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.

I Look At Trees From Both Sides

First from one side...

Early sign of spring with

a willow along the

Minnesota River

And then the other.

With the right lighting

the golden colors take on

all kinds of hues at the

Fort Snelling State Park in

Minneapolis.

A Loon in the Gulf

Yes, they migrate all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in spite of being the state bird of Minnesota. They may be the most studied of birds, but very little is known about them in their winter habitat in the Gulf. The other day I was walking along the shore near sunset and out of the corner of my eye I saw the very familiar shape and color of the Common Loon. I turned and he dived under as I have seen many times up north.

No, there's no red eye and the speckled back isn't there yet. The banding looks different, but it is still a loon. I followed him along the beach for a good 20 minutes. I took pictures, he ignored me. The food was far too interesting. He would look at me from time to time but then again maybe he was wondering what this northern-bred and raised human-type person was doing here.

I guess neither of us like the winter we have been having.

But it was good to visit with the loon for a while.

I gave up as he kept at his feeding until sunset.

Another Final Game

Yes, I am a die-hard Green and Gold Packer fan.

But I am also a sports fan who has lived in Minnesota for almost 15 years now.

In fact my daughter and I were at the last Twins game at the Metrodome before they moved to their own cozy comfort of Target Field.

Yesterday was the final Vikings game at the Dome. So we were there for that, too.

Pictures will be coming.

But for today this infographic here on the left was on the Vikings website last week. It is football related, but that was what yesterday was about.

Fare-thee-well old Dome.

I guess the most fun fact on the list (for me, anyway) is that the Dome is the only stadium in the WORLD that has hosted a

..Major League Baseball All-star game
..Baseball World Series (twice)
..NCAA Basketball Final Four (twice)
and a
..NFL Super Bowl

AND,

..the great non-sports related event of over 50,000 sober alcoholics at the 2000 AA World Convention.

More later.

A Place of Remembrance

Remembering and Honoring Memorial

Fort Snelling State Park

Minneapolis, MN

August 5, 2013

The Rushing Waters

“Hark!” she said; “I hear a rushing,
Hear a roaring and a rushing,
Hear the Falls of Minnehaha
Calling to me from a distance!

An April Winter's Day

Back in the midst of January, when all was cold, I looked forward to a short vacation time-off in April. Spring would be starting, I was sure. Warmth and the first signs of green would be popping up around Minnesota.

Ah, but a winter night's dream.

Yesterday was a day of sunshine. Yes, that is true. Something we have not seen a whole lot of in the past weeks of April. So we headed to St. Paul for a visit to the Como Park Conservatory.

Here then were our initial sights from April 20, 2013 

in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A wishful sign on the left here that tells us that summer is always to be found at the Conservatory.

Or below, a bit of false advertising 

for a season that is yet to be seen.

And this is the Conservatory. A day and a half after another April snowstorm in the Twin Cities.

The Japanese Garden officially re-opened on Friday.

(We're going back in July!)

These are the outside Bonsai trees with

the Conservatory dome in the background.

Fortunately these are all-weather trees.

And below, one of the real beauties-

a Ponderosa Pine

looking like it is somewhere in the Rockies

in mid-winter.

Yes, inside were a lot of tropical and seasonal flora. But why ruin this tongue-in-cheek look at a Minnesota April? I will save those for another day. :)

From the Minnesota DNR:

Whitewater State Park is open for day use. The 3 campgrounds and primitive group sites will open Friday July 22nd. Upper, Lower and Gooseberry campgrounds along with the primitive group sites should be open starting at noon on Friday the 22nd. The nature store and beach area will be open Saturday morning July 23rd. Interpretive programs will begin again at 1 p.m. on Saturday July 23rd.

Now I realize that there are a lot of more essential and important agencies than a State Park in the southeastern corner of the state. The nature of nature is that it can survive quite well without humans tramping around. But we as people need to have nature. So it will be good to be able to go to the park on Sunday and get some good mid-summer pictures.

