A section of the Northern Link Trail. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
I love walking here in the evening, when the sun begins its golden descent. A paved path curves along the bank of the Cannon River.
A lopped evergreen along the trail. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
I appreciate the gracefulness of the Northern Link Trail, how it winds around trees rather than tracing a straight line.
The Cannon River roars over the dam. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
And I appreciate the power of the river roaring over the dam, over rocks. There’s something about churning water that mesmerizes me. The sound. The sight. The reminder that water, harnessed or unharnessed, is a powerful thing. It’s a bit terrifying.
A section of the dam walls the river. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
Standing on the narrow dam walkway widens my perspective to include fishermen/women/children angling from the shoreline. This is a popular fishing spot, any time of year.
On the other side of the bridge and about a block away, the Cannon and Straight Rivers merge. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
And then, if I look directly before me, I see the river flowing under the Second Avenue bridge. A short distance later the Cannon joins the Straight River at Twin Rivers Park.
I never tire of watching, and listening to, the river churn. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo.
An overview of the Cannon River and the dam photographed from the river walk by the Rice County Fairgrounds/North Alexander Park.
RIVERS, STRONG AND MIGHTY, flow through our state. The Mississippi. The Minnesota. And here in my county of Rice, the Cannon and Straight Rivers.
Up close to the Cannon River on a January afternoon. Initially, I thought this pair was fishing. They were, instead, playing beside the river.
Here, on these waters, early inhabitants traveled via canoe, traded along river banks, built flour and woolen mills. And formed communities like Faribault, Northfield, Dundas and Morristown, all with waterways that run through.
Randy walks on the river walk under the bridge spanning the Cannon River along Second Avenue in Faribault. The river is to his right.
Rivers are as much about nature as they are about our history. Like railroads, they helped to shape our towns and cities. And today, while no longer of the same utilitarian use, they remain valuable assets.
Many picnic shelters grace Faribault’s riverside parks.
Water rushes over rocks and through ice at the dam by Father Slevin Park.
I am naturally drawn to water, as I expect many of you are. There’s something about water—its power, its motion, its almost hypnotic quality, its soothing sound when rushing over rocks. It’s like poetry flowing into the land.
I stood on the narrow dam walkway to photograph water rushing over the dam on the Cannon River.
Even in the depth of winter, a river—whether iced over or still running—draws me near. To listen, like poetry read aloud. To view, like words of verse written upon paper. To photograph, like an artist and poet and writer who cares. And I do.
Water rushes over the dam along the Cannon River in Faribault.
To walk or pause beside a river is to appreciate art and history and nature. I feel connected to the rivers that trace like poetry through the landscape of southern Minnesota. My home. My place of peace and contentment when I walk beside the waters therein.
TELL ME: Do you have a favorite river? If so, please share why you appreciate this waterway.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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