1.8.12 Reflections

Today began as a day of reflections, but soon became a day of disappearances as well. Looking down at the river on the west side of the island, I was struck by the crystal clarity of the reflection on its surface of the power towers standing on the Minneapolis side, which reminded me of nothing so much as the slide from a trombone. I promptly whipped out my camera to capture the image, snapped this quick picture and continued on my way while keeping one eye on the river. The weather, for this time of year in Minneapolis, and at this time of the morning (about 7:30 a.m.), was a dream. I suspected that I would be shedding my coat before noon, but in fact wound up doing so long before then.

It wasn't long before I spotted another image that seemed worth capturing, so once again out came the camera. This time, in order to attain the optimal perspective, I had to stand on tiptoe while resting my arms on a thread of barb wire that ran along the top of a chain link fence.

The building you see in the picture, on the Minneapolis side of the river and reflected in the river itself, is the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. As Federal buildings go, I've seen much less attractive ones, and its river reflection provides a handsome complement. This complex has been home to the Federal Reserve since 1997.

On the picture's left side, you can see the subject of my next picture: the 57-story tower of the IDS Center, a Minneapolis landmark and the centerpiece of the downtown skyline. The tallest building in Minneapolis, the IDS Tower is said to be one foot taller than the Capella Tower (more on Capella in a moment).



Here, then, is the IDS Tower in its very own picture, along with its Mississippi mirror image. Directly to the left of the Tower is the Wells Fargo Center, another colossus of the downtown area which, at just about any time of day, happens to cast a dazzling reflection across the glass face of the IDS Tower. Sadly, this is not reflected in my photo, which lacks the crisp clarity of some of my others (maybe I hadn't held still enough when snapping it). At any rate, I do like the way the very top of the Tower, in its river reflection, seems to disintegrate into confetti. (Maybe this was the shot taken while leaning on the barb wire? And maybe that explains my inability to hold still, and the resulting fuzzy image!)


Before getting to my next subject of river reflection, however, it was time to pass underneath the Hennepin Bridge, where you may recall from yesterday's post I had happened upon a bundle of abandoned clothing. At the time, I had reflected (there's that word again) upon who had left the bundle, whether it had been a homeless person, and whether the person would be back to retrieve the articles he or she had so neatly left beneath the bridge. Today the bundle was gone. This was the first of the 'disappearances' alluded to earlier. Was it retrieved by its former owner? Taken away by a trash collector? Dragged into the brush by a desparately hungry fox or raccoon? I'll probably never know. We encounter things that come and go all the time in life, stopping to question them seriously only when they somehow impact our own lives. Other people, too, come in and out of our lives all the time. We share a brief transaction, or perhaps a longer one, and then never see each other again. As I consider this, it makes me think of the ones that have remained through the years, the ones I have never stopped thinking about for long, never stopped communicating with, caring about, and spending time with; and ones who have perhaps dropped out of my life and thoughts for years at a time, only to return to resume our connection as though no time at all had elapsed, no water gone under the bridge--while at the same time both of us knowing that some has, and that we have grown a bit older, perhaps wiser. These, then, are the ones truly worth reflecting upon, the ones worth phoning, writing to, sharing with, and telling what they have meant and still mean to us.

Here, lurking in the background of this photo, is the Capella Tower, second only to IDS in stature, though perhaps more memorable due to the distinctive 'halo' which extends out from its roof. The building occupying the foreground of the picture, and producing a more substantial reflection in the river, is the 469-ft. tall Carlyle apartment building, which is the 12th tallest building in Minneapolis, and the tallest residential building in Minnesota. We were not residents on the island for long when, standing in front of our home, we looked up and saw this imposing structure brilliantly lit up against the southwestern night sky. The building stands just on the other side of the Hennepin Bridge, and about three blocks to the left.

From here, I continued around the southern tip of the island and paused a moment to visit my Christmas ball, hanging in its usual place. Beyond it was the usual lovely reflection of the Central Avenue Bridge in the river, and so I snapped a picture. Little did I know at the time that this was to be my final glimpse of that silver ball, found in a moment of serendipity and hung upon a tree limb in a moment of whimsey.

A couple of hours later, after a coffee date with a friend, he and I strolled over to the same spot, and much to my dismay, the ball was gone. It came to me like a punch in the gut, with a lingering melancholic ache that continued to pulse in my foolish sentimental fancy for the rest of the day. I knew the ball would disappear one day, but before a single week had passed? Ah well, another of those things that come into our lives ... then go. It brought me pleasure for nearly a week, and that is an amount of pleasure for which I can be thankful.

I left the southern tip of the island behind me and resumed my stroll, heading north up the eastern edge of the island. Here is the picture I snapped of the Merriam Street Bridge and its lovely reflection. With this bridge behind me, I was nearing the end of my walk. I decided there was time for one final reflection, a reflection of nature alone rather than of man-made structures.

Here, then, is my final reflection: a line of graceful and picturesque trees lining the river bank, bare limbs spread wide as, Narcissuslike, they admire their own beauty in the river's mirror. Are we so very different than these trees? The island and the river embracing it provide beautiful reflections aplenty, while giving me the peace and solitude in which to cast my own reflections and consider their meaning & worth.

Life flows on, in and around us--we reflect what we see and feel and have experienced, reflections that may be shattered at any time, without warning, just as a tossed stone shatters reflections in the river.