The Last Night of Chanukah at Lake Chicot, Arkansas

Everyone else has been posting Chanukah pictures all week, so now it’s my turn.

I like the reflections in these pictures: The interior photo of the menorah has the candles reflected on the glass lid that covers the stove burners; the exterior photo through the window has a subtle interior reflection of the candles from the opposite window; and the third photo, well, the reflection is pretty obvious.

This is the best sunset we have had so far on this trip.

We are currently camped at Lake Chicot, in southeast Arkansas. About a mile and a half west of the Mississippi border, as the crow flies, and thirty miles north of the Louisiana border. Also, as the crow flies.

Lake Chicot used to be a section of the Mississippi River, but about 300 years ago the Mississippi changed course, as it is famous for doing, pinching off and isolating the section that is now the C shaped Lake Chicot.

This diagram illustrates how this happens:

A lake formed this way is called an oxbow lake, and Lake Chicot is the largest oxbow lake in North America. But given how often rivers change their course, there are many oxbow lakes. Look at all the swirls of water on a map of this local area.

The following was not done by an artist, although it is a work of art. It shows the changing course of the of the Mississippi River over time. It is from the “Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River” (Harold Fisk, 1944)

What we are learning about the Mississippi River is fascinating. Maybe more blog posts to come.