April 23, 2012
Mississippi Memories: My Life in Anoka, Minnesota
The winning essay from Prairie Rivers Network’s “Our Upper Mississippi River: Connection, Inspiration, Transformation” essay contest!
The gentle way that the Mississippi River flowed past my childhood home did not change much during the 1970s and 80s when I lived there, and its presence was a source of stability when everything else seemed to move too fast. The river figures prominently in my earliest memories, and “foofoo,” the name I called it, was one of the first words in the unique vocabulary that I spoke. Having the river in my life was a privilege that I can honestly say my younger sister and I were aware of while growing up. This is because our parents consciously positioned our activities indoors and outdoors so that we could not only see the river, but watch it. My mother’s favorite place in the house was the bay window in our living room, where she perched each morning while she sipped her coffee. My father’s morning spot was the hot tub he built on our deck over-looking the river, in which he read the daily paper—even in the winter. {Continue Reading »}























The Middle Fork River is Illinois’ first State Scenic River, so designated in 1986 by Governor James R. Thompson. In 1989 the Middle Fork was also designated as a National Scenic River by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan. The Middle Fork is the first river in Illinois to be included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. It is protected by State and federal law because of its outstanding scenic, recreational, ecological, and historical characteristics.