My first residence in the Twin Cities area came when I entered seminary in 1964. On one of my trips back to SDak to visit family I noticed something about myself. When I was driving west toward SDak there was a point when I'd experience a lightness bordering on exhilaration...I'm pretty stoic and don't do exhilaration much. It took me a few trips to figure out what it out. It was where the true prairie began and it felt almost as if a tight band around my chest had been loosened. Growing up on the prairie had imprinted on my psyche.
Joanne and I were in SDak a couple of days last week and once again I had that feeling as we reached the prairie. Some people came live in the woods with deep contentment but not me. It doesn't take long in that setting before I begin to feel claustrophobic.
The months I spent at sea aboard ship when I was in the Marines was made bearable by the sea's horizon. In many ways it reminded me of the prairie. Our living quarters aboard ship were very cramped and I had to duck every time I went through a door (hatch) but the distant horizon was always a comfort.
1 comment:
Me too! It also happens in reverse. I feel it in my shoulders when I reach Rogers or Big Lake. Tightens heading east, lightens going west.
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