Mississippi River, Deere dike, Dubuque, Iowa
The warm weather of the last few days made the snow disappear and cleared the Mississippi River from its ice cover for the most part. Rain and a gray overcast kept probably most people at home today and so I didn’t meet a single soul during a hike on the Deere dike that stretches far out into the river. No trains moved on either side along the shores and so it was quiet and peaceful.
I guess I may have been too late for some fog banks above the water, but the overall mood across the Mississippi Valley made me searching for a picture that reflects exactly the peace in the valley I found today.
This navigation light in the river has been more than once my subject and anchor for the eye. Color was literally not present this morning and so it was an easy choice to process the photo as a black & white image. The view goes north, where all the water comes from, the bluffs on the left mark the Iowa side of the river, while the Wisconsin side on the right remains only as a gray band at the horizon.
As I’m writing this the winter comes back again with strong wind, snow, and a considerable temperature drop. Tomorrow things will be different…
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200 /f4. @ 135mm, 1/400s, f4.5, ISO 200