At the end of the summer, the 11-year-old and I drove up to the start of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota. We arrived just after sunset, and the darkening blue of the sky glowed in Lake Itasca to the left and the beginning of the Mississippi to the right. The start of the river is out in the middle of nowhere, which meant little light pollution, so a sky full of stars. We had the whole quiet place to ourselves. It felt sacred. We camped nearby, in the state park, and returned the next morning, as crowds of people ebbed in and out, walking the stepping stones across the knee-deep start of the great river. It’s not a great dramatic vista—the lake is modest sized, the beginning of the river is about 18 feet wide and calm. But we’d been at New Orleans, near the end of the Mississippi, in spring the year before, and now arriving at the start of the river I felt all the miles, all the adventures in between. Here at the beginning of the river, people took selfies and families squabbled and kids accidentally splashed into the water. It felt like a place to be both solemn as well as a place to cheer. It felt like a place of beginnings, a place full of possibilities. And I tried to carry that with me as we walked back to our car and began the long road home.


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Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 30, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 30, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)
Headwaters of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)