Month: September 2019

There is a town in Pennsylvania called Indiana (confusing? Yes.) Jimmy Stewart was born and raised there! The town loves him. In the winter time the town hosts an “It’s a Wonderful Life” festival, there is a statue of him in front of the courthouse, and the cross walks feature his voice (by an impersonator) welcoming you and guiding you across Philadelpia (Main) Street. We went to the Jimmy Stewart Museum and discovered he was really an extraordinary person. Did you know that at the height of his acting career, he volunteered for the army and eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General? And he graduated from Princeton? And he made movies in every decade from the 30s to the 90s? I could see why the town loves him.Main Street, Indiana (still confusing) circa 1930s and now:

I woke up early this morning to take a walk in the country. The highway in front of Jen’s house is pretty busy, so I got off it and onto a side road as quickly as I could. It was only coincidental that I followed a sign that said “baked goods” with an arrow pointing up a road to the right. I was soon well away from the main road and deep in the rolling hills of Rural Pennsylvania. And it was lovely in the low light of the morning sun. I saw wild turkeys and met a nice couple who were bird watching. They told me I might see hawks in addition to the turkeys. I told them I was from Grand Junction, named for the junction of the Colorado (Grand) River and Gunnison River. The man told me they didn’t know that and thanked me for teaching him something new about Colorado. It was kind of adorable.

The day after my arrival in Pennsylvania, I attended a Blacklick township meeting during which exciting news (see headline and article) about the Burrell County library was announced. My friend Jen is the director of this library which has faced many hardships on the road to becoming something truly wonderful for her community. A member of the press was there, and he snapped a photo of me at the temporary library location. I am super proud of Jen who has deftly managed to remain standing through all of this and is poised like Wonder Woman to see this project through to the end. Also, they spelled my name correctly in the paper, so success all around…

Nebraska..so much corn. Iowa…so much corn. On the side of the road, though, in front of the corn, Maximillion Daisies grow wild. I am thinking about the little patch I planted in my front yard. I forget that things we plant and water to make grow in the desert, just grow wild in other places. I love these daisies.

I could not figure out which shoes to bring for a month long trip, so I took out a large duffel and packed all of the shoes I have been wearing lately. It felt a little foolish because that is the second largest bag in my luggage, but I think of it this way, my while brain is going on this big adventure, my feet are just experiencing life as usual. I need them to keep me moving forward, so I am enshrouding them in the familiar to keep me grounded.

I see a lot of sunsets, but not so many sunrises. I woke up to this one today.

Heading East through the midwest is loveliest at night when the moon is rising.

Near Kearney, Nebraska

Mount Garfield and the Book Cliffs, Grand Junction, ColoradoGrand Junction, Colorado