So Mister Husband and I decided that we needed to go out and about yesterday afternoon. We headed off across the city with cameras and no particular destination in mind except possibly a certain used bookstore. That took us over to the Mississippi River, and a quick left turn deposited us by Lock and Dam #1, the very first of the series of 29 or so locks along the Mississippi.

It was a perfect blue afternoon, sunny and breezy, and we took our time wondering along the lock. Watched them let small crafts through; it takes less time than one would think for things to fill up enough to open the gates and let folks float on. Watched the gulls and pigeons and geese. (It’s time for geese again — Mister Husband pointed out the first V of the season making its way across the sky on Tuesday night.) Was momentarily seized by the notion of quitting my job and attempting a McPhee-style immersion project on the dam and the guys that run it. Thought that Lockmaster was a fabulous title. Realized that I feel extraordinarily comfortable in river valleys, having been raised in one. I have an affinity for big, wide, slow rivers, and we got into a debate about the relative merits of that sort of river versus thin, fast ones like the Kern. Photos are here, if you’d like to experience the excitement of Lock and Dam #1 on a Friday evening. (Yes, we are wild and crazy graduate students!)

Then we went and ate burritos and guacamole, and it turned out that the favorite pretty-cheap bookstore was having a 20% Off sale. We made it home in time for SciFi Friday, and I slept for 11 hours. Lovely end to a very busy week.