Needless to say,
packing up for a three-week road trip is a very daunting task. In fact,
preparing to be gone for any length of time is, at times, abstract and
challenging. Imagine you abandon your usual routines and plunge head-first into
a life based on an essay you wrote to help you better understand the people and
the processes that took place to create the very first moments of our nation’s
history? Two hundred and thirty-six years later I am making a deliberate
attempt to learn about our country in its earliest days. I packed some clothes,
packed some food, and brought some music and I left. It’s only three weeks…It
sounds like forever…
Early colonists
to North America left their homes, brought some stuff, got on a boat, crossed
an ocean, and set up a new life in forest or marsh a few thousand miles away
from their former home. Welcome to the colonies…the native peoples who already live
there may not like having visitors…especially if you try to rip them off.
The geography
of “home” is fascinating. I’m only
five hours from my home, but Toledo, Ohio is near yet far from the Chicago
perspective. On one hand, I’m in an urban/suburban setting, on the other hand
it feels quite different from Chicago. I’m still here in the Midwest, but it’s
not Midwest like Chicago…It’s not home…
Tonight I’m
staying with family, Aunt Anne and Uncle Jim. Home vs. hotel, home-cooked vs. Golden Arches. After only
being gone for a day you quickly realize you’ve left your comfortable
surroundings to swim in the sea of humanity for awhile…My day ended in
comfortable, family surroundings. Early colonists had to sleep in a tent or
within the walls of early forts and settlements. They didn’t always have a
peaceful night’s sleep…I had a great dinner and there’s a comfortable bed
waiting for me when I wrap up this post. Early colonists had far more struggles (from our perspectives!) for even the most basic of daily tasks..
From a
discipline perspective today featured the joys of Geography and the puzzle of
Sociology. Geographically speaking, I was reminded (yet again) how vast our
country is…I drove for five hours and I’m only two states away from where I
started my day. There are forty-eight more states out there! Along the way I was treated to
typically flat Illinois but the addition of rolling hills in parts of Indiana
reminded me that much of our country is nothing like the table-top flat part of
Illinois called Chicago. For twenty harrowing minutes, nature treated me to a
harrowing downpour. As technologically advanced as humans are, a good rainstorm
can stop us in our tracks…
I marveled today
that humans are constantly on the move. Essentially, there were entire groups
of people moving great distances with very little effort. How far we’ve come
from the early days of colonial travel…! However, what value would the
colonists find in the lives we lead today? Would they agree with how America
developed and would they enjoy living among us in modern times?
Our country exists
because some people were brave enough to challenge the status quo…Are we that brave today?
Thanks for
joining me…Mr. K.
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