Saturn and trash drifting in the river
When the floodgates are opened upstream from here, there’s a lot of “stuff” that gets washed downriver.
I was thinking about this as I was delineating a chart with a copious amount of Gemini. What better way to express the energy of Saturn than to look at the river flowing in front of the trailer? It’s a torrential mess. The hike and bike trail is flooded out in places. I took a detour on the way back from barbecue and reading, nosing along one section where I tested the water, albeit briefly, and only up to my ankles. A young runner had taken off her shoes and waded out to a bench seat, surrounded by water, and she was idly watching the river’s mess flow by. I wasn’t as brave as she was, opting instead to take the long [and dry> way around.
See: Saturn is like that river. When the LCRA opens its floodgates, it pushes all manner of undesirable trash out. There’s a lot of deadwood. Stray water plants, mostly {{popup hydrillasign.jpg hydrilla_sign 320×240}}hydrilla, washed downstream in huge clumps the other evening, when I was walking along the shore.
The nature of the crud floating along varies with the time of day, and what the latest rain was like. Like Saturn. The first stuff is just debris, a lot of it manmade garbage, the ubiquitous plastic cups and beer cans that get floated and caught in eddies. Then it was that hydrilla and other natural refuse, like leaves. A little later, it’s just the large stuff, real deadwood. It’s not a metaphor, it’s dead branches, or in some case whole trees that no longer belonged where they were rooted, so Saturn, or the LCRA, or the river itself, picks them up and lets them float on down stream.
Usually, with this river – or Saturn – this is a gradual process, and usually, there’s some Parks Department guys out there, scooping up barge after barge of trash, helping the process. But sometimes, when the planet or the river picks up speed, there’s no help.
There’s a submerged wreckage of an old earthen dam, a few blocks from here. The dam broke, was partially rebuilt, and subsequently left to the river as I understand the history. If the force of Saturn, or the force of floodwater is too great, you don’t stand a chance. An arm of that ruined dam sticks out into the lake, and with the river rushing over it, that old structure causes the nicest standing wave. But you can bet that the old dam is getting whittled away, little by little. Or even in bigger chunks these days.
A Gemini buddy came late in the evening, wanting to kill a little time, and he was amazed at the way a mist was rising up from the lake’s surface, slowly crawling up back upstream. I had to explain atmospheric conditions to him, how the water was warm, and the afternoon rain cooled off the ambient temperature, and with that much moisture in the air, a mist formed, slowly spreading itself back up the stream.
I’m high and dry, that’s for sure. The ground around here is a little soggy yet, but the foundation blocks seem to be holding up just fine. It’s another eight or ten feet before I have to worry, and I doubt it’ll be a problem.
