an initial response to the proposal.

woods here:

right now I'm more excited about this project than I ever have been, having just read the project proposal for the first time. everything there rings true with me. it is only for a conspicuous absense that my response to it is anything but 'hell yeah!'. the destruction wrought by attempts to subvert the energies of the river is a profound and timely theme, but in the proposal there is no mention of the the relationship between the natives and the river/watershed before the arrival of conquesting europeans. I'm no expert on the native peoples of the mississippi (though perhaps I will be by the time we're cracking champagne bottles on the stern of the... hey, another point for future discussion, what are we gonna name this vessel?), but having cohabited with the river for countless generations I can only imagine that they accheived a stasis of a kind with the river. harmony is a better word than stasis probably because it implies fluctuations and dynamism but with various elements in accord, as opposed to the stifling monotonous unrelenting drone of industry. I think that it will be important to develop and present this theme of harmony as a counterpoint to the devastation wrought by the forces that would stifle the mississippi. the celebration of characters who oppose this destruction, as outlined in the proposal, is beautiful and necessary, but it's interesting to note that they are forces in opposition to those forces opposing the natural energies of the river, a double negative. we must also celebrate the positive. double negative plus positive equals double positive, yeah?