Today, I'm in a very different part of Indiana. A very rural part of Indiana. I just drove on a dirt road with what looked like miles of corn fields to my left. Kind of reminds me of this poem I read a few years back, it was entitled "somewhere in southern Indiana" I believe. It talked about a boy that lives practically in the middle of nowhere and only has listening to his local baseball team as his way of entertainment. The poem itself isn't necessarily the reason why I’m reminded of it, it’s the picture that was included with the poem. It’s a picture of one car riding on a dirt road that grass has practically grown all the way through on. To the left of the car are power lines and poles with short groomed grass surrounding them. To its right are what I believe are crops. This has been a day I won't forget, so different from the rest of Indiana. Well, onto Ohio I suppose.
When I was reading through your blog, this post really jumped out at me because the description of Indiana is much like the many descriptions of Oklahoma that I have heard. Many people say that Oklahoma is an empty, barren land and that there is nothing there but dust and that sounds an awful lot like the reputation that Indiana has as well. Much of the Dust Bowl is centered around both Texas and Oklahoma, from the West South Central region, but it's obvious from this post that this is not the only region whose geography people think poorly of. I think that it's interesting that you describe this state in your region as being "in the middle of nowhere" and that there is a lot of dirt and grass around. After I was told this about Oklahoma, one of the states in my region, I researched the state and discovered that it is not as empty and listless as people suggest. Oklahoma is full of life and many interesting sites as described in the last post of our blog. I wonder if there's a possibility that Indiana isn't quite what you think it is, there could be a lot of intriguing sites in the state. If you want to read more about how Oklahoma wasn't what we expected, feel free to visit our blog which is linked below.
ReplyDeletehttp://iaroadtrip.blogspot.com/
(Kayla)
ReplyDeleteThe geography described in this post sounds like it is very wide open rural. It especially sounds it where it talks about the picture that went with a poem, which describes grass on one side of a dirt road, and crops on the other. It reminds me of the geography of North Carolina, which consists of a lot of wide open spaces and plain land. This is shown especially in our piece of literature, which describes the area, and at one point says, “The Land of the Sky!”, I take this to mean that the geography is, though diverse throughout the state, primarily open fields so the sky is easy to see.
More information about North Carolina can be found: http://rtsouthatlantic.blogspot.com/2010/11/north-carolina.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(Joseph Coelho Part 1-B)Wow, I didn’t even have to read this blog post to know I was going to use this one for my next question, I mean, look at the picture you have on the label it clearly says: “Crossroads of America.” However it is much like states such as Texas and Oklahoma that I hear about all the time in my region: “Texas and Oklahoma are just dusty old places that have never ending roads that extend for miles and miles.” Various people tell me that Texas and Oklahoma are just barren lands, deserted by society and nothing to see but insurmountable amounts of shale, dust, patches of grass, and crops. It appears to be much like the way you describe Indiana in your post. It is obviously perceivable that the ignorance many people possess describe both regions a- like so well that it has become a nostalgic for me to even think about the perceptions I had myself. Yet, I was wrong in the end when I saw these places for myself; it was as if I was in a dream, driving by huge buildings and roads full of life and culture. Thankfully, this became a lesson for me to cherish forever and always: “Never trust everything you hear,” just as my mother tells me all the time. Hopefully when you get there you can have your views straightened out, you may see marvelous things that you wouldn’t expect, like the Alamo in Texas, and I didn’t realize Texas was so important in 1836 until I read about it at the Alamo. If you want to learn more about Texas and Oklahoma, please feel free to visit our site. http://iaroadtrip.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteBest of luck,
Joseph Coelho
Wow! That middle-oh-nowhere-ness of your story reminds me of "Sometimes a Great Notion" which is set in a some-what rural part of Oregon. But it's not very similar in plot compared to yours. In "Sometime a Great Notion" loggers go on strike in an attempt to get paid the same amount for less hours due to the drop in labor needs because of the chainsaw. However, the family that owns the company decides not only to keep the wages that same, but also demand the lumber that would've been created, had the workers not gone on strike. The workers are obviously not happy about this and the rest of the book is about the Stamper's (the family that owns the company) dealing with the protests of the workers. It's quite interesting and give you a strong sense of how life can be in Oregon. if you want to read more about oregon, check our our blog http://region9tvhs.blogspot.com/
ReplyDelete