9:40 am: I’d like to run today, but it is currently raining. A soft, steady rain with occasional rumbles of thunder. If the thunder stops and the rain turns to drizzle, I might still try to run. In the meantime, I’ll listen to the rain and think about water and waterways — local and international.
In international water news, Belgian triathlete Claire Michael withdrew from the mixed relay event due to illness. Several sources reported that this withdrawal was due to e. coli in the Seine and that she was hospitalized, but the BBC reports that a “source from the Belgian team told BBC Sport that, contrary to reports in Belgian media, the 35-year-old has not contracted E. coli.” Also, she wasn’t hospitalized. How many people will misremember this story as proof that the Seine is dirty and that French organizers wasted billions of dollars on a water project that was never going to work? I must admit that before digging into it a little more for this entry, I spread the misinformation (or hasty, speculative information) to Scott. Glad I looked into it. Maybe it will come out that she did get sick with E. coli, or other athletes got sick from the river, but for now, it hasn’t been verified.
In terms of local waterways, 2 days ago, I posted about daylighting and efforts to restore previously rerouted and buried creeks. This morning I reread Bridal Veil Falls and am returning to that discussion. Not only is this history fascinating, but it is a way for me to access a different time scale — a longer, slower time scale that offers a deeper connection to this place and everything and everyone that has shaped it and is still shaping it.
It’s 10:15 and it looks like there will be a lull in the rain/thunder for at least 30 minutes. Time to go out for a quick run!
2.5 miles
Horace Cleveland Overlook and back
67 degrees
tree drips to drizzle to downpour
The forecast was wrong, which it often is these days. Within 5 minutes, the rain had returned. First it was light, but soon it got heavier. I contemplated continuing on to the falls, but when I heard thunder at the overlook, I turned around. Not interested in getting struck by lightning today!
At first, there was no one else on the trail, but within 10 minutes I encountered another runner, then another, then a walker. Did I see any bikers? Yes, one.
10 Things
- bright headlights
- a fine mist, hazy
- gushing sewers
- the inside of a neighbor’s all-season porch, illuminated by dark skies, open blinds, and lamps
- deep puddles
- a tow truck, outlined in red lights, towing nothing
- a shirtless running running fast
- a runner with a sweatshirt tied around their waist, running less fast
- a bright yellow crosswalk sign that looked like a person
- a boom that could have been thunder, but maybe wasn’t
more info about bridal veil falls:
What is now known as the Bridal Veil Watershed was once a 300-acre wetland that drained into Bridal Veil Creek, which wound its way to the East Bank of the Mississippi River, spilling over the edge at the site known as Bridal Veil Falls. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the wetland was drained and the creek was put into a culvert; yet the falls survived, albeit in a lessened state. Lots were platted, a street grid was laid down, and railroads began to crisscross at the northern edge of the Bridal Veil Watershed, establishing an industrial area of Southeast Minneapolis that remains today. Along with the industrial landscape, the residential neighborhoods of St. Anthony Park in St. Paul and Southeast Como and Prospect Park in Minneapolis were also developed.
Over the years, the area continued to be altered by industrial development, the construction of Highway 280, the filling of ponds, flooding, and the reconstruction of sewer lines and drainage systems. In the 1960s, as I-94 was being constructed, Bridal Veil Creek was almost entirely eliminated. Some of the spirit of the old Bridal Veil Creek endured, however, thanks to residents of the area who talked roadway engineers into saving the creek.
Unfortunately, decades of industrial use have polluted the watershed, including the natural and artificial ponds near Kasota Avenue and Highway 280 at the creek’s northern edge, as well as the creek itself. As a result, remediation efforts on Bridal Veil Pond began in 2008.
It is remarkable that Bridal Veil Creek and its once famous falls have survived, avoiding the fate of two other nearby East Bank falls—Fawn’s Leap and Silver Cascade, both once found on what is now the University of Minnesota campus. Bridal Veil Falls can still be seen today from the Franklin Avenue Bridge or from a pedestrian path near the bank of the river.
Bridal Veil Falls
I’ve seen these falls at least once from below the franklin bridge. I’d like to go check them out again on a run, especially after a rain.
Here’s another great resource from 2006: information about Bridal Falls Creek prepared for the St. Anthony Park Community Council and Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. I like studying these documents and tracing the interactions and interventions in the “natural” world.
new term: kame This term came up in the creek document — St. Anthony park, prior to European settlers, was a kame. Kame = a short ridge, hill, or mound of stratified drift deposited by glacial meltwater (Merriam-Webster).