North Maple Rag

Well, I'd been meaning to post something here about the Prairie Home Companion Soundtrack that I purchased last week, but the Head Kid beat me to it. His post includes my favorite lyrics and an explanation of why I love the soundtrack so much. So, all I'll say is that you should buy the cd, especially if you're a displaced midwesterner.

In other NPR news, I listened to a great episode of This American Life yesterday. The theme this week focused on stories and memories that make us cringe. It was a well-timed episode for me as I realized recently that I now have a sufficient distance from college to truly cringe at my undergraduate foolishness.

The best part of the show was Ira Glass's account of a series of bumbling interviews he conducted with the cast of M.A.S.H. at the age of 20. He astutely points out that in listening to the tapes of the interviews, the things that were the most cringe-worthy were the nervous habits that he knows haven't changed.

Anyway, it's a great show and it's now available at This American Life. Listen and I promise you'll laugh . . . and cringe. And, if you are at all introspective, you'll probably dredge up some long-buried cringe-worthy memory and marvel at the person you once were.

So, I like Las Vegas.

I like the town for pure novelty of it all. Driving in from the east, there are no suburbs. The city pretty much appears out of nowhere. And, of course, it's not your average skyline what with the Stratosphere, a huge pyramid, a mini Manhattan, an Eiffel Tower in the mix. I'd always imagined Vegas to be seedy, but if you stay on the Strip, it's really more like a themepark for adults. Between the free drinks, the crazy buildings, and the truly quality people-watching, I approve.

The last time I drove through Nevada, I ran over a huge chunk of a tire on the interstate. It was the middle of the night and it took us a while to figure out that it had partially disloged a part of my car. We ended up tying my car back together in a parking lot in Elko.

I'm happy to report that nothing similar happened this time. We saw a lot of barren landscape and many, many casinos, but that was it. We also stopped in Las Vegas, but that experience gets a separate post.

Like Iowa, I really didn't realized that we'd be driving through a little piece of Arizona. It was very mountain/desert cool.

Remember how I claimed that South Dakota's the prettiest state? Well, I stand by that claim. I will, however, acknowlege that Utah is probably the most majestic of the states. It's an amazing state and I'm sad that we only had time to stop at Zion. Another trip, encompassing Arches, Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon is definitely in order.

Well, we arrived in L.A. Saturday night and I suppose the road trip officially ended yesterday morning when we parked in front of my new apartment (I'll post pictures from Zion and Vegas tonight). The job starts in just a couple hours, so I haven't really had any time for first day jitters. Most of the law students I know are starting their jobs today and it kind of feels like the first day of kindergarten.

Here we go. Have fun and play nice out there.

I've only been to Utah once before and that was only the northern part. I saw the salt flats, the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. I concluded (rightly, I think) that the state was, in a word, bizarre. That said, today's drive was gorgeous. Deserts, canyons, buttes, mesas and mountains filled the afternoon and evening.

Amazingly, we're less than 500 miles from L.A., which means we drove more than 2/3 of the trip yesterday and today (giving us plenty of time to explore Zion National Park and Las Vegas tomorrow and Saturday).

Anyway, today's drive was satisfying. Good scenery, good conversation and a great new game. Each month, I make a Top 10 list of songs on iTunes. I've been doing this since February 2005 and we spent the last few hours of the drives working our way through last year's spring lists and psychoanalyzing me. Narcissist that I am, I found this immensely enjoyable.

We rolled into Denver about three hours behind schedule last night and arrived at our host's house apologetic and bearing wine. Since the sun while we were still in the no-man's-land of eastern Colorado, we didn't see the mountains until this morning. We spent a few hours in Denver taking care of details (buying forgotten toiletries at Target and checking email at a coffee shop). Eventually, we turned west and headed out of town.

The drive across Colorad included a quick stop for ice cream in Vail (few places scream "Money!"like Vail) and actually, other than a lot of pretty scenery, not much else.

So, full disclosure: I used to hate Nebraska. All of it. But then, after a fun visit to Wayne and a lovely drive across the state on Hwy. 81 last summer, my feelings started to change. I began thinking of Nebraska with an affection previously reserved only for Minnesota (my favorite SoDak neighbor). The hate thing had started during a particularly greuling day trip to Omaha during my senior year of college and until yesterday, I thought I'd completely overcome the experience. Alas, I still hate Omaha. There lots of reasons for my enduring distaste for the city, but none of them are all that interesting. So, I'll just say that the rest of the state is cool enough to overcome it.

Anyway, I picked Kate up at the Omaha airport and we headed west on I-80. The drive was nice, but for some weird weather along the way (documented below). Driving west through Nebraska is a lot like driving west through SoDak: rolling prairie farmland followed by totally flat prairie farmland followed by rough and tumble grassland. Good stuff.

I honestly forgot that I-29 stays on the eastern side of the Missouri River and that I'd be traveling through Iowa on my way to Omaha. Ooops.

My road trip to California started early yesterday morning. I first drove through eastern SoDak, stopping briefly in Sioux Falls to have coffee with a friend and say hi to some of my professors at Augie. I took I-29 all the way from Watertown to the Iowa border and enjoyed all of it. Eastern SoDak is mostly farmland (as opposed to ranch land in the west) and in the spring that means green and gold fields coupled with bright blue skies; all perfect for a morning drive. The pictures below are in reverse order of when I took them (only because it's late and I'm too tired to fix it).

My few days at home between finals and LA were great. Watertown has extended its bike/running path so that it now ends near my house. My brother came home for a bit and we had time to fit in a game of frisbee golf. My parents patiently put up with my unpacking from New York/repacking for LA mess. And, I got to eat at Zesto, the pride of midwestern fast food.

Here's a few photos from one of my runs (pictures that are, admittedly, only interesting to me). First, the new bike path extension, then Highland Park (my second home for the first 12 years of my life), and the frisbee golf course.

Despite the fact that I've got a paper to finish this summer in order to secure my last two credits for the spring semester, I'm going to go ahead and declare myself a 3L. Woo! All I know about being a 3L is that the only pressure put on us seems to be to drink more and study less. Nothin' wrong with that.

I finished my third final in six days yesterday afternoon and then toasted the end of finals with a friend's yummy homemade sangria. I've spent most of my time since then packing and tying up loose ends. My ride to the airport will be here in about 30 minutes and then, I'm going home! Home, home, home! Where my town isn't dirty, loud, or crowded and my parents have a big backyard. I'm sooo excited.

So much so, that I'm going to post an excerpt from Portable Prairie about returning to South Dakota that I've posted at least once before.

As the days passed, my fear subsided into a low-grade anxiety that over the years has lessened but never entirely left me. Now, I only notice it when I go home: I see the land rearranging itself around me, relaxing into prairie; the sky unfurling back to its proper immensity, like a fresh white sheet snapped over a bed by competent, vigorous arms. The fear drains out of me. I note, with some surprise, that I have been feeling tense.