From The Road: On the Road Again!

Jan. 18, 2008

Greetings from the Peripatetic Pair after a long hiatus. Peachy and I wish you all a healthy and fulfilling year ahead. We spent a nice long time with family over the holidays, and now my New Year's resolution is to catch up with these posts!

Some time ago I mentioned Cahokia Mounds. This, the largest prehistoric Indian site north of Mexico, is a State Park, and a World Heritage Site. It stretches over 2,200 acres (down from an original estimated 4,000 ), and consists of 70 mounds of various sizes and shapes. It is a beautiful sight, covered with grass, and shaded here and there by huge trees. The Interpretive Center is very well done, with many exhibits showing the culture and lifeways of the Lake Woodland Indians from archaeological remains. The doors of the Center are particularly beautiful, bearing striking bas-reliefs of eagles in flight.

The largest mound is named Monks' Mound, (named long after the original inhabitants had left the area), and it covers 14 acres, and is 100 feet high. It is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas, and contained an estimated 22 million cubic feet of earth (all carried in baskets, by laborers). Originally there was a ceremonial structure on the top, but now there is a grand view of the countryside, reached by a set of about 200 steps. The whole area was a center of civilization from 700 AD to around 1300 AD, when it fell into ruin.

Another interesting feature, partially reconstructed, is something called "Woodhenge", a circle of large cedar posts, with another in the center, the whole structure serving as a solar calendar.

My photos are not worth sending, so here is one so you can see that we are still in business. I have decided that the beauty and awesomeness of this country is simply too large for a small camera to capture!

The afternoon before we visited the park we drove off the highway a few miles to check out a state park as a possible roosting place for the night. It turned out to be quite desolate; deserted, with smelly pit toilets, and the sound of hunters' guns somewhere nearby. It seemed prudent to move on, so we turned around and retraced our steps on the levee road raised above the surrounding marsh. Suddenly something caught my eye, and I looked out the passenger-side window to see two red-winged blackbirds flying along beside us - for almost a minute! They have to be one of my favorite birds, for their jaunty red shoulder pads, their ability to perch on reeds and other vertical stems seemingly too weak to hold their weight, and their incredibly liquid arpeggios of song in the Spring. Grace happens!

We ended up spending the night in a campground by the side of the highway, and after a fitful night's sleep, coffee, a shower, and the tour of Cahokia Mounds, we turned on the GPS system and headed into the big city of St. Louis. We will see you there next time. Shalom.

Welcome Respite

12/17/07

Although mentioned in last week's blog as arriving imminently, the news about Cahokia Mound will have to wait until next week, when I have my notes in front of me. At the moment I am back at square one, catching up with medical appointments and friends in Maryland while Peachy cools her tires in sunny California. Here, where our journey began, the most frequent questions are, "How is Peachy doing?” and "Whatever happened to the garden?" So...

It is more than time to give Peachy her due. She has logged more than 16,000 miles with hardly a complaint. She has been a stalwart companion, indeed, rolling on mile after mile, holding more of my stuff than I could imagine, and providing me with a safe and comfortable sleeping place at night. So far the only problems have been the mysterious "check engine" light, the refrigerator that fades in and out of operation in propane mode, and the case of the bumping headlight.

All of these wrinkles have been checked out at least once, and now the consensus is that the check engine light is OK if it stays on, the refrigerator is being addressed as we speak, and the bumping headlight was securely fastened in place somewhere in North Dakota. As a matter of fact, after my son-in-law took my two grand daughters for a weekend camping trip in Peachy, and returned her washed and detailed, she looks like a new van.

The saga of the front seat garden, nicknamed "Herb" by the Vermont cousins, isn't as positive. You may remember that we started out with 26 pots of vegetables and herbs stuffed in plastic-lined boxes in the passenger seat, hopefully getting enough sunlight through the windshield to stay happy. Well. I ate the lettuce in the first month, and the weather was so hot that I didn't sow any more seeds. That was that for salad. The herbs held out for a while longer, but the hot weather, combined with the sporadic watering schedule wore them down. Around Wyoming I gave some away and composted others, leaving only a scented geranium to be confiscated when I crossed the border into California.

The idea of the garden was to provide healthy greens, and it did that for a good part of the trip. When they had been recycled, I found that I appreciated the extra room in the front seat to store "stuff", so things do work out. I haven't eaten as many greens as I probably should have, but am surviving, and I make it a point to catch up when I visit in a home along the way.

It is also time to express thanks to everyone who has helped us on the way; Peachy's angels, computer trouble shooters, those who encouraged and donated, hosts, people who suggested additional places to visit along the way, and churches that extended extravagant welcomes. Thank you also for the actually palpable prayers that have carried us along in their slipstream, and the e-mails and phone calls keeping us connected to the wonderful networks of friends and family we are privileged to occupy. We overflow with things for which we are thankful, and a part of my prayers every morning is that I keep in mind the enormous gap between my circumstances and those who are homeless, displaced, suffering violence, hunger, cold, and especially thirst. Thanksgiving and Christmas (in my tradition) and other traditions, are perfect times to reflect on our blessings, and to wish and work for blessings for others. I am going to try to do more in the coming year to "level the playing field", or narrow the gap between those with nothing, and those with something to share. You are most welcome to join me! One good way to this is simply look to the right and see what you and I and Church World Service can do together. Shalom.