Posted by old fashioned american on July 25, 2011 at 10:45:47 from (72.101.51.240):
As I write this, I am in Pierre, South Dakota where I have been serving as interim Managing Editor of the Pierre Capital Journal. I consult for Wick Communications, a small media company based in Arizona which owns newspapers in several small markets across the country. They needed an interim editor for a few weeks until the full-time editor could be hired and that was me. But then a funny thing happened. In the middle of South Dakota in a place where summertime temperatures routinely exceed 110 degrees, a flood of Biblical proportions evolved slowly, like a time-lapse disaster. And so a few weeks became two months. Pierre (pronounced “peer”) is the state capital on the banks of the Missouri River and graced with rolling hills, gorgeous walking paths, trails and Steamboat Park, one of the most beautiful riverfront parks I have ever seen. But the true gem of the community _ the piece around which all else rotates _ is the Missouri River which separates Pierre from Fort Pierre, the oldest continuous white settlement in South Dakota. Six miles north of Pierre is the Oahe (pronounced Wa-hee) dam, the second largest earthen dam in the world. Dedicated by President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s, the dam holds back 24 million acre feet of water (an acre foot is the amount of water it would take to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.) The dam releases water through the hydroelectric plant which produces electricity for a wide area. Lake Oahe and the Missouri River below the dam boasts some of the best walleye fishing in the country and people from across the Midwest come to Pierre to enjoy boating, camping, fishing and, in the fall, the best pheasant hunting in America. Locals say it was not uncommon to see Air Force II parked at the tiny Pierre airport during pheasant hunting season, evidence of a visit by former vice president Dick Cheney. But as I write this, no one is fishing on the Missouri River because boating has been banned. Steamboat Park is under water, its verdant carpet submerged under several feet of water. Old growth trees which shaded the community band shell where dozens of summer concerts played softly in the night will soon wither and die, their roots drowned by the raging torrent of water that buries them to mid-trunk. The Little League fields, softball fields, RV camping areas are likewise submerged; a gentle ripple flows across the diamond toward the center field scoreboard which peeks above the water. Further south is the Hillsview Golf Course, judged by many to be the second finest course in the whole state. Now, carp swim freely around the holes and snakes slither in and out of pools which creep up to the clubhouse. Record snowmelt and incredible rainfall this spring have flooded the Missouri River watershed with what only can be described as a 500-year flood. The watershed, which extends across several states and into Canada, has poured so much water into the river that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot manage it effectively. And so, as water crept near the top of the Oahe Dam, the Corp ordered record releases into the dam’s stilling basin and into the river, 1.2 million gallons of water a second. Yes, that is correct _ enough water to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools each second. The river slowly, inexorably rose as the releases gradually increased, covering the manmade causeway to La Framboise Island where 7 miles of trails, camping and fishing spots and the wonderful green canopy of trees are now submerged, tearing away top soil and sending snakes, deer and other wildlife into the swirling, muddy water. Basements are flooded but for now, most homes are safe behind hastily constructed but solid earthen levees which strain against the weight and force of the mighty river. A local contractor built them in 6 days, working 24 hours a day, all day with local help. People here filled more than 3 million sandbags for each other, hauled them, placed them and helped people move out of threatened homes. A man in a wheelchair filled bags alongside elderly women and small children in preparation for the announced water release. Neighbors helped elderly residents move appliances and precious items out of basements; restaurants donated food and drinks; people who lived in safe areas gave up weekends and evenings, helping to sandbag, move and in some cases, pray. That is what I saw. Here is what I didn’t see. I didn’t see Jesse Jackson inflaming residents with speeches; I didn’t see anyone standing in line for anything free or demanding that the government offer reparations; I didn’t hear anyone whine about how unfair they had been treated; I didn’t see any FEMA trailers or people demanding that the government house and feed them; other than South Dakota senators and its representative, I didn’t see anyone from Washington D.C. here, looking to make political speeches blaming the other party; I didn’t see anyone complain that the sandbags created an actionable hazard and that if someone fell over them, a lawsuit would result. Oh, I saw something else. I saw what American used to look like.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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