I’ve been a city dweller – mostly in the suburbs - for some 30 years, but I grew up in the country, and my two children were raised in a small town in southeastern Minn. Every so often, I feel a powerful need to see a distant horizon and a wide expanse of sky. Yesterday, I packed a light lunch, gassed up at Super America where I bought a cup of coffee to go, and set out on Highway 95 south and then took 61 downriver for a while before connecting with Highway 60 and cutting west. Eventually, I angled back to Dodge County where we used to live.
There’s something relaxing about an open road, especially on a Sunday in early November when the riotous colors of fall leaves have faded, and cylindrical hay bales cast shadows on sunlit fields. It makes a difference, too, on the day when daylight savings time ends, and you set out in early afternoon and by the time you head back the sun is setting above that grove of trees on your left.
Minnesota classical radio was in tune with the season, and I enjoyed symphonic accompaniment on my day trip. How easily I forgot on my mini-vacation the travails of government and politics, the economic crisis, and the periodic outbursts of violence in our nation and around the world.
Sampling peace once in a while is good for the soul and helps prepare one to face everyday reality with a calm spirit and clarity of mind.
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