We are all getting antsy for spring to arrive…winter has been hanging on and on for dear life. It’s been hard to access the river because the water level has been high. Most of the places I visit at the Falls of the Ohio State Park are currently under muddy water. We have had just a handful of nicer, warmer days, but that has accelerated the melting of the snow and ice throughout the more than 800 hundred mile long Ohio River Valley. I don’t mind the cold so much, but it’s harder to do what I like to do on a swollen waterway. Here’s how one of my spots under the railroad bridge looked during my last visit.
Not a pretty picture seeing a river as brown as gravy. Lots of logs and wood floating on top and when you look more closely…there is also plenty of plastic and polystyrene in the mix too. Another view this time with me standing on the wall that separates one side of the river from the other.
All those white spots are pieces of Styrofoam. With my usual haunts inaccessible I moved further east…just outside the park’s entrance. There has been a lot of activity in this area that has caught my notice.
There has been a campaign on the Indiana side to make the river more accessible particularly in areas that afford a good view of Louisville’s skyline. To do this the vegetation has been bulldozed away. I came across an elderly person walking her dog and she said to me quite unsolicited..”Bout time they did something to clean up this mess!” as she pointed a thin finger in the general direction of the river. In this case, one person’s mess is another creature’s habitat. The true “mess” comes from all the plastic bottles and chunks of man-made junk that make it into the water. No amount of removing trees and creating views will help with this and it seems what we prefer looking at is a very selective process. I brought my collecting bag along. I’m hoping to pick up materials to use in an upcoming art workshop at the Carnegie Center for Art and History, but I find a few other interesting items as well and photograph them upon discovery.
I came across this smiling yellow cat toy that I think came from a fast food establishment.
Finding these paint containers made me realize how hungry I’ve become for color. I’m looking forward to the world turning green again with color notes supplied by wild flowers.
This plastic man with his bright, radioactive orange color was hard to miss. He was a skydiver or paratrooper in a former life and probably fell to earth using a plastic parachute.
There were other signs from life that the season’s are about to change over. I’m ever alert to what the birds are doing. I spotted my first Red-winged Blackbirds of the year and they are among the first migratory species to arrive. Male Northern Cardinals are singing their courtship songs and scouting out the best spots to build a nest. On the river, however, I spied what I consider a bird sign of winter. A nice sized flock of Lesser Scaup ducks were mostly sleeping and relaxing on the surface of the water. In this area, it seems we see more duck varieties in late fall and early winter. Here’s a peek at the scaups.
Before I move away from the ducks…I found one other to add to my growing collection. This is a Mallard decoy made from plastic. Not too long a go, I found another plastic decoy representing the Pintail Duck.
One other bird note…I heard them before I could see them, but I knew what they were instantly. The familiar calls of migrating Sandhill Cranes winging their way back north. Like geese, they fly in V-shaped formations to avoid the air turbulence created by other cranes flapping their wings. These birds are high flyers and this was the best I could do in taking their picture with the camera I have.
As February becomes March…the forecast for the Kentuckiana area is calling for freezing rain and snow. It appears that Old Man Winter will be hanging out for another week. Spring will eventually get here and already you can tell that it stays light outside longer with each passing day. I am, however, really eager to see how the river has rearranged this familiar landscape.
Once the Ohio River recedes there will be a new landscape to explore and who knows what I will find? I like that each year is different from the last. Well this post is drawing to a close. Thanks for visiting and see you soon…from the skyline of Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
Your conversation with the elderly woman reminds me of the same mentality that leads to the draining of wetlands for condo development. Make it tidy, make it neat, make it sterile and unsustainable.
You are right. The rise of the American lawn is another example of this. Let’s create a labor intensive monoculture that what?…makes us believe we live in park land?
If your river doesn’t swell even more, I will be surprised, Al. I still have 3 and 1/2 foot piles plus probably ten inches of snow in the lower spots. With each snow, we hope it will be the last. However, I think you will be the recipient of our melt down there along your riverbank.
The styrofoam photo, actually, makes me wonder where it all comes from.The plastics I understand as our whole world revolves around plastic it seems. Good post.
