As an independent traveler, it would have been very difficult for me to make an image such as this from the middle of the Mississippi River. However, since I was a passenger on this touring ship, I am able put the viewer into the center of that river. The key to the image is the fluttering flag, flying from a diagonal flagpole in the back of the ship, identifying the national registry of the vessel itself. Meanwhile, a tug that usually pushes barges along the Mississippi, crosses the river just behind us, lending a sense of scale to the scene. A bridge, carrying traffic across the river, frames that boat. It also guides the eye towards both the flag and the splash of golden sky at the left edge of the frame.