At Last!

Not sure when. Hopefully before Sunday? It would be great to go over there and see it in person again.

Will It Be Today?

It was getting closer as I posted this early in the morning today. The question marks may be gone before the day is done and Minnesota will be back in business.

YES! The budget battle has ended.
Minnesota will be back in business.

Hope!

We are back to the question marks from the closed sign. It looks like a deal may have been reached and Minnesota may re-open.

More thoughts will follow.

Nothing Has Changed

Sunday after church my wife and I went to the little restaurant near that still closed scene over there on the left. The Elba House is in the tiny village of the same name just up the road from Whitewater State Park.

It was all but deserted on a beautiful Sunday morning in mid-summer when the park is usually full and fishermen, campers, and families seek out the local cooking.The wait staff and others stood around looking for something to do and someone to help pay their wages. Over in Rochester and on the road up to the Twin Cities were signs blaming Governor Dayton while some graffiti artist had altered one to urge Dayton to tax the rich. Last week it appeared as if Dayton had made a move toward compromise but that was rejected by the Republicans since it still included tax increases.

Just as things are going in Washington.

Minnesota closing down will have significant impact if this continues much longer. It is already the longest such shutdown in recent memory in the United States-today was day 13.

Washington defaulting? That could have more than a significant impact. That could be a disaster. In the end, I am afraid, any ideology held to with such incredible tenacity and stubbornness is dangerous. Even good opinions are toxic when carried to an extreme that takes them beyond the impact to the particular individual who holds them. Democracy is built on the rule of the majority but also to be free from the "tyranny" of either side. Right now, democracy in the United States is looking less democratic than it has in a long time.

Of course there is tonight a semblance of hope on the national scene as Senate Majority Leader McConnell seems to be coming in the back door- which only makes the conservatives furious. No one will be happy and everyone will blame everyone else. Ah, for a quote from the Bard, this one seems to fit (at least in my mind):

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
--Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

Or in paraphrase:

"The fault, dear Brutus [nation], is not in our stars [opponents],
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

No Change

Budget negotiations appeared to break down at the Capitol Wednesday afternoon after Gov. Mark Dayton offered Republicans two new offers -- both including tax increases.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers said: "Things went backwards today."

Governor Mark Dayton responded that if things went backward, it was the Republicans' fault.
--Star Tribune

Meanwhile vandals broke into several state parks and another report said that the shutdown is costing millions.

Politics as usual.

Continuing the Closing

Yes, the State of Minnesota is shut down for the holiday weekend. That means all those who had reservations at the state parks (like Whitewater) left on Thursday afternoon. None are open. Since it is a holiday weekend, some of the government offices would be closed for the weekend anyway. Which I guess is why there are no talks going on in St. Paul this weekend. (At least that's the official word. I hope they are talking privately about the impact that this could have. The papers were already reporting questions and concerns about some issues that may be affected.

I am not on the inside of any of this. on the surface it looks like the same kind of issue that has been plaguing the US for recent years- extreme partisanship. The governor wants to raise taxes on the wealthy (which means himself since he is a multi-millionaire). While the Republicans don't. They want to cut services. Sure that sounds like an oversimplification, but I think it is the crux of the matter. It is a seemingly unconquerable chasm of ideology.

In the end, it will be the people who lose- state workers, state residents, the state's reputation. I am very aware we are in a very difficult position economically and politically right now. But democracy is about working together and finding compromise. It appears to me as if some people aren't willing to do that.

Hint of the Future?

As of 9:00 this morning, there is no agreement and Minnesota is closed. The news media are saying this is perhaps a harbinger of things to come in Washington.

But the news also reported that the owners and players are talking in the NFL. But it only took THEM months.

Let's hope the politicians have more sense than the NFL. (Sorry. Wishful thinking at work.)

Sorry. Closed.

As I got ready for bed Thursday evening, the possibility of a government shut-down in Minnesota was a reality at the moment I have this post scheduled to go live:

12:01 AM, Friday, July 1, 2011.

