Are My Silent Echoes Changing or Fading?

 Location: Trail of Tears State Park; Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Yeah, I know the nearest town is Jackson, Missouri but I wanted to use Cape. It's kind of sadly ironic that a town named after President Jackson would be the address to a park commemorating the Trail of Tears. After all, Jackson was very instrumental in the shameful Indian Relocation Act that started the whole Trail of Tears. I've written about that sad chapter in our history in several posts over the years and will not dive into it in this one.

Cape Girardeau was my old stomping grounds when I was 15, 16 and 17 years of age. I left here when I joined the Navy in the fall of 1973. I went back for a couple of visits while on leave but never longer than a few days. Moving around the country while growing up limited me to only a couple close friends in all the places we lived. Once we would move away, the bonds created by the commonality of life would stop and we would drift apart. Over the decades since, I've been back a few times to check in on my memories. Each time, the emotional tugs from my silent echoes have been weaker and weaker. I've thought about this a lot on this stop and I've yet to figure out if it is just time affecting my silent echoes or if I have just harden my emotions too much over the years.

My silent echoes are still strong. I proved that to myself when I drove by the house we lived in. My mind was immediately flooded with memories and emotions. I could visualize my father's company truck parked in the driveway. And it was as if I had X-ray vision, I could see my parents and me meeting with the Navy recruiter at the dining room table as they signed off on my enlistment since I was only 17. Now that I think about it, my parents gave me that dining table a few years after I got married. It is still in my house where my X-wife and Brandon live. My family has eaten Thanksgiving dinner on that table for about the last 40 years and will again this year. I could also clearly see me, at 16, standing at the top of the stairs and my father at the bottom. My mother had just told him that I had started smoking. What did my father do? I can still hear the words in my mind today as I sit in front of the old house,,,,, he said "I can't stop you from smoking, but one thing I can guarantee you, is that one day you will regret making that decision. Now supper's ready, come eat." Of course he was right and to my credit, I quit in 2007 after smoking for 35 years. In another 3 years, I'll celebrate the break-even point where the number of smoking years equal the non-smoking years.

Visiting some of my old hanging out spots, the silent echoes still existed, but the emotional tug didn't. The old home place was the only one that tugged on my emotions. I was surprised my old church had closed down. Sadly, I guess that chasm that started back in the summer of 72 never healed. I'll have to do more thinking about this but am glad my silents echoes are still around, albeit emotion-less. Oh well, just one more thing to think about.

A couple of old posts may fill in the blanks some more:

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-river-will-tell-you-your-future.html

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2016/06/random-thoughts-silent-echoes.html

The rest of the post will be pictures. By the way, although this campground is about 10 miles from any restaurants or Walmart, it is a great little campground right on the Mississippi River. I can easily see it out my back window and enjoy watching the tow boats working on the river. It is much better than Tom Sawyer Campground in West Memphis which is also right on the river but twice the price. It is a very relaxing campground if you're in the area. I will probably be back. 

Typical landscaped in southern Illinois. It was a pretty sky and good traveling weather.

My campsite. It is electric only and shaded for about 75% of the day.That is the Mississippi River in the background.

This is the best part of my campsite. The River out my back window.

This is taken from the back yard of my campsite. The railroad has trains coming through about 6 to 8 times a day. The parking area is for the boat ramp which is unusable right now due to the river being low or silt not being removed. 

Good morning Sunshine. This is from the boat ramp parking area. I drove Freedom over there so I would have a place to sit while waiting on the sun. It would be nice if they installed a few benches.

This was the sunrise in my side mirror. Notice all the birds flying. They appeared all at once. Nice surprise.

They did have a bench at a small scenic view site. 

This is from the observation platform in the park. If you look farther up river, you can see at least two other tows. They pass by about every 30 to 45 minutes. The app, "marinetraffic" is good at predicting when they will arrive at a location.

This is looking downstream from the platform. You can see one tow working his way upriver. Notice all of the jetties/dikes on each side of the river. They appear to be doing a good job.

As I was leaving the platform, this bird, I think it was a bald eagle, soared by. He was headed down river, riding the air currents. It was nice.

Cape Girardeau has a flood wall to protect the city during the times the Mississippi floods. They have decorated it with an amazing mural that covers all of the important times in the life of the city. 

This is one of flood gate openings. The markings on the side are the high water marks from previous floods. 1973 is there and that is the one I witnessed. It is about 7 feet up from the bottom of the gate opening. 

Standing on the river side of the flood wall looking at the gate.

This a one of a kind welcome sign to river travelers. Notice the person sitting on the steps in the distance. That would have been me back in the early 70's as I listened to the river predicting my future. 

Even the railroad has it's flood gate. In the background is the casino. I've heard it is doing real good. My church that is now closed is behind me in this picture. A tale of two extremes. 

This is just one of the many tows that passed through my backyard area. It was as if they were on parade. "Through me something mister."

Today is moving day. I'm headed to a small Kentucky State Park on the Mississippi River. I won't have the fantastic view I've had in this campground, but I think it will still be good. It is a very isolated area and I'm not sure about a Verizon signal so I may not be able to post for a few days. On the way, I plan to stop at Fort Defiance to see the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. I've been there before and wrote a post about it. It is very close to the city of Cairo, Illinois which has been a "sketchy" place since I lived in Cape as a teenager. If it looks too bad, I'll just keep on going. From here, you have to pass through the town to get to the bridge over the Ohio River so you can enter Kentucky. Just thinking about it gives me a bad vibe. Hopefully, things have improved over the years. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe, I'll Cya down the road.