hose! It is time, however, to stop and catch up with my friends!

First, the book is coming along wonderfully! The copyedit is finished and we are moving into layout and design, choosing a photo for the cover and diving into a thousand other decisions and details. I’m SO thankful for the amazing team of experts working on this. We expect to have books in your hands by the fall!

From Soupy to Shiny

January 10, 2014 by Gayle Harper 24 Comments

Effigy Mounds National Monument is a fascinating and sacred place along the Upper Mississippi in a beautifully rugged region of northeast Iowa. The earthen mounds protected here by the National Park Service were built by prehistoric American Indian people between 800 and 1200 years ago. Some of the mounds are burial sites, while others are believed to be ceremonial, but many mysteries remain.

Click!

November 21, 2013 by Gayle Harper 16 Comments

At precisely the perfect time, while up to my eyeballs in alligators during the Kickstarter campaign, Cathy Dondanville, a reader and a friend who I had not yet met, invited me to visit her home overlooking the Mississippi. Knowing that it would be the perfect way to recharge before the next busy phase of this project, I gratefully accepted.

Cathy’s home in the quiet farming community of Calhoun County, Illinois, is best reached by ferry as it sits on a sort of peninsula between the Illinois and the Mississippi Rivers. She is a fabulous cook and a gracious hostess – AND this is her backyard!

Sleeping in Opulence: Roadtripping with a Raindrop Moment #10

September 3, 2013 by Gayle Harper 6 Comments

Two things about this journey come together to keep me arriving in every new place as a blank slate. The first is that each day is so completely absorbing that it never allows time to look ahead to what is coming next. The second is that because all of my lodging arrangements were made by others, the incredible variety of places I have stayed has been a constant surprise.

Tsunami on the Mississippi River? Roadtripping with a Raindrop Moment #9

August 26, 2013 by Gayle Harper 4 Comments

I slept like the dead after my first jam-packed day in Memphis and I’m coming back to life slowly. The city below my hotel room window is still fast asleep, but I have an early date with the River and the friend of a friend.

Yesterday, at the end of a laugh-filled and surprise-filled day, my new buddy Diana Threadgill (who will be another day’s tale), suddenly said, “Oh my gosh! You have got to meet my friend, Joe Royer! I am calling him right now!” Then, quicker than I could say, “Serendipity,” Joe and I had made a plan to meet early this morning to get out on the Mississippi River in his sea kayak.

Roadtripping With a Raindrop: Moment #4 – The Storm

July 10, 2013 by Gayle Harper 10 Comments

NOTE: If you’re just joining us, this is the 4^th installment in a series of “Moments,” selected at random from the “journey of a raindrop,” the road trip of a lifetime. I’m a travel photographer and writer in love with the Mississippi River, so when I learned that it takes a single drop of water 90 days to travel the entire Mississippi River from its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, I knew that I would make this journey. For 90 days, I kept pace with my imaginary raindrop, wandering back roads, meeting amazing people and having days filled with crazy, wonderful, serendipitous experiences. As the book of photographs and tales is being produced, I’m sharing these travel moments with you here. I hope you enjoy!

Judy with the Golden Throat: Roadtripping With a Raindrop Moment #2

June 28, 2013 by Gayle Harper 8 Comments

Bulbous, heavy clouds split wide open yesterday, just after I climbed down from Randy Rivere’s tractor and left his sugar cane field. (ah, but that’s a story I’ll save for another day…) In the 24 hours since then, it has poured unabated, in a way that makes you forget that sunshine ever existed. Thunder builds again in the distance, rolling toward me, flattening the air as it comes, until it presses down on my little cottage. I huddle into my jacket and cradle a cup of dark chicory coffee, inhaling its woody scent. Enormous, shimmering leaves reach onto the porch and flap in the wind like elephant’s ears, while everything else dances like a scene from Fantasia.

Hazel With the Green Shoes: Roadtripping With A Raindrop Moment #1

June 20, 2013 by Gayle Harper 12 Comments

Note: This is the first installment of the Series “Roadtripping With a Raindrop,” highlighting moments from my travels along the Mississippi River, right through the heart of America. Many of these are from the “raindrop journey,” a 90-day road trip keeping pace with a raindrop as it traverses the nearly 2,500 miles of Mississippi River from the headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Some will be included in the upcoming book of tales and photographs from that adventure and some will only be shared right here. I’ll introduce you to some of the amazing people I met, take you inside some unique cultures and lifestyles and share some crazy, serendipitous adventures as well as some of the life lessons that the River offers. Don’t miss a single Moment – If you haven’t already done so, you can sign up to be notified when a new post appears in the box below. Off we go!

Roadtripping With a Raindrop

June 14, 2013 by Gayle Harper 2 Comments

An email came in a few days ago from Gary Lindberg. No bells were rung at first by his name, but he reminded me that we had met beneath the 3^rd Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis while I was on my raindrop journey following the Mississippi River. It took just a minute of trolling through my memories to come up with the sparkly blue Saturday afternoon in September that we met. It was Day 19 of the 90-day journey (90 days because that is how long it takes a single drop of water to make the trip) – and I had spent the morning strolling through a Farmer’s Market and touring downtown Minneapolis on a Segway (great fun!).

FOR OUR FATHERS

June 7, 2013 by Gayle Harper 10 Comments

In the midst of all the memories that have crumbled and faded with the years, a few stand like crystals, perfectly preserved and shining like the moment they were created. One of mine is the first time I saw the Mississippi River. I was nine and the oldest of three squirming around the back seat of our blue and white DeSoto. “Sit up, kids, and look out the windows,” said my Dad, “we are about to cross the Mississippi River.” I sat up on my knees as the high iron bridge rumbled beneath us and when I could see that enormous expanse of murky water spreading below, it felt like the world just stopped. When we finally reached the other side and were deposited into a different state, I spun around to watch it go and then exploded into a dozen questions, all trying to be asked at once. Where does it go? Where did it come from? How far is that? Why is it that color? Can we go closer and see it? Dad did his best to answer and then said, “OK, listen carefully and I will teach you to spell its name.”

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