That time I hacked a JCS email and turned it into a poem about my love for Canada
Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response, Shawn!
After growing up in the suburbs of Boston, and going to school in the city, I felt very drawn to more rural places. Which is probably why I ended up in Vermont - a happy medium between my life in New England and wanting to be as far away from it as possible, if you know what I mean.
It helps that I have a degree in geology and a penchant for exploring, analyzing, and classifying. The woods - I especially like the forest too. But like you said, there is something so mysterious about the prairie. Like there is something hiding out there even though it feels like you can see forever. It is so historically significant, but at the same time so lost that it is almost whimsical. I lived in South Dakota for a bit and never wanted to leave. As a city kid from the northeast, I guess the prairie felt just as naturally exotic as the tropics, with the additional bonus of living in an extremely rural community for the first time (and the fascinating relationships with the “rough around the edges” types!). I loved it. However, I know that I do belong in the forest where it is damp and mossy and green. Thus, Vermont.
And yes! I had a chance to visit most of the places you mentioned. It is still so vivid even though it was a few years ago. I can’t wait to get back. My favorite place was definitely Dawson City, eating salmon fish and chips on top of the Midnight Dome and then taking the Top of the World Highway to Alaska. Although, I most fondly remember the breath taking beauty of the canola fields through Saskatchewan.
I think the most intriguing part - about the interior plains and remote places - is the environment and how people shape their lives around it. In the city, we live despite nature. From my wanderings and experience, in the country, you have to live with it. And work with it, and teach your children to love it - or else. Driving around the states and Canada on backroads and to far off places, I’ve always loved observing these relationships.
Sorry for the blabber - but thank you so much for asking! My focus these days is more on building my life in Vermont, so I have a lot less time for my youthful pastime of impulsive road tripping to unheard of destinations (plus, leaving Vermont in the summer is incredibly hard to do, it’s SO beautiful!), but it is still a huge passion of mine, clearly, because here I am milking you for information! Thanks again!
After growing up in the suburbs of Boston, and going to school in the city, I felt very drawn to more rural places. Which is probably why I ended up in Vermont - a happy medium between my life in New England and wanting to be as far away from it as possible, if you know what I mean.
It helps that I have a degree in geology and a penchant for exploring, analyzing, and classifying. The woods - I especially like the forest too. But like you said, there is something so mysterious about the prairie. Like there is something hiding out there even though it feels like you can see forever. It is so historically significant, but at the same time so lost that it is almost whimsical. I lived in South Dakota for a bit and never wanted to leave. As a city kid from the northeast, I guess the prairie felt just as naturally exotic as the tropics, with the additional bonus of living in an extremely rural community for the first time (and the fascinating relationships with the “rough around the edges” types!). I loved it. However, I know that I do belong in the forest where it is damp and mossy and green. Thus, Vermont.
And yes! I had a chance to visit most of the places you mentioned. It is still so vivid even though it was a few years ago. I can’t wait to get back. My favorite place was definitely Dawson City, eating salmon fish and chips on top of the Midnight Dome and then taking the Top of the World Highway to Alaska. Although, I most fondly remember the breath taking beauty of the canola fields through Saskatchewan.
I think the most intriguing part - about the interior plains and remote places - is the environment and how people shape their lives around it. In the city, we live despite nature. From my wanderings and experience, in the country, you have to live with it. And work with it, and teach your children to love it - or else. Driving around the states and Canada on backroads and to far off places, I’ve always loved observing these relationships.
Sorry for the blabber - but thank you so much for asking! My focus these days is more on building my life in Vermont, so I have a lot less time for my youthful pastime of impulsive road tripping to unheard of destinations (plus, leaving Vermont in the summer is incredibly hard to do, it’s SO beautiful!), but it is still a huge passion of mine, clearly, because here I am milking you for information! Thanks again!