Freezing Up

This is the view of the Iowa River looking north from the Hancher foot bridge. That's the Park Road bridge at the top of this picture. During the floods of 2008, water was well over the top of that bridge. So as you can image, the foot bridge from where this picture was taken, was inaccessible.

Anyway, this is my walk to work every morning. It's about a half a mile, up hill (true) to campus. This particular morning it was about nine degrees, and you can see the river is beginning to freeze.

Years ago (prior to 1960's), before the Coraville Damn was constructed, the river moved much slower and froze more substantially. Fred Kent, a local photo historian, took pictures of people (many people) skating on the river. But the flow is too strong for any safe crossings on foot or skate.

At this this time of year, the eagles take refuge along the river banks. Last year during a noon-time run, I counted no fewer than 19 eagles along the river. It's quite spectacular. And it's common to see an eagle sitting in a tree or flying overhead as I make this water crossing every morning during the winter. So with the constant view of river and eagles, there is always something good to be found in Iowa City, despite the frigid winter conditions.