This time of year something wonderful happens to the Sangamon River. With little rain, the river settles, clears up and the decaying leaves turn the water the color of strong iced tea. The black tannined water creates a mirror reflecting the world above, taking my mind back to the southern rivers, swamps and oceans of my youth. I grew up […]

Since I’m really into the latest technology, I decided it would be cool to go down the river sending “tweets” to my “followers” as I make my way. But I actually don’t have a Twitter account nor any actual followers (that I’m aware of), and besides, since I’m so into the latest technology, why would I want to risk dropping […]

(Latest Notes from the River column Now that I’ve been at this for a few weeks, my reader mailbag is filling up. So this week, we reach down into the ol’ mailbag and answer a few of your most pressing questions about the Sangamon River. Q: “Scott, have there ever been any historic places along the Sangamon River that were […]

One evening a few years back, our teenage daughter informed Carol and me how she was having trouble fitting in with the popular crowd in Junior High. So she wanted us to move from our little house in Philo to a new town. Naturally, we informed her that teenage girls were teenage girls no matter where you live and that […]

I was sitting at my ten-year-old Dell laptop the other afternoon when I excitedly said to my wife Carol “You should see these awesome pictures of Bruce’s mussels on the internet!” I guess I didn’t immediately realize how awkward it could have come across. Of course, I wasn’t admiring Bruce’s mussels exactly, I was admiring Bruce’s colorful pictures of the […]

When I first moved to this area and heard about a “Sangamon River Music Festival” I was pretty excited about celebrating a river in song. But I’ve come to discover that “The Sangamon River Music Festival” has little to do with the actual Sangamon River. So I decided to have my own personal Sangamon River Music Festival. And since my […]