The Big One

In 2009, those of us living in the Red River Valley experienced what we thought was The Big One -- a record flood to break all other records. We had seen the peak of what was possible, we thought, and survived. Then came 2011, and predictions for the possibility of a new Big One. We got lucky. A slow, stuttering spring melt saved us from a deluge. The problem is, we never really dried out. It's late summer now and the soil remains saturated. The Red River of the North still runs above flood stage. Reservoirs are filled to unprecedented summer levels. The Army Corps of Engineers is flummoxed. People are afraid to utter the words they are thinking: Will the spring of 2012 be the next Big One?

According to professional geologists, the Red River of the North has only existed in its current form for about 7,000 years. Before that, it was a cold glacial lake among other similar lakes. Prehistoric people lived along the shores, notably The Minnesota Woman. Only because of a temporary climate shift did this landscape change into what we see today. Are we now witnesses to another shift, a climatic course correction?

The Minnesota Woman knew something that we refuse to acknowledge. She did not expect the landscape to remain static; nor did she expect the landscape to contort around her preferred lifestyle. Her humble life was based on adaptation to the land, not the other way around. Asking little of the land, hoping for a warm fire and a bountiful food cache, she left few marks; but her legacy is an important antidote for modern hubris.