Ol' Man River

When we had that little confrontation in the Garden of Eden, God punished the serpent thusly:

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:14-15 KJV)

Ol' Man River crawls on his belly and eats dust all the days of his life. Many of our cities lie atop his head (near or at the mouth of the river). We bruise his head, and his floods bruise our heel.

At the mouth of our greatest river (the Mississippi) lies the city of New Orleans, where we go annually to celebrate a form of debauchery known as Mardi Gras, which no doubt makes the serpent very proud of himself. He can tolerate the pain as long as he can snare a few thousand more souls.

Next: Where is the entrance to the Garden of Eden?