Bailing Bucket

I have to say that our recent trip to Idaho was fantastic, but there were a few annoying encounters. Everyone was extremely nice, but Americans are a bit different. They aren’t a lot different, just a bit. At least, that was what I thought until one of our last days.

We camped along the Pend Oreille River which is part of the Columbia river system (which, you guessed, comes from the Columbia Ice Fields in Banff). Apparently, they have had a lot of trouble with flooding in recent years and so a long this river system they have a series of damns, hydro plants and levies. We camped at Albeni Cove which is directly across from the Albeni Falls Damn and Hydro plant. So, they control the water flow and they produce some green electricity. And they offer tours! I’ve never been in a hydro plant so this seemed like a great opportunity to see one up close. We went to the one o’clock tour.

We arrived early, so we watched a brief video and then we were off. Our guide, a 20 year old who kept referring to what we did in 1995 (when he was six), politely told me that I couldn’t bring my camera. Because of 9/11 and Homeland Security we can’t let you take pictures of the damn. Seriously? Fine, fine. I get it America. You don’t have to tell me twice.

I was annoyed, but it’s not necessarily my place to judge how America deals with tragedy. So, I was a bit quiet. The guide is telling us all about the damn and he keeps asking—Do you have any questions? Well, after the third or fourth time he asked, I felt bad for the kid. Throw the kid a bone, I thought. So what could I ask that he hasn’t covered, oh I know—how many people does it take to run this plant? It’s not a huge hydro plant. Only three turbines. But I didn’t see any people. Because of 9/11 and Homeland Security we can’t divulge that information, but I can tell you that between 100-200 people.

Now, I was just angry. I didn’t talk for the rest of the tour. But the kicker was once we got inside. The damn was built in 1955. All the technology was from 1955. The turbines and everything. All old panels, toggles and switches. Yes, yes, the terrorists have no working knowledge past 1955. They still use spears and arrows. I am so bloody sure that my camera would have revealed something sensitive.

America, because of 9/11, I don’t know if I can come visit you. We can still be friends, but I am not coming over to your house. Too many rules.

Oh and the other great thing. The States is just beginning to research, after seeing fish stocks decline, whether or not their damns affect the fish in the river. After 50 years, they just thought about it now.

Finally, because I started reading Diviner’s again and I read this section maybe this is appropriate:

Morag read Pique’s letter again, made coffee and sat looking out at the river, which was moving quietly, its surface wrinkled by the breeze, each crease of water outlined by the sun. Naturally, the river wasn’t wrinkled or creased at all — wrong words, implying something unfluid like skin, something unenduring, prey to age. Left to itself, the river would probably go on like this, flowing deep, for another million or so years. That would not be allowed to happen. In bygone days, Morag had once believed that nothing could be worse than killing a person. Now she perceived river-slaying as something worse. No wonder the kids felt themselves to be children of the apocalypse.