When I was taking this photo my husband commented that the River still smells the same as his first recollection of it. And, it brought back a flood of memories to me, too.
Berry picking along the banks with my father; looking into a berry bucket and cutting the bridge of my nose, a scar I have to this day. Watching my father raise the shrimp barrels he had set into the River and bringing home the shrimp for the night's supper. (Today, one could not eat the shrimp from the River because of the chemical pollution from industry upriver all the way to Minnesota).
Watching my brothers swim the River in the summer time, the time when it was the lowest and the current was not so swift--something my mother absolutely forbade. Bouncing in the sand on the bank-certain areas with water under them, areas we called "cow belly". Waving at the ships that passed and hoped they would sound their horns. Throwing a bottle with a message into the water and hoping that someday you would hear from the finder.
Standing on the bank on my side and looking at a boyfriend who lived on the other side--teenage years were simpler. And, bringing home college friends to walk along the banks, people who had never seen the River close-up.
Sitting on the bank for peace and quiet and sometimes solace as life got complicated with family, work and children.
Bringing my four children to the River to hope that they could see what I see. And, in later years, bringing my grandson to the River to enjoy its wonder and never-ending awe.
And, I remembered, with great feeling, the last time my mother walked to this River on an Easter Sunday afternoon with her children and grandchildren. Well into her 80's she proudly walked up the levee and through the woods on the batture in her high heeled shoes to enjoy the River with us. She told us stories of the "Showboats"--steamboats and paddlewheelers, that docked at Perilloux Landing in the late 1800's and early 1900's and the wonderful minstrel shows they enjoyed on the Showboats that would herald their arrival with the calliope music.
And, to this day, the River still holds a big place in my heart and I still go to it for joy, solace and peace.