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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
