That little boy shouting to us was my favorite part of the trip!!! You know America is a good, where her children are friendly and trusting and welcoming!
Thanks brother -- I'm really gonna get into doing more audio now. I enjoy doing it so much. While I love doing the writing, good photos and audio are so fun to make too. If I could, I'd pipe the smells of diesel and cowshit and cedar trees to you all as well, and send the taste of gas station pizza and Canadian lager over the internet as well.
Maybe I just need to open up a private tavern up here for all my paying readers? Nothing can replace a visit!
The political situation in New York that you describe so well has its twin in Illinois. The mostly rural downstate area where we now live for part of the year is being throttled with high taxes and over-regulation by its overlords in Chicago, even though Springfield is the capital. Nevertheless, this is and always has been our true home.
Downstate IL is the closest analogue, politically speaking, to upstate NY. But I think we are lucky in a weird way. We’ve been shielded from the worst of “20th century economic development.”
We are, as Edmund Wilson famously said about Upstate New York, “an anachronism that still thrives.” If ‘development’ came, that anachronism would probably die, only to be replaced with some kind of sad homogenized sort of “nowhere.” I’m glad we haven’t gone that route, and I pray we don’t.
Beautiful writing, again! Thank you for singing the song of this country. Will you also write about the people you meet in future posts (for the Free Press in particular)?
I will be writing about this place in Free Press as well, yes. Submitting a draft to them in the next day or so, and because we were there for a full month, there’s plenty more I’ll include in that piece that isn’t featured here.
Your writing is truly evocative, and the audio adds another dimension of resonance to your words. Thank you for creating a sense of connection with places that are - for me - so far away, but also so relatable.
It's also clear you love America, and her varied and beautiful people. You don't pass judgement, and give everyone grace. That is what a person who actually lives their faith does. Much respect for the life you and your wife are seeking.
I live in the British Colony of Vancouver Island.. it has the same feel…truckers, bikers, old guys in 100 year old pubs who don’t know anything about social media. We are dug in here!
Where did you learn to write like this? Kids today barely read, and public school writing instruction tends to be lousy. Did you grow up in a house with a ton of books? Were you a loner kid who read a lot? Did your parents read to you?
Thank you. I was an only child raised by my grandparents, and 90% of those who I called my friends were in their 80’s when I was a boy in the early 2000’s. Sadly they’re all gone now. My grandmother was the town librarian. All I did was read. Later, I dropped out of college but kept sneakily auditing classes and was sort of an “academic bum” living in a friend’s closet. All I did was read then, too.
I don’t think you can teach someone to write. When we school our kids, we’ll teach them to read — not just how to read, but to have a hunger for it. Autodidactism is the real skill kids need to learn, and public school sure as hell doesn’t teach it.
I agree about teaching to write (beyond basic clarity and organization etc., which isn't really artistic writing). You cultivate a love for reading and then if the passion is there writing can follow. But as a parent I'm finding it hard to cultivate a love for reading in this screen-saturated generation. You will probably be willing to go Amish-lite and cut your kids off from tech for a while, which will help.
The aspect of growing up with much older adult friends in a rural area probably helps to explain the almost 19th century stylistic vibe in some of your writing. I'm surprised you were then so easily able to fit in with crust punks!
Yes, that's a great point about the screens. We aren't doing it -- we don't have WiFi or smartphones, and we're debating whether we even want electricity in the house. We may have utility power in the barn, and a rotary telephone in the end. And because I love music, I might even pay for satellite radio as my solitary technological vice. I can write articles at the house and publish them at the library, and I think we'll be living by the Amish so our kids will have them around as well. This is definitely very eccentric, but it's how we want to live.
And you're right, I picked up a lot of elements of the "Lost Generation." My values and manner of speech come directly from them. They also taught me to drink -- perhaps this was the sole thread that allowed me to sneak into Crust Punk type places. Many of them thought I was a cop, too, because I never smoked cannabis or did drugs. Ultimately in my travel days, as with the rest of my life, I was mostly a loner.
There are some Lost Generation writers you remind me of, and you should read if you haven't. Notably Thomas Wolfe, who I think you'd love, and to a less degree John Dos Passos.
Quite a proclamation at end of article! I’m in! Glad to read about the borderlands from the past. Always wondered about that. Did I read that correctly. Taxis pick people up at a border cul de sac & take them to a nearby town!?
That little boy shouting to us was my favorite part of the trip!!! You know America is a good, where her children are friendly and trusting and welcoming!
Simply luminous writing! Thank you so much.
Great article!
But you haven’t truly experienced it unto you listen to the audio of Andy reading it.
