Only one lonely, two-lane highway pierces Monument Valley, a vast natural wonder that straddles the Arizona-Utah border in the Desert Southwest. And then one unpaved, rutted, 27-kilometer [17-mile] loop trail winds through it once you get there. Stubs of sandstone jut upward like broken lower teeth on Monument Valley’s desert floor The air is clear […]
All posts by Dora Mekouar
The (Condo) Good Life
Posted June 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pm (UTC-4)
I was going to write about Carol’s and my recent visit to Monument Valley, in sweeping Navajo tribal land on the Arizona-Utah border. But I need to spend a tad more time “studying up” on Navajo history and culture in order to put this awesome terrain in context. Next posting, I’ll show you some of […]
Paradise Redefined
Posted May 29th, 2009 at 5:49 pm (UTC-4)
Wh`y Hawai`i? The Hawaiian state flag is certainly a curious one for a U.S. state. It’s actually a hybrid of the British Union Jack and the American standard’s stripes, with blue ones thrown in Until relatively recently, most Americans, including me, have identified our 50th and newest state – if you call admission to the […]
Remembering the War to End Wars
Posted May 22nd, 2009 at 3:17 pm (UTC-4)
In 1917 and 1918, many ordinary Americans and most soldiers heading off to fight on the European Continent in World War I crossed the country by rail. And those who passed through Kansas City – once a brawling cowtown on the wide Missouri River that had grown into a brash city of a quarter-million people […]
The Thin Place
Posted May 15th, 2009 at 1:12 pm (UTC-4)
On the banks of the Wabash River that separates southern Indiana from Illinois, there’s a community of 915 people unlike any other small town in America. Different – and unforgettable, too. The easiest, though not cheapest, way into town is across the Wabash River on a toll bridge from Illinois. The toll is only a […]
Tags: American, Americans, New Harmony, Ind., Religion, Shakers, Ted, USA, Utopian Communities Posted in America, American Culture, Character and Values, American History, Ted Landphair
San Francisco Treat
Posted May 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm (UTC-4)
In Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck, the great American novelist, wrote, “San Francisco put on a show for me.” And it is still true much of the time, though perhaps a little less predictably, for the countless visitors to California’s “City by the Bay” today. There are still plenty of geological and meteorological curiosities, examples […]
Tags: American, Americans, Earthquakes, Golden Gate Bridge, Homelessness, Homosexuals, San Francisco, Sedona, Ariz., Ted, West Posted in America, American Cities and Towns, American History, American Regions, Geography, Travel and Tourism, Life, Lifestyles and Trends, Social Issues, Ted Landphair, Voice of America
Airborne America
Posted May 1st, 2009 at 2:13 pm (UTC-4)
I’m writing from crisp, clear, cool San Francisco, after a day’s slog by air ─ yes, as you’ll see, it is possible to slog via airplane ─ from muggy, cloudy, hot Washington, D.C. Once I’ve poked around a bit and reacquainted myself with the distinctive “City by the Bay,” I’ll give you a report and […]
National Road, American Treasure
Posted April 24th, 2009 at 6:40 pm (UTC-4)
Carol and I just got back from a fascinating drive along an interstate highway, parts of which are barely wider than a pickup truck! It’s a highway, all right, just not a new one. And it was an interstate – in fact, the very first federal highway, begun in 1811, about 140 years before land […]
Sad Times in Slavic Village
Posted April 17th, 2009 at 1:46 pm (UTC-4)
If you’ve been with me from the start of Ted Landphair’s America, you’ll remember that I began with some memories of a pleasant childhood in the first suburb to the west of bustling Cleveland, Ohio. When I was a lad of 8 in 1950, the big city next door was at its apogee – pushing […]
Tags: American, Americans, Breezewood, Pa., Cleveland, Economy, Foreclosures, Highways, Pennsylvania, Slavic Village (Cleveland), Ted, USA Posted in America, American Cities and Towns, American States and Territories, Business, Industry and Economics, Geography, Travel and Tourism, Ted Landphair, Voice of America
Culturating
Posted April 9th, 2009 at 7:18 pm (UTC-4)
This time out, I want to explore some aspects of American culture. Not the flute-recital kind, though I’ve long thought of culture in that regard. Rather, a glance at several other aspects, some of which aren’t cultured at all. Pop culture’s not quite like this. Although, come to think of it, sometimes people in it […]
Tags: American, Americans, Humor, Journalists, Service Industry, Smithsonian Institution, Ted, Television Broadcasts, USA Posted in America, Business, Industry and Economics, Communications, Media and Journalism, Entertainment and Sports, Geography, Travel and Tourism, Ted Landphair, Voice of America