Thanks Leslie! From a molecular standpoint, Styrofoam comes from the same source as plastic namely petroleum. The bigger pieces that I have found were parts of boat docks. I’m sure the river will be up for a while. Things could get really interesting around here if our spring turns out to be a wet one.
we had lots and lots of rain this winter with plenty of flooding. So much soil washed away. Yet spring is around the corner and colour will come. Love the birds.
I appreciate your sense of optimism. We all need to look forward to the sunshine and return of color. Has the flooding affected your houseboat journey?
Not where we are but soon will start to cruise than we might get in some deeper water.
The eighth pic down is too funny. :0) Your little guys always make me smile! I tell you, this winter has absolutely kicked my butt. (I’ve seen some hard winters before but MAN.) It’s so unusual for the snow to be here in March, you know? And yes, the river’s up tremendously. Glad to see you made it down there in such icky conditions though. :0)
You are right it has been a less than typical winter. As long as I can access the riverbank I’m okay with the less than optimum conditions. My shoes and clothes can get pretty muddy and I’m sure I’m a frightful scene to behold. Long a go I realized that when I was as soaked with rain or as muddy as I could…that there was also this feeling of being liberated from restrictions and conditions that I liked while making my art.
I agree completely. I find that the process of photography is just as enjoyable as actually “taking the pic”. Composing the shot, especially. These days, digital cameras do everything for the shooter, you know? Lighting, composing, shutter speed, in cam-FX- everything. That’s why I prefer shooting with old film lenses: it forces me to work for the shot. Much of the time, I can be seen twisted in weird, anatomical positions, and I have to hold my breath a good bit of time (and be perfectly still) to get the shot I want. That’s intentional. :0) It keeps me working and laboring WITH the creative process rather than merely “snapping a pic”. I become one with the image by putting every ounce I have into it. I can imagine that it’s the same with you and the mud, etc. I miss feeling those rocks under my feet! Looking forward to your “spring collection”. :0)
I never thought of it in fashion terms, but the junk I find often represents the “latest”. I’m scheduled to do an artist’s talk tonight at the Carnegie Center at 6 PM if you are around, please stop by.
I’d love to. Unfortunately, my car hasn’t moved in more than 3 weeks and I’ve been stuck at home. It’ll be several more before it’ll be repaired. Break a leg though. :0) x
I am also looking forward to your spring collection – a couple of weeks ago I was flying back form Sydney into Sunshine Coast and the sea below appeared to be completely littered with ‘junk’ plastic, styrofoam, debris – I haven’t seen the sea looking this bad before – a bit like your river beds – truly time for change.
“Views” and “Messes” certainly are relative to perspective, Al. What did you say to that old lady? How can she not see the ‘trash’ in the water and along the banks?
It certainly looks like your legs got a workout in all that mud.
I wonder what the political people would SEE from both sides of the river via your photos?
Spring is keeping well out of sight here despite a rise in temperature that melted a lot of snow. The birds are scare. A lone crow has been silently stalking around all by itself. Its companions are nowhere in sight. The Blue Jays swoop in on a silent wings for peanuts in the shell then disappear. Nothing like your red-winged Black Birds or Cranes. Though I did get an in-house visit from a young female flicker yesterday. Yep, she came in right through the ceiling plaster. There must be a vacancy sign posted somewhere outside for potential nesters.
You know…I don’t believe I said anything to her. It was an off the cuff comment from someone just walking by. Certainly, it was a “not being able to see the forest for the trees” situation…except here the trees were cut down! Your flicker experience sounded exciting! I hope the bird was able to find its way out? Tomorrow, we are expecting temps reaching the low 70’s, but I’ve heard a vicious rumor that it is going to get cold enough to snow again next week!
We got a dusting of snow after getting up to 75 and now the roller coaster is rising again.
I did indeed manage to carry the flicker out of the house after wrapping her in a towel. She has not returned. Her memory must be in fine working order.
Off the cuff remarks–so telling though.
Weird weather yes…this past Saturday I actually got a bit of a sun burn on the river with temps in the 70’s…the following day it snowed with accumulations.
HI Al,
have you noticed birdlife and fish suffering from eating the styrofoam?
I have not noticed that, but then again, I haven’t performed any autopsies on the unfortunate creatures I come across. I would expect to find some plastic especially in the water birds.