Thanks brother -- I'm really gonna get into doing more audio now. I enjoy doing it so much. While I love doing the writing, good photos and audio are so fun to make too. If I could, I'd pipe the smells of diesel and cowshit and cedar trees to you all as well, and send the taste of gas station pizza and Canadian lager over the internet as well.
Maybe I just need to open up a private tavern up here for all my paying readers? Nothing can replace a visit!
The political situation in New York that you describe so well has its twin in Illinois. The mostly rural downstate area where we now live for part of the year is being throttled with high taxes and over-regulation by its overlords in Chicago, even though Springfield is the capital. Nevertheless, this is and always has been our true home.
Downstate IL is the closest analogue, politically speaking, to upstate NY. But I think we are lucky in a weird way. We’ve been shielded from the worst of “20th century economic development.”
We are, as Edmund Wilson famously said about Upstate New York, “an anachronism that still thrives.” If ‘development’ came, that anachronism would probably die, only to be replaced with some kind of sad homogenized sort of “nowhere.” I’m glad we haven’t gone that route, and I pray we don’t.
Beautiful writing, again! Thank you for singing the song of this country. Will you also write about the people you meet in future posts (for the Free Press in particular)?
Thanks Russell!
I will be writing about this place in Free Press as well, yes. Submitting a draft to them in the next day or so, and because we were there for a full month, there’s plenty more I’ll include in that piece that isn’t featured here.
Thanks again for reading, God bless!
Excellent! Thank you for your message! I look forward to reading more of your work.
Your writing is truly evocative, and the audio adds another dimension of resonance to your words. Thank you for creating a sense of connection with places that are - for me - so far away, but also so relatable.
Thank you so much, Julia. Really appreciate it. More to come!
It's so soothing to read someone who can write.
It's also clear you love America, and her varied and beautiful people. You don't pass judgement, and give everyone grace. That is what a person who actually lives their faith does. Much respect for the life you and your wife are seeking.
"I don't think Taylor has been to Chateaugay"....love it! but, really, is it possible to escape 'Swiftiness'.....
Beautiful article !
I live in the British Colony of Vancouver Island.. it has the same feel…truckers, bikers, old guys in 100 year old pubs who don’t know anything about social media. We are dug in here!
Where did you learn to write like this? Kids today barely read, and public school writing instruction tends to be lousy. Did you grow up in a house with a ton of books? Were you a loner kid who read a lot? Did your parents read to you?
Thank you. I was an only child raised by my grandparents, and 90% of those who I called my friends were in their 80’s when I was a boy in the early 2000’s. Sadly they’re all gone now. My grandmother was the town librarian. All I did was read. Later, I dropped out of college but kept sneakily auditing classes and was sort of an “academic bum” living in a friend’s closet. All I did was read then, too.
I don’t think you can teach someone to write. When we school our kids, we’ll teach them to read — not just how to read, but to have a hunger for it. Autodidactism is the real skill kids need to learn, and public school sure as hell doesn’t teach it.
Thanks for reading!
I agree about teaching to write (beyond basic clarity and organization etc., which isn't really artistic writing). You cultivate a love for reading and then if the passion is there writing can follow. But as a parent I'm finding it hard to cultivate a love for reading in this screen-saturated generation. You will probably be willing to go Amish-lite and cut your kids off from tech for a while, which will help.
The aspect of growing up with much older adult friends in a rural area probably helps to explain the almost 19th century stylistic vibe in some of your writing. I'm surprised you were then so easily able to fit in with crust punks!
Yes, that's a great point about the screens. We aren't doing it -- we don't have WiFi or smartphones, and we're debating whether we even want electricity in the house. We may have utility power in the barn, and a rotary telephone in the end. And because I love music, I might even pay for satellite radio as my solitary technological vice. I can write articles at the house and publish them at the library, and I think we'll be living by the Amish so our kids will have them around as well. This is definitely very eccentric, but it's how we want to live.
And you're right, I picked up a lot of elements of the "Lost Generation." My values and manner of speech come directly from them. They also taught me to drink -- perhaps this was the sole thread that allowed me to sneak into Crust Punk type places. Many of them thought I was a cop, too, because I never smoked cannabis or did drugs. Ultimately in my travel days, as with the rest of my life, I was mostly a loner.
There are some Lost Generation writers you remind me of, and you should read if you haven't. Notably Thomas Wolfe, who I think you'd love, and to a less degree John Dos Passos.
Quite a proclamation at end of article! I’m in! Glad to read about the borderlands from the past. Always wondered about that. Did I read that correctly. Taxis pick people up at a border cul de sac & take them to a nearby town!?