It Doesn't Look Significant, But It Is

That little spit of land is the confluence, the point where the Missouri (mid-ground) and Mississippi (foreground) Rivers meet. There is an awful lot of water passing through. You can drive almost to the junction and walk out to that tip unless the rivers are in flood.

The pictures were taken from the top level of the Confluence Tower in bad weather. It's the site of yesterday's picture with Ellie. The deck is 150 feet / 46 meters off the ground. Wish there had been more to see.

Land's End

Kind of looks like that but it it's just another point on a map in the Midwest. Again, the Missouri is on the right with all the ice carrying into the stream on the Mississippi from the left. There were a couple of photographers with tripods. I don't see why it was needed unless they were trying to shoot panoramas. The scene was blindingly bright.

The river levels are very low. This area is under water some of the year.         

Madeleine Monday (Color Sense)

If she were a little bigger Ellie could have been a riverside beacon along the Missouri. She is generally allowed to pick out her own clothes, subject to the occasional veto from mom.  Hence her Nepalese leopard hat (from the organization at the bottom of the sidebar), flowered sunglasses, her grandmother's crimson scarf, pink jacket, purple pants and blue-and-orange boots. (Yet she says green is her favorite color.) Oh, and note Old Lambie clutched in the left hand.         

Ice Water

Yesterday was clear and very cold (for us). The family took a ride to the state park at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The point on the right is literally the tip of land between the two. The view is roughly to the southeast. All the ice is coming in from the Missouri, on the right. 

The Mississippi, on the left, is clear for a reason. The site is just below the massive lock and dam at Alton, Illinois. Ice backs up behind it and only clear water flows through. There hasn't been enough time and space for it to re-freeze. The drop in elevation downstream is so gradual that there are no locks all the way from St. Louis to New Orleans.             

It Doesn't Look Like Much, Does It?

confluence

[kon-floo-uh ns]
noun

1. a flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like:

"the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers."

2. their place of junction:

"St. Louis is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers."

You wouldn't think it to look at the picture but this is the most important river junction in North America, the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi in the northern part of our area. The Missouri and its swirling ice is in the foreground with the clear Mississippi behind. The view is a bit more dramatic in the old photo of the point of land between the two, taken on the spit in the center of the top picture:

Clearer still on a map. Lotta water,                     

Icecircles

The end of the Missouri River, just before it blends into the Mississippi. At this time of year it's full of ice disks. This happens mostly in North America and Scandinavia. Eddies in slow moving rivers spin the water. Equal temperature on all sides lets the water freeze in rough circles. They spin downstream into the fast-flowing, clear Mississippi.                

Water Source

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Where does your water come from? Sometimes people know, sometimes not. We get ours from the Missouri River, I think, not the Mississippi, although this pumping station is along the latter. The levels of both streams are at a near-record low. There's been no talk of this affecting our supply. Hope it stays that way.

The building has a sort of 1930s sci-fi look that I enjoy.

Two Big Rivers

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Another view of The Meeting Of The Waters fountain and statues. The male figure in the center that we saw yesterday represents the Mississippi. The female on the right is the Missouri. I've never thought about the two rivers having gender. The Mississippi is the bigger of the two at the confluence so you can read whatever you want into this.

The confluences itself is in the northern part of the metro area but it's a bit hard to get to. The view can be pretty cool depending on the weather and water level. The park at the meeting point gets flooded every year. Maybe I should head back up there for a shoot.

Cold Man River

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They say the Mississippi would freeze over here from time to time but I cant find out when that last happened. (Anyone know?) The first lock and dam is not far north of here. I doubt it has happened since that was built. The Missouri River is undamed for a long way upstream but I've never heard of it freezing solid at St. Charles, Jefferson City or Kansas City.

On Saturday I walked out onto Eads Bridge to see how the ice looked. I might have been staring into a giant petri dish. The ice comes downstream in swirling cells, riding the current, rotating individually and combining into primitive, chilly organisms. You have to drive up to the confluence of the great rivers to watch the mix. The Mississippi runs clear south of the lock and dam. The frozen cells come from the Missouri, spinning out into its partner like galaxies into the void. You can see a picture of this happening in an old post here. I have no idea how they form. Scientists, fill us in.

I did get some other shooting done over the weekend. STL DPB is running away with the circus TOMORROW.