Porch Light

Stories that shine a light on life the road traveled

By norma woodward

afford it stayed in places with names like Doc's Motor Court, Blue Swallow, Hilltop Inn, or Thunderbird where they could park and unload the car directly into the room.

Then the interstate highways were built to allow fast travels from east to west or north to south. They bypassed and eventually shut down many of the small towns. Local businesses closed as the new service stations, restaurants and motels stretched endlessly at the exits from the busy, new, fast, convenient interstates drawing travelers to a new type of travel.

of wheat, the cowboy in Texas who talks about the roundup or the new calf he delivered that morning, or the Chesapeake Bay waterman who will display the day's catch and advise about the best seafood restaurant in the area.

Sample the food prepared by a local cook, not chef, at diners scattered across the country. Question the early morning coffee group in the oldfashioned cafés to find the most interesting routes, sights, and adventures. They know them all and are delighted to share.

Stop in towns like Wild Horse, Pumpkin Creek, Bisbee, Iuka, and Jim Thorpe Discover the origin of their name. Find out what is important to those who live there. Drive the two lane, bumpy, gravel, dirt rural roads. Visit abandoned towns whose stories are told by what remains.

Stand quietly and listen.

Time constraints in our busy culture prevent many from experiencing the "real" America which still exists but is so often forgotten in our haste to get "from here to there."

August 7: The Wellbillies

August

August 21: Harry Wilson

August:

Thankfully, it is still possible to take the slower, scenic routes - the ones described by William Least Heat-MMoon in his book "Blue Highways " Traveling the back roads, you might meet the farmer in Kansas who tells you about this year's crop

There is an America that can only be experienced by going there and interacting with the locals, some of whom have never left the immediate area where they were born. They are the glue that keeps the struggling towns alive. They are the women who save the historic buildings scheduled for demolition or the men who work to teach skills to the next generation or the teenagers who mow the lawns for elderly neighbors. They are important! They are America.

America is a beautiful, amazing, fascinating country filled with a rich stewpot of people and cultures Everyone should road trip across our vast country at least once. Such a trip will promote understanding of what it is to be American. They will return with a pride of place about what we really are as a people and an appreciation of the magnificent landscape contained within our borders.

I hope each of you will be able to make that trip and return safely to your home, read this Front Porch article, and ponder its message. I wish you travel!