Lent Picture A Day (11): Powers

Lent Picture A Day (9): Place

Colors- Wild and Subtle

A wonderful day last week to get out on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi at Great River Bluffs State Park. Just enjoy.

All Names are Made Up

Last week i posted on the name of the iconic lake that forms the headwaters of the Mississippi River- Lake Itasca. I was reacting to the fact that the name of the lake was "made-up" by the headwaters explorer, Henry Schoolcraft. He came up with the name of the lake from a Latin phrase he put together, veritas (true) + caput (head). He got

ver- ITAS CA- put.

Sure it sounds like a Native American word. But the Ojibwe name for "Lake Itasca" was Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake), according to Wikipedia.

At this time I felt cheated. Itasca was a made-up name. It wasn't it's real name. By that, I meant of course, the Native American name for it.

But as I rode across the lake the next day I realized that in and of itself this body of water has no name. It is just a lake. People give it a name. And who is to say that doing something that's actually kind of unique to give it a name is wrong? What if Schoolcraft had decided to name it after the then President Jackson? Would that have been a better or worse name?

I thought further, then, to the naming of the animals- a job given to Adam and Eve in the Biblical creation story. So if Adam named, for example, a "lion" a "lion," what language did he do it in? Aramaic- Aryeh; Hebrew- ari; Greek- léon; Latin- leō? The name I use in English for that animal isn't its real name?

While I may prefer certain older names to newer ones (Denali vs. Mt. McKinley; Tiadaghton vs. Pine Creek) neither name is right or wrong.  We name the names.

So, I apologize to Henry Schoolcraft for doubting and dissing his name for the lake. The more I came to know it last week, the more I realized that its name is Itasca.

And just for fun, here's Bob Dylan on this topic:

Headwaters

At the Headwaters of the Mississippi:

To trace the history of a river or a raindrop . . . is also to trace the history of the soul, the history of the mind descending and arising in the body. In both, we constantly seek and stumble upon divinity, which like feeding the lake, and the spring becoming a waterfall, feeds, spills, falls, and feeds itself all over again. — (Gretel Ehrlich, Islands, The Universe, Home)

Who Would Have Thought?

Itasca.

The lake that is the headwaters of the Mississippi.

I always assumed that it was a native name.

Wrong. Very wrong.

Believe it or not is comes from a Latin phrase:

Veritas caput.

Let me show you that again:

ver-ITAS CA-put.

Yep. It's a fake name.

Here's the entry from Wikipedia:

The Ojibwe name for "Lake Itasca" was Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake); this was changed by Henry Schoolcraft to "Itasca", coined from a combination of the Latin words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head") though it is sometimes misinterpreted as "true head." It is one of several examples of pseudo-Indian place names created by Schoolcraft.

I am crushed.

A Great Weekend

Spent a four-day weekend in the Twin Cities, doing some fun things. But before we left I had my first gig of the summer with the Rochester Salvation Army, celebrating Donut Day. I stayed calm- and watched a lot of donuts being enjoyed.

Friday evening went to see the movie, Chef. Don't miss it. It is fun and engaging with excellent cinematography of food. It also has a heart-warming story. Nothing radical or revolutionary. Just a very well-done story that makes you feel good.


While at the Guthrie Theater on Saturday we got a good look at the mighty Mississippi. It was tearing across St. Anthony Falls and under the stone arch bridge like there was no tomorrow.

 

Sunday was a baseball day. Too bad the Twins lost, but it was still fun being there in the spring sun. Lots of jumping around, though.

Monday we first went to Como Conservatory. As usual the flowers were magnificent. The second picture below is a Bonsai bougainvillea in bloom. The white wall behind it and the light makes it look like a ceramic model. No, it was as real and as stunning (if not more) than the picture shows.

Finally, a stop at the Mall of America where the GRAMMY Museum of LA has a traveling exhibition of The Beatles. I had to try the guitar with skiffle great Lonnie Donegan and sit at Ringo's drums. Hey, compared to the still living Beatles, I'm still young.

Worth a Listen

Mississippi River at Memphis (pmPilgrim photo)

I keep getting behind on listening to one of the best shows on Public Radio ever since my station dropped it from its Saturday evening time slot. So the other day I put my iPod on and listened over WiFi while working out.

Nick Spitzer and American Routes never disappoints. This one is particularly good, considering my being a water baby and river rat.

It's called Wade in the Water and follows the Mississippi from up north at Lake Itasca all the way to the end in New Orleans. From their web page:

January 8th, 2014 ~ As the muddy Mississippi winds its way past us in New Orleans, we're reminded of the power and place of these waterways in American culture. First, we seek the source of the mighty river at the headwaters in Minnesota. Then listen to stories of steamboat captains, riverboats and rural fisherman. And learn about New Orleans own relation to the river with Tulane professor Richard Campanella. Plus river tales from Captain Doc Hawley, Aaron Neville and Al Green.

As Nick Spitzer said at the intro to the show:

Rivers are a kind of natural and historical bloodstream of American culture and music. They’re sources of life for water and baptism, and death by floods and drownings. Rivers are lazy and romantic, dangerous and polluted.
--Nick Spitzer, American Routes

As usual,Nick ties lots of threads together musically and in interviews. Take the listen.

LINK

From the Old Mill Ruins

Stone Arch Bridge & Old Mill Ruins

Mill City Museum

Minneapolis, MN

August 4, 2013

(Effects added with Gimp)