That would mean the view in this picture:

will be closed.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Will update this in the morning.

Water Over the Falls

A hot Monday over a week ago, right after the 32-mile Tour de Pepin and I found myself with a little extra time and the bike on the back of the car. I also was in Minneapolis and decided to visit Minnehaha Falls.

Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis. Including Lake Minnetonka, the watershed for the creek covers 181 square miles. The creek might have been unremarkable except for the 53 foot Minnehaha Falls located near the creek's confluence with the Mississippi. The site is not far from Fort Snelling, one of the earliest white settlements in the region.

While the name is often translated as "Laughing Water", the correct translation is "curling water" or "waterfall". The name comes from the Dakota language elements mni, meaning water, and ȟaȟa, meaning waterfall. Thus the expression "Minnehaha Falls" translates as "Waterfall Falls". The "Laughing Water" translation comes from Mary Eastman's book Dacotah, published in 1849. On the Fort map of 1823, the falls were named Brown's Falls. The Dakota called Minnehaha Creek, "Wakpa Cistinna", meaning "Little River". --Wikipedia

And I had to try some different camera speeds to get flowing water looking different.

All in all, quite a nice little ride.

Being Midwestern
Just back from six days in the New York City metro area. As regular readers here know, I love New York City. It is an exciting place to be. Diversity, energy, people, opportunities, action. Just walking the streets of the city gives me more than many other activities. Even, under certain circumstances, sitting in traffic can be an interesting experience. You can watch so many people that you would otherwise miss. Diversity is the lifeblood of this city- and perhaps even of our nation, as it is seen day in and day out in New York City.

Saturday evening we went over to a nearby shopping center to get some food and to spend a couple of hours at the Barnes and Noble since the Wi-Fi at the motel wasn't working properly. We got stuck in a Cinco de Mayo traffic jam- in the parking lot. Now it's not as if this doesn't happen in Minneapolis. Our highway system has almost as many bottlenecks as a Coca Cola plant. Some are even saying we may become more and more like Los Angeles.

It was being stuck in the traffic- IN a parking lot- as people were going to the beer tent at a local Mexican food chain. People, people, people. Everything is close together. People crowding. It was fun to watch. All kinds of people converging from all directions. Not to mention the line outside the theater across the parking lot from the beer tent where Spiderman 3 was breaking all kinds of records. Cinco de Mayo plus Spiderman Tres- a recipe for traffic.

I became profoundly aware of the difference between eastern USA cities and those of us from the midwest. It's an economy of scale. Even on a Saturday night there are still enough people around to not only fill parking lots, beer tents and theaters, but Barnes and Noble was also filled with people reading, working on computers, drinking lattes, shopping or just hanging out.

You put enough people in a small enough space and life changes. Our infamous Minnesota (and midwestern) Nice could not work as well with all those many more people. The pace of life would necessarily speed up and stall all at the same time. But in spite of its reputation, New York is NOT an unfriendly place. You just have to know what you're in for. Crowds, brusqueness (because of the crowds), hectic pace (because it takes so much to get through the jams that slow you down.) There isn't enough time to make a big deal out of each encounter, but the smile, the moment of "Have A Good Day", the nod on the street- these make it as real as we can be.

In fact, as I was typing that previous line, the young ladies next to me at Barnes and Noble had a spill accident. Two laptops and two cell phones were threatened by a wall of latte. In a moment's notice three of us sitting around them jumped to pick up the computers and phones to keep then out of harm's way. Sure it would have happened anywhere. But it does happen in New York! It has a bad rap. It may be one of the neatest cities in the world.

Overall, though, I love traveling. The many opportunities to see and experience new things- even in old haunts like New York City- are life affirming for me. They remind me that there is a great deal in this old world that I don't know and haven't yet discovered. Looking through the lens of a camera to get angles and sites in a new way forces me to think about how life must never be allowed to become ordinary for it is always changing, always improving, always having new things right around the corner.