I’m at Andy’s house. Grandkids are grand. We replaced 4 old doors that didn’t close with 4 new doors that do. Jesus said you can’t put new wine in old wineskins, but if he lived today he would surely have used doors in this parable. I have suffered several gashes and bruises – mementos of updating this old house.
There is a track worn into the back yard grass by pulling screaming little people around and around in a large plastic green wagon. Katy had withdrawals from Guatemala which resulted in home made corn tortillas and black beans. Yum. Iowa is as sticky as I remembered it to be, and beautifully verdant as it tends to be in the early summer.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri
I left Tupelo under grey skies, but by the time I reached Memphis the sun was shining. So I parked my car and rode around downtown on my bike for a while. I met the unofficial historian of Beale Street. This guy is a pan handler who waxes eloquent about the colorful and shady history of these two blocks. He was really fun and we talked and laughed for quite a while.
I crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and saw fields of rice for the first time. I took some pictures of it. I’m often surprised at how different the topography is on the other side of a big river. Mississippi was rolling hills, and Arkansas was flat as a pancake, and mostly cultivated. I drove next to the Mississippi River all day, expecting to see the wide, muddy river often, but there is a big levy almost everywhere and you can’t see it at all!
I tried to eat lunch in Oceola, but there were only fast food and chain restaurants, so I drove up to Blytheville and ate at the Fire B Cue Café. I had the best bacon cheeseburger I can ever remember. I met a guy there –he must have been 80 years old – who use to drive trucks but now paints houses. I learned about trucking - why it was a pain to haul beef out of South Dakota, Driving to Cincinnati in the winter, that the delivery entrances to most bakeries are very narrow, and how to avoid getting tickets. I told him he should be out fishing instead of painting and he explained that he is on his 5th wife, and each time he started over he lost it all to the last wife. He has lung cancer and has to take blood thinner, which explained how a simple light scratch from his dog created the large purplish spot on his arm with a dark line down the middle.
Leaving scenic Arkansas I crossed into Missouri at its southernmost point. I arrived in St. Louis in time to go the Arch. It was amazing. My facility with the English language is inadequate, so I’ll have settle with “uber-incredible-” perhaps my favorite man-made structure on the planet. Going up inside, and looking out was awesome, but I think it was even better to stand on the ground and look at it. One almost could get the impression it is alive. The arch changes depending on where you stand and the angle of the sun. I took a jillion pictures and each one is my favorite.
I left St. Louis at sunset and stopped driving in Hannibal, MO.
So, I started the day in the birthplace of Elvis, and ended in the birthplace of Mark Twain. I’m not sure if that is a progression of regression.
I crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and saw fields of rice for the first time. I took some pictures of it. I’m often surprised at how different the topography is on the other side of a big river. Mississippi was rolling hills, and Arkansas was flat as a pancake, and mostly cultivated. I drove next to the Mississippi River all day, expecting to see the wide, muddy river often, but there is a big levy almost everywhere and you can’t see it at all!
I tried to eat lunch in Oceola, but there were only fast food and chain restaurants, so I drove up to Blytheville and ate at the Fire B Cue Café. I had the best bacon cheeseburger I can ever remember. I met a guy there –he must have been 80 years old – who use to drive trucks but now paints houses. I learned about trucking - why it was a pain to haul beef out of South Dakota, Driving to Cincinnati in the winter, that the delivery entrances to most bakeries are very narrow, and how to avoid getting tickets. I told him he should be out fishing instead of painting and he explained that he is on his 5th wife, and each time he started over he lost it all to the last wife. He has lung cancer and has to take blood thinner, which explained how a simple light scratch from his dog created the large purplish spot on his arm with a dark line down the middle.
Leaving scenic Arkansas I crossed into Missouri at its southernmost point. I arrived in St. Louis in time to go the Arch. It was amazing. My facility with the English language is inadequate, so I’ll have settle with “uber-incredible-” perhaps my favorite man-made structure on the planet. Going up inside, and looking out was awesome, but I think it was even better to stand on the ground and look at it. One almost could get the impression it is alive. The arch changes depending on where you stand and the angle of the sun. I took a jillion pictures and each one is my favorite.
I left St. Louis at sunset and stopped driving in Hannibal, MO.
So, I started the day in the birthplace of Elvis, and ended in the birthplace of Mark Twain. I’m not sure if that is a progression of regression.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Southern Sweep
I woke up this morning in Tupelo, Mississippi. My arrival in the birthplace of Elvis Presley was not premeditated – this is just where I was when I got tired of driving last night. I’ve never been in Mississippi. I’m interested to see what it looks like in the daylight.
I woke up yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia. That was my last day of a two-week class in the Orff approach to teaching music to children. The instruction I received there lifted me to a new level, at least, in my mind. It will take a year of application to complete the process. I made some great friends. The sum of what I learned from my fellow students was equal to the formal curriculum.
I don’t know where I’ll wake up tomorrow. I need to meet Katy in Des Moines Sunday PM. I’ll pass through Memphis and St. Louis today. I don’t know if I’ll be adventurous or just hammer on through. I feel pretty flat – you know, the let down from two intense weeks. It’s cloudy and dreary, but I did buy an umbrella in Savannah….
I woke up yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia. That was my last day of a two-week class in the Orff approach to teaching music to children. The instruction I received there lifted me to a new level, at least, in my mind. It will take a year of application to complete the process. I made some great friends. The sum of what I learned from my fellow students was equal to the formal curriculum.
I don’t know where I’ll wake up tomorrow. I need to meet Katy in Des Moines Sunday PM. I’ll pass through Memphis and St. Louis today. I don’t know if I’ll be adventurous or just hammer on through. I feel pretty flat – you know, the let down from two intense weeks. It’s cloudy and dreary, but I did buy an umbrella in Savannah….
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