The Blue Lady Thinks about the Midwest

This picture has little or nothing to do with this blog post.
But isn't it a great picture?
We had lost of fun in Brownies.

The air is bad here in SLC a lot lately. It does that in the winter. This kind of gray overcast sky always makes me feel weary and dreary. I feel a lot like just throwing some stuff in the car and taking off for points south right now.


I did actually make reservations today for a trip south of here, the very first thing on my travel list. I've got a room at a B&B in Moab over spring break. I'll finally get to see Moab for myself. The hotel stay itself  is part of  the pleasure of a trip, so I try to find real nice places. And being a lady, I think staying at B&B's in historic homes is just the bomb. So there's that.

But something else is on my mind. I'm thinking a heck of a lot about the Midwest lately. And I'm thinking good things about it.

The dreary gray skies, especially in mid winter when the life force is at its lowest point, are something I really don't miss ... or do I?

Mom as a young woman

I realize that the 8th anniversary of my mom's death is coming up soon. Maybe that is part of this thing. My family really is quite scattered this year which might just be the beginning of our family diaspora. Is that something good? Or just the way it is?

I've been following the big story about the water in Flint, Michigan with a great deal of interest. I'm paying attention to the budget woes in Illinois. (If there were a story from Iowa that was actually about Iowa itself, I might be interested, but right now Iowa is just a stage with props and extras as far as I'm concerned. And soon enough .... four days for goodness sake, only four more days ..... Iowa will vanish from every one's consciousness.) Black Lives Matter was born and raised in the Midwest, and I care about what how that's all going a heck of a lot.

I just bought a lifetime subscription to Belt magazine because it's really good independent journalism and it's all about the Midwest. Inquiring minds want to know .... more and more and more.

I can't wait to read what Sally, the unbrave girl, has to say about Michigan every week.

I'm now subscribed the the monthly newsletter from the Rockford Illinois Convention and Visitors Bureau. What's going on in Rockford in February, you may ask? Well, a number of things. And did you know that someone named Daniel  makes superb artisan chocolate and there is at least one local brewpub and old downtown buildings have been renovated into cool apartments, and the town was even featured on HOUSE HUNTERS!

And there is all the other stuff I wrote about earlier.

Floor mosaic of the Rock River

There was a song performed on Prairie Home Companion years ago which I remember well. I still have it on a cassette tape because I'm not sure I will ever find it again. The main words were "I still have a ticket back. It's in my pocket" and it was all about being able to go home at any time. I don't have a paper ticket to home in my pocket, of course. But I do have a credit card, a nice new car, frequent flier miles ....whatever I might need to go back.

If I want to, I can go home again. Anytime.