Home Again

The Interurban

Round my Indiana homestead wave the cornfields,In the distance loom the woodlands clear and cool.Oftentimes my thoughts revert to scenes of childhood ... Oh, the moonlight’s fair tonight along the Wabash; from the fields there comes the breath of new-mown hay,through the sycamores the candlelights are gleaming, on the banks of the Wabash, far away. - Paul Dresser

Indiana is not always a comfortable place to live. Our weather's iffy, the politics are ... what they are, the roads are ... again, what they are. There's little interest in changing things that are important to many of us, and like most other places, compromise has become a thing of the past. However, it's home, where I've spent nearly my entire life, and I imagine I will die here as well.

There's more to it than that.

I also love Indiana.

My grandpa, Elmer Neterer, at Buescher Band

It's where my kids grew up going to the same school I did. It's where they played sports, worked their first jobs, and went to college some of the time. It's where some of them still live, still work, have raised their kids. It's where my parents spent their lives, where my mom worked at Buescher Band in Elkhart and my dad grew up in the brick house where the Interurban went through the side yard and where family still lives. It's where I watched my brother leave for the navy, my boyfriend-in-the-army leave for Vietnam, and where they came back to.

In nearby cemeteries, members of our family are buried or their ashes spread. It's not that I visit often or remember to take flowers; I don't. But I know I could. And, since we all know I can never stay on point, my mom always said, "Flowers are for the living," and I tend to agree with her.

I love the weather here except for when I hate it. I love the countryside and the plethora of small towns and the Dollar Generals that mean bread, milk, and good candy are never far away. I love sugar cream pie, tenderloins, and Spanish hot dogs. I think we have the best ice cream anywhere.

Not from Clowes Hall, but from I DO, I DO nevertheless.

I saw my first professional play when I was a senior in high school. The Library Club saw I Do, I Do from the nosebleed seats in Clowes Hall. To this day, hearing "My Cup Runneth Over" can bring me to tears, and I remember that night. I wore a green dress I'd made myself. I still have the program book.

We got married in Indiana, had our kids at Dukes, all of them born on a Tuesday and all delivered by Dr. Reyes. I still miss him.

Paved walking path, Clifty Falls State Park

I love spending time in other places within the state, seeing shows and concerts at all kinds of venues. Shipshewana is a fun overnight trip full of music and lots of good food. Clifty Falls is my favorite state park ... but then there's Spring Mill and Turkey Run and some others, too.

I get tired, as many Hoosiers do, of being not only referred to as a flyover state, but being treated like flyover people. What's particularly odd about it is how often that dismissal comes from ourselves. I know people who are snide about everyone who lives outside of city limits. I know other people--one of whom I see in the mirror--who are just as snide about those who live within them. The same goes for red vs. blue, ethnicity scorn, generational disregard. And so forth.

Orchard Guest House, New Harmony, IN

A friend and I spent four days of this week in New Harmony, where I'd never been, and those days weren't long enough. Utopian settlements were founded there, and even now, the little town was the most peaceful place I ever remember being. While I'm sure it's not always that harmonious, that there are people there who don't like other people, and that four days isn't long enough to form an educated opinion, the time there was a gift.

It reminded me of what I love about Indiana. And it reminded me that we are in this together.

Have a good week. Be nice to somebody.