The Sites: Redefining Rivers - From the Mississippi to the Eno

Mississippi River at Leech Park; Bettendorf, Iowa

Between the swamps of south Florida and the rivers of eastern Iowa, I'd always lived with water as an integral part of my landscape.  It was simply there: the canals and the rivers were as common as sidewalks and streets.


Moving to central North Carolina required me to adjust my thinking.  Here, bodies of water are more a destination than part of the scenery - where I used to walk along and across the Iowa River to get to class, now I have to drive a decent distance to specific access points for the local rivers and lakes.
  

Eno River at Cole Mill Road; Durham, NC

I've also had to redefine my ideas about what a river should be.  Where the Mississippi stretches and flows wide and deep, the Eno River meanders more narrowly, shallowly, and slowly, really only raging after a heavy rain.  The scale of the two rivers is vastly different and so is their character.  Where the Mississippi is big and bold, the Eno is quiet and quaint.  

Eno River at Pleasant Green; Orange County, NC

The quiet, removed quality of the Eno combined with the nature preservation efforts  of the North Carolina parks and wildlife agencies has given it an edge over the more developed rivers of my previous homes, however.  The river bluffs here are more often paralleled by hiking trails than thoroughfares, with the shallower depths enabling you to cross the river by fording it rather than relying on a suspension bridge.  It also makes for more opportunities for adventure among its tributary creeks, allowing you to explore off the beaten path to find the hidden gems that aren't often found along the larger waterways.


I've also had to adjust my expectations of wildlife along each river.  The Mississippi is home to nesting bald eagles, with visitors' bureaus and local businesses alike celebrating their annual migration.  The size of the river also enables it to support large flocks of mallards throughout the year.  

Mallard on the Mississippi; Bettendorf, IA

Here in North Carolina, the eagles tend to prefer the area lakes for their roosting while migrating Canadian Geese make themselves at home in neighborhood ponds.  The Eno's paths provide an opportunity to get friendly with more of its ground-dwelling residents, with turtles capitalizing on the lower water levels to climb out on branches and rocks to bask in the sun.

Turtles on the Eno

I admit that I spend a fair amount of time mourning my majestic, mammoth rivers: the Mississippi, the Iowa, the Cedar, and the Wapsipinicon (or the "Wapsi" as we call it) are testaments to the power of water on larger scales - and as the spring flood season approaches, those in their flood plains keep a wary eye on their levels.  Trips to Washington, New Bern and Elizabeth City bring on such nostalgia as I sit along the Pamlico, Neuse, Trent, Chowan, and Pasquotank Rivers, lamenting that there is no such waterfront where I live now.  But the Eno has taught me to appreciate the smaller scale.  In the end, what it boils down to is that a river is a river, no matter how small; the beauty of a river is that it always and yet never the same, which is really what draws me to them in the first place.