Does anyone else hear the world call to them like I do? It's so enticing - like a siren in the seas begging me to come closer. What does this world have to offer? Where do these roads really lead? What will I find when I get there? Who will I be once I'm there?
So it begins. Today, Alex, Piper (our adorable sheepadoodle) and I start our journey to the unknown. The lesser known, perhaps lesser traveled states some would say are "fly over states". The great west! The places where nature is still a way of life. Mountains, Valleys, Bison, Elk, Prairies - what is a prairie anyhow?! Will I know one when I see it?
We begin our journey with one final hurdle: getting there. We spend today and tomorrow driving through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa - all states that I have frequented. I have imagined these states to be less exciting; their allure is no longer strong in comparison to the great west.
As our primary focus is to explore parts of this great country that are hard to get to, we must first drive through parts that aren't. As the miles drive on, the familiar terrain and places start to become the exception. Living in the eastern US most of my life - hills and trees are the primarily landscape. "Wilderness" is a term that has intersected my life in so many ways. Thick woods that serve as a fence between you and the rest of the world. Hills that block you from seeing much, at times maybe making you feel claustrophobic. There aren't wide open spaces like I imagine Montana to have. Though it has it's own form of beauty (especially in fall), the wilderness has lost it's wonder when it is almost all of what I see.
Here on this drive, starting for me sometime in Iowa, you can get lost in the world of farmland. To some they say "miles and miles of nothing". That was not my experience. The perfectly planned crops hugging soft undulations displays remarkable beauty. The shift from one crop to the next, one farm to another is breathtaking. So many questions arose in my mind as distance from the ocean and big cities increased. Just think of all the hard work it has required, the machines that have been invented to assist. How did this farm come into existence? How did one become a landowner or a settler? What a fantastic thought to be reminded of simpler (and somehow so much more complex) times! When these lands were first settled, the subsequent governing of those independent lives, and sadly, the people from whom the land was originally taken. It's interesting the visualizations one can concoct when driving the open roads in these states. I'm here to confirm the ride was not long and flat but peaceful and thought provoking!
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