Receding Flood Waters

The Missouri River at Leavenworth has receded about six feet on its western side. The city, unfortunately, continues to prevent access to the Missouri.

The flood waters at Farley, Missouri have now receded as well. According to the news reports, the Platte River has been much more destructive in Tracey, flooding roads and businesses. Farley has experienced some flooding along the river, but the community itself was unharmed. It is unknown what kind of damage the farms along the river have experienced.

I cannot say that floods are exciting, and I don't think I was gawking, or a member of that "peanut-crunching crowd," by taking pictures at Farley; instead, I was recording a moment. People who searched Google for more information about the flood made their way to my blog. It's possible that someone who has since moved away from the area wanted to learn more about the events at home.

My sensory perceptions were particularly acute on Saturday for some reason. The smell of the flood waters, reminiscent of a lake, was quite strong. The bird calls overhead at Schimmel City, a fishing spot on the Platte, made the shaded and quiet location seem relaxing, causing me to be in no rush to move away from the spot. The running sound of the water over rocks and past trees also proved reminiscent of a meditation garden. Floods aren't meant to be pleasant experiences.

Flood on the Platte River

The flood waters on the Platte River have continued to increase at Farley, Missouri. Compare this picture with the last one from the previous day to see the difference. The crest won't occur in Platte City until sometime Thursday and later than that in Farley, so the water will continue to rise.










Efforts are being made to control the flood waters at Missouri 45 so that the water flows over the bridge instead of into the town of Farley.

Flooding Along the Missouri River

My heart goes out for the people of Greensburg, Kansas, which is located about thirty-five miles west of Pratt, my wife’s hometown. During one of our trips to Pratt, we met a mother and daughter from Greensburg and learned about the deepest hand dug well, a prominent feature of the town, which was created to supply the Santa Fe & Topeka locomotives in the 19th century and once served as the city’s water supply. We had hopes of visiting Greensburg during one of our upcoming trips. Greensburg can be rebuilt, but it will never fully recover from the tornado that struck on May 5. See In This Moment for detailed coverage of the Greensburg disaster.

The part of Kansas where I live has been inundated with rain. A relative of ours, who isn’t acquainted with the torrential rain of eastern Kansas, which mostly falls from March to May and September to November, was woken up on Monday morning to discover that his car was flooded and that his apartment building had water on the first floor. He lived just twenty feet from a creek that seemed fairly innocuous until it swelled with rushing storm water.

The city of Leavenworth has blocked off access to the flooding created by the Missouri River. Some areas north of Leavenworth had as much as seven inches of rain while we had almost four inches in Leavenworth. All of that water is making its way south. Monday night the flooding brought out many of the townspeople who wanted to see exactly how high the river had gotten. When I tried crossing over the police tape to get a better view, one of the firefighters turned me back.

Because access has been blocked to the Missouri River, my wife and I went a few miles away to witness the flooding of the Platte River (not the Platte River found in Nebraska), which feeds the Missouri. Some of our artifacts appear here.



The crest has not yet arrived at Farley, as of Tuesday afternoon.







The Platte River is seen on the other side of the trees in this last picture. Generally, it is possible to walk down to the River at this scenic spot.

Liz Carroll in Kansas City

Liz Carroll , the Irish fiddler, was in Kansas City last Sunday. She is known for having released three CD’s under her name, Liz Carroll (Green Linnet, 1988), Lost in the Loop (Green Linnet, 2000), and Lake Effect (Green Linnet, 2002), and one with John Doyle, In Play (Compass, 2005). Liz Carroll is also known as a song writer and many other Celtic musicians play her tunes.

The Missouri Valley Folklife Society had been working on having Liz Carroll come to Kansas City for a couple of years. The problem, I think, was coming up with the money. MVFS concerts used to be well attended in the past; lately, however, attendance has fallen off for any number of reasons, such as the collapsing economy.

When I used to live in Kansas City during the early 1990’s, I got involved with the Missouri Valley Folklife Society and volunteered once or twice at some of the concerts they had sponsored. Altan performed in Kansas City in 1991 or 1992 before the late Frankie Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer. Their concert opened with Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh singing "An t-Oilean Ur," an unaccompanied solo in Irish from the album Horse with a Heart. They later performed some of the songs from The Red Crow, including “The Wedding Jig.” It was an exciting concert. Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, formerly of Fairport Convention, were in Kansas City for a concert around that time, too.

It wasn’t as easy hearing traditional Celtic music once I moved to Stillwater. The Tannahill Weavers gave a concert at one point in the student union at Oklahoma State, but the tickets were priced much higher than the cost of tickets in Kansas City.

Since returning to Kansas City, I’ve been fortunate enough to see both Lunasa and the Celtic Fiddle Festival, with the late Johnny Cunningham, in concert. Both concerts were excellent. My son was older when Lunasa came to Kansas City and found their stirring rhythms much more to his liking than the solo performances and group settings of the Celtic Fiddle Festival. (Kevin Burke was a member of The Bothy Band; one of the songs from his Bothy Band period elicited a lot of audience excitement during the Celtic Fiddle Festival concert. Christian Lemaitre's Breton dance tunes are particularly haunting. One little girl couldn't resist dancing in front of the stage while he played.)

Liz Carroll and John Doyle gave a great concert, performing a variety of tunes, reels mostly but also a couple of polkas. My son preferred those songs in which John Doyle sang (despite playing his saxophone in the middle school jazz band, my son prefers songs with words). Between songs, Liz Carroll and John Doyle were funny and charming as they described some of their experiences when growing up. Hearing them live makes it possible to appreciate their recordings that much more. I heartily recommend hearing them perform live if the opportunity ever arises.