| [GMCnet] Observations from the heartland [message #90510] |
Wed, 30 June 2010 08:11  |
Gerald Work
Messages: 102
Registered: June 2010
Karma:
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Traversing America on the blue line roads provides a whole different prospective on our country. We have been on freeways a total of less than 100 miles so far and we are now in north central Ohio. We know the west well and lived in New England and the mid west while in grad school, but we really never saw much of either (head down, other end up and all that stuff one does in grad school).
We are struck by the lack of fences and the huge yards here. From NE through, IO, IN, IL and now OH rural America lives in a park. Homes are united by common lawns and gardens, not walled off from one another by opaque fences like is so common in much of the west. It makes for an entirely different concept of community. No wonder the political and media types stuck in condos and limos never even knowing a neighbor just don't get it.
Because of these huge open lawns rural America seems to live on riding lawn mowers - they are everywhere! And, interestingly, barking dogs are noticeably absent unlike our neighborhood in rural southern OR where you become edgy wondering what's up when the dogs stop barking.
Traversing the two lane roads is slow, but boy what a treat! We have enjoyed more small towns on this trip than we can ever remember. We will see how these observations hold up as we try to find non-freeway routes along the south side of the great lakes and on into the Maritime Provinces in eastern Canada.
Cheers,
Jerry
Sent from my iPad
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
List Information and Subscription Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
