Tuesday, September 09, 2008

i can dig it

i don't normally discuss politics on this blog (that and religion are the two things that can cause the biggest fights). but i think i can get behind this ticket

Monday, September 01, 2008

My Soul

ok, this sounds like it's going to be a religious post, and maybe it is, to a point. but. here's the deal. i'm a plains girl. i have never lived anywhere else. while i long for the sea, i sometimes wonder. maybe it's the openness i crave. i went to new york a few years back, and i was stunned at the number and variety of trees. even in the fields in the country, they were surrounded by trees. it *almost* made me claustrophobic.

one of my favorite shows is Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Tonight, i'm watching the Egypt episode. Right now, he's in the desert with the Bedouins. and it appeals. the openness, the barrenness. knowing that there's nothing between you and the horizon, which is miles away. While i found the trees beautiful, and i find mountains beautiful as well, i long for open spaces.

when we went to tybee island, when we visited my brother in georgia, my favorite time was walking the beach. nothing before me but miles and miles of open beach, and to the east, uninterrupted ocean.

i think it's my pioneer soul. both my grandmothers crossed the plains in covered wagons. the older of the two didn't go far (she was born in mondamin, iowa, and they continued on to the tekamah, nebraska area when she was 6 weeks old, although they came from further east), but my younger grandmother was born in 1905, and travelled from iowa to wyoming when she was 5. considering horses/oxen were lucky to get 10 miles a day with those heavy burdens (it's 700 miles from here to gillette, the largest city where they settled), it was a long ass trip.

my grandpa ran away from home in indiana when he was 15, in 1903, so probably, he travelled the same way. i don't know about my other grandpa, except that he was born in germany in 1892, and travelled with his family to wyoming when he was 18 (it just occured to me that he and my grandmother went to wyoming at the same time, lol). he was the eldest of 10 children. maybe they took the train, but i kinda doubt it. 10 kids on a train?

either way, i crave open spaces. i miss living in the country, where there are miles to the next neighbor, and not feet (i often hear the neighbors coming & going from my bedroom, as their driveway runs right next to it). mark wants our next home to be in the country, but it's not feasible at this time, with both boys in high school, and both our folks here in the omaha/cb area.

maybe later.

we drove out to wilson island today, to double check everything for the family reunion that's coming in 3 weeks. it was wonderful, seeing the horizon miles away again, and open spaces. the river was even open to the sky. i'm supposed to go back on wednesday to check the electrical hookups (we're renting 2 camping spaces so that we have enough electrical hookups for all the food, lol). i may sit there for a while, and just absorb the open.