“When the heart
Is cut or cracked or broken
Do not clutch it
Let the wound lie open
Let the wind
From the good old sea blow in
To bathe the wound with salt
And let it sting.
Let a stray dog lick it
Let a bird lean in the hole and sing
A simple song like a tiny bell
And let it ring
Let it go.
Let it out.
Let it all unravel.
Let it free and it can be
A path on which to travel.”
~ Michael Leunig, Prayer Tree
Slightly downstream from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of Mothman and the Silver Bridge, is Gallipolis, the “Old French City, founded in 1790.” The town square has a French feel to its oldest architecture. It’s really nice that the city park, which is the city center, looks out to the river. It’s also nice how accessible the river is from here, and the city has done a pretty good job of highlighting its history to the casual passerby. On April 1, 1818, some Welsh folk stopped by, got stuck and stayed a few generations. The photo at the bottom shows two record floods the city has endured. The highest was 66.5 feet in 1913, as marked by the top plaque on the stone. To put that in perspective, I’m 5’5″, but the top of my head only reached the bottom plaque. That’s deep water, ya’ll. I could say a lot about floods. I’ve been writing about the Appalachian climate for a week, and I’ve got all sorts of climate change facts rolling around in my noggin. I’ll save it for the paper, though and let ya’ll enjoy what’s left of April Fools Day. Did you get pranked today? I’m pretty sure the weather in Kentucky was the April Fools joke. brrrrrrr
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