I may be a quarter of the way around the globe, but I still hear the news from home occasionally. The top story this morning on Radio Four was about a bridge collapse in Minneapolis. (Wouldn't it between Minneapolis and St. Paul? I was taught the river divided the two cities. But who's quibbling?) The story was pretty shy of details, but perhaps that is because the story is still in its early hours.
It is interesting how fast things change. I wouldn't have known about this for days back just a few decades ago, had this happened at the turn of the last century, had I learned of it at all, it would have been weeks, if not months, later. Today, I can fret about the news for HOURS before I can call home without waking-up people to see if they are all alright.
Wherever you are, I hope you're doing well and are safe and sound!
Don Bergquist - 02 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK
2 comments:
Dear Nephew: You need to check the Twin Cities map. This site is actually in Minneapolis not St. Paul. The Mississippi River does divide the two cities but that is further down the river.
JW
Bummer!
Well, that just goes to show you the value of a Florida public school education! Funny, I was always told that the river divided the two cities. But then, they also had (as late as the eighties when my connection with them was officially severed by my receipt of a diploma) this funny notion that Miami was a part of the United States (rather than being a separate South American country) and that we spoke English there.
Of course, my mom's teaching didn't help. Every time we crossed the river she'd tell us we were moving from Minneapolis to St. Paul (or vice-verse). Look at me! Trying to (finally) believe something that mom told me!
She also used to claim that she walked distances varying from a mile to five miles (up hill both ways) each morning to catch the school bus. She also used to point to the place Mary was baptized every time we drove through St. Paul. "That's where your sister was baptized." She'd tell us." Inevitably, she'd be pointing at the dome of the state capital rather than the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.
To be fair, though, I hardly ever paid attention to mom when she spoke and for all I know, we could have been crossing any river on any road. It could have been the Mississippi, or the Minnesota river we were crossing. Heck, it may have even been that we were actually crossing at the point where the river actually does divide the cities!
With mis-teachings such as this, can you really act surprised that I didn't know a little thing like this? Perhaps, my dear, aunt, I could direct your attention to the disclaimer at the right of this page. I am prone to take flights of fancy. If I move the course of major rivers as a result, you should see this as an artistic choice!
To quote Douglas Adams, I could bring in experts in aesthetics and prose to testify that truth is beauty and beauty truth and therefore I could blame reality for being neither beautiful nor true.
Have a great day!
djb
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