Graduating from Marine Corps Boot Camp mid-December 1959, we graduates were sent home on two weeks leave whether we wanted it or not. The Corps didn't want us hanging around over the holidays. This was before ubiquitous air travel. While getting us to San Diego for Boot Camp we'd been flown from Omaha, my first airplane trip. Getting home on leave was left up to us. It was a two day trip by bus, which was what we could afford.
Much of the trip was on U.S. Highway 30, for me from Salt Lake City to Omaha. Highway 30 took Ed almost to his farm in eastern Iowa. Little did I know, as I made that trip three times, that it was the "Lincoln Highway", the first transcontinental highway which begins in Times Square, New York City and ends in San Francisco. There's clear memories of going through Rock Springs, Rawlins and Cheyenne, WY.
Lincoln Highway is the name of Amor Towles' (A Gentleman In Moscow) lengthy (567 pages) novel. It's a fun story well told. Towles has interesting characters who engage. Not much time is spent on the Highway. While not the most profound read there are some keen insights. An example is an old man who describes life using a diamond. He thinks life is like a diamond lying on it's side. Beginning at the point, life expands for a significant time. Then at the diamond's apex life begins to move toward a narrowing. That's certainly descriptive of my experience. As my life narrows I find myself at peace with this reality, full of gratitude for what came before, content with what is and anticipating the future.
Read this book for a fun story filled with interesting characters and some interesting Biblical reflections, like 'turning the other cheek.'
Takk for alt,
Al
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