The first movie that came to mind about the Mississippi River is Huckelberry Finn.  It takes place on the river in MO.   We were at the top of the river near its source.  I know I have written about my fascination with the river so I really wanted to visit this park.  We were parked right on the river and the lake that feeds the river was a short distance away.  The river was running very swiftly here and it is murky so I did not see any fish.  Marshes grow in the river and the level rises and falls with the rainfall.   Our space was shady and peaceful and the two days we were here, I spent at the picnic table.  That’s all I have to say about the campground.

When we left Duluth, I was driving the rental car and Jerry was in the RV, it was just about a two-hour drive to International Falls/Ranier on secondary highways, one lane each way, 60 mph and nothing but trees on both sides and an occasional lake.  We rented the car through Costco and one of the upgrades was Sirus Radio.   I listened to the 70’s on 7.  I heard songs I had not heard in more than 50 years.  I remembered hearing these songs when I was 15 and thinking how romantic they were, hearing them now, not so much.  First there was Tie a Yellow Ribbon – I always thought that song was about a soldier coming home from Vietnam.  Was I wrong!   The very first line of the song is – I’m comin’ home, I’ve done my time, Now I’ve got to know what is and isn’t mine,  If you received my letter tellin’ you, I’d soon be free,  Then you’ll know just what to do,  If you still want me,  If you still want me.  So, he is getting out of prison. 

Then there was Brandy – you know the woman who would be such a good wife.  The song says – Brandy wears a braided chain,  Made of finest silver from the north of Spain,  A locket that bears the name of the man that,  Brandy loved,  He came on a summers day bringing gifts from far away,  But he made it clear he couldn’t stay,  The harbor was his home  –   right here I need to tell Brandy – he left you take the locket to the pawn shop and buy yourself a new dress and go out.   Then he tells her – The sailor said Brandy you’re a fine girl,  (you’re a fine girl),  What a good wife you would be,  (such a fine girl),  But my life my love and my lady is the sea  – Brandy if you didn’t get it from the last verse this is the verse to kick that sailor to the curb.  But Brandy still doesn’t get it because she listens to this BS –   But he had always told the truth lord he was an honest man,  And Brandy (a-a-a-h…) does her best to understand.   Brandy is now somewhere in her 60’s or 70’s,  I hope she threw that locket in the ocean and met some nice reliable accountant and settled down.

I also had the painful experience of listening to Sammy Davis, Jr. sing Candyman – that was an awful song, it sounds like it’s about a drug pusher.  There were also bunches of Bee Gees songs, Beatles B-sides when I don’t even like the A-sides, Cowsills, The Partridge Family, Disco, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton and other songs I never liked, sorry if I insulted your favorite song ☹.  It seemed like the 70’s was a mix of everything.  They also played Lido Shuffle which always made me feel like dancing – but not while driving.  There was CCR, CSN&Y, Queen, Earth, Wind and Fire, Fleetwood Mac and ELO.   And I enjoyed every minute, but I got to tell you I think the music messed us up.  So many of the songs are about women getting the short end of the stick.  In retrospect I wonder if women were experiencing more power in the 70’s and men writing songs turned the tables.  I’ll keep to the Blues, in the Blues the man is always begging the woman to come back – think Bell Bottom Blues – alright if he is crawling back on his knees he was probably very bad,   The man does wrong in the Blues and he knows it. 

But back to the Mississippi River.  I would like my life to be like the calm flowing Mississippi gently moving along.  However, sometimes it feels like the Mississippi after a terrible storm overflowing the banks and wrecking havoc where ever it goes.