American Backbone

If a blank canvas is depicted by a colorless and lineless scenery then, the Mississippi River is the opposite. The more I travel down the mighty muddy the more I realize just how essential this river is. The question then, essential to whom?

There is an exquisite and almost Southern lifestyle lived by all along the river. A lifestyle so ingrained that even the animals seem to  share it. To numerate what I mean, everybody along the river loves and participates in the water. On the lower Mississippi even the damn fish jump in your boat (Although the Asian carp are invasive).

So what is this river? Apart from harboring  50% of American agriculture and manufacturing, I believe the Mississippi is a testament and a voice. A testament to The power of American production but, A voice that’s only now being heard. There is a dead zone in the river from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico. Terrifying, I know.

The Mississippi is also a voice for the youth and underground. Under every overpass, every wall And every bridge is graffitied the words of a (mostly youth) society. I slept under a bridge one night on the river so far, I saw spectacular graffiti, signs of drug abuse, but most importantly I observed that these locations are an escape from the societal burden that most youth find themselves in, the walls are a blank canvas, perfect.

(P.S.) saw the eagle just above Brainerd