Friday, April 27, 2007

a bit of nonfiction composed at mile-marker 69 on I-88, West, June 10, 2004

I am no lover of Illinois. This may be because of my limited experience of it, since I really only ever move through it to get somplace else. But I move spitefully. It is to me a gap of the mundane--a space of mediocrity between two beautiful lands: Wisconsin and Iowa. Of course I know that many people find my affection for Iowa as something beautiful, odd (or worse), and it may be true that I think so only because it is my home land. But I reply to them in two ways: next time you drive through Iowa, look out the window; and, it at least appears to me that Illinoisians agree with the unattrativeness of their state, since they vacation almost exclusively in the neighboring ones: Wisconsin, Minnesota, and mine. Besides, this is about my observations, and when I drive through Illinois I do it as fast as possible, scorning the flat, greenish-yellow thing.

But today I am forced to observe it a little closer: I ran out of gas on the inter-state. I had planned to continue sprinting through it to Iowa, stopping at the first Iowan rest-stop, praising my home state with the ferver of a returning victor, and congratulating myself on making it through a land that would be more appealing if it were desert.

But from this slower vantage point I can see across it. As I approached this spot I had thought that there was nothing nearby but a farm-house. Looking out my window now I can see that that farm-house is really part of a community. North of it are several more, larger silos, a water tower, even what appears to be frequented train-tracks. The surrounding area is vast spaces of corn, scattered trees, and scattered houses, and in between these spaces sit small civilizations, each one like, and yet unique from the others. And if I hadn't already taken all this into account as a given, I might have to reconsider my opinion of Illinois.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Brandon -- while sitting in the quiet Writing Centre earlier, I did a terrible thing and picked up Steinbeck instead of the Harry Potter I was supposed to be reading -- because I'm a rebel, that's why.

AND I AM IN LOVE. I've only finished part one, and already I can tell that this is The Book for me (the way you simply know about this sort of thing) -- the one that will completely define my summer and go everywhere with me, doodled and underlined within an inch of its life.

Thank you for passing it on! I will bring you whatever darn cheese from England you want because you are my book saviour! Yahoo!

Julie said...

Also -- you are pretty hard on Illinois, but this sentence makes it all right: "The surrounding area is vast spaces of corn, scattered trees, and scattered houses, and in between these spaces sit small civilizations, each one like, and yet unique from the others."

Just perfect.