Preparations

And I don't mean the H kind! 

This week I get serious about getting ready for the road trip.  I've made calls to cousins and the two remaining aunts I've not seen in forty years to let them know I would be knocking on their doors sometime in the coming week.  I explained that I would be bringing along a box of old family photos and that I hoped they would be willing to not only help me identify the people in those photos but that they would also share memories they have of our grandparents and family.  I'm hoping to learn about early family but I'm most interested in that of our generation.  If no one mentions it on their own, I plan to bring up my grandmother's treatment of my grandfather, Fred Seal, (during one call a cousin indicated Grandma literally "drove him crazy"), the other two husbands Grandma had after Grandpa Seal's death, the circumstances of Mom and Dad's marriage and my broken nose, and the murder of my oldest uncle and aunt, Leonard and Goldie.  These are all important pieces of our family history.  Well, maybe the one about my mom, dad, and nose are more a piece of my personal history but it's important.  One cousin reminded me that she was 78 and she might not be able to remember much but once she got going I had a hard time getting her off the phone!  She was the one who mentioned Grandma's treatment of Grandpa.  A digital recorder is going to be necessary if I really want to have an complete record of what I'm told, that's clear.

I've plotted out my route.  The first part of the trip is easy.  I just take the most efficient route from one relative's home to another's.  That takes me to Indianapolis, IN; Urbana, IL; St. Louis, Piedmont, Raymore, and Kansas City, MO.  There may be other stops of interest along the way but that will be dictated by how much time I spend at each relative's. 

After visiting with Mark and Lindsey, the trip changes.  I'll be exploring on my own, learning about our country's frontier history.  (As it happens I've learned that two of Grandma Seal's brothers (she had eleven brothers and sisters; same mother, two different father's) went to Oklahoma to find their fortune before Oklahoma became a state.  When the Great Depression hit, they headed to California which of course brings to mind THE GRAPES OF WRATH images and dust bowls.  There are stories to learn there, I'm sure.
Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, and northern Michigan -- I'll be covering a lot of miles and seeing a variety of topography.  Once I get to western Wyoming and Montana, there are some roads I hope to take that could be closed due to weather.  I've checked the average temperatures for the various regions -- low 30's to high 50's.  With global warming, maybe I can count on slightly warmer temperatures.  Either way, the mountains will be considerably cooler than the plains and snow is possible in April. 

I've used the internet and various books to identify the museums (the Last Indian Raid Museum is one of many about Native American as well as pioneer activity), restaurants (Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge is a must), oddities (the World's Largest Ball of Twine and Car Henge, for instance), trails (Oregon Trail wagon ruts and pioneer grafitti, sights seen by Lewis and Clark on their passage to the Northwest), historic sights (Boothill Cemetery, Fort Laramie Historic Site and many others), scenic routes (through the Rockies and the Badlands), and more.  Clearly, I won't be doing all that is possible.  Add to the above any stops I make at antique shops and it could easily take me four weeks to make this trip.  I hope to do it is less.

The trip ends with a stop in Marquette, Michigan to visit Tuwan, a former student of mine who is finishing a sixteen year prison sentence this year.  It will be my second visit in the last year.  When he first went in as a sixteen year old, I visited and wrote him frequently .  That stopped at some point.  A few years ago I got an unexpected letter from him asking if he could write me.  Upon receiving my response, the next letter was over 50 pages long!  The content of that letter was not from the hot-headed, frightened teenager I last saw but rather from a man who had nothing but time to reflect on who he was, how he got where he is, and what he hopes to do with the life he has remaining once out.  He has become one of the best read people I know.  Sprinkled with vocabulary that frequently sends me to the dictionary, his letters share his beliefs, hopes, and dreams.  When he calls, the hunger he has for intellectual conversation pushes me to my limits.  He hopes to go to Washtenaw Junior College when he gets out.  I hope to see him graduate.

So, exactly what does one take on such a journey?  My computer, zip drives, an atlas, digital recorder, camera, extra memory cards, bottles of water, chewing gum (I find it keeps me from being hungry and perks me up when I get tired), enough clothes for a week, the box of family photos, a magnifying glass to see the images on the smaller pictures, paper and writing utensils, stamps (I promised to send post cards to Tuwan), my address book, flashlight, cell phone, chargers (for phone, camera and computer), health and beauty stuff, first aid kit, cash.  Oh, yes, lots of CDs.  Jazz, classical, rock n' roll, country/western.  On my own in the car, I can listen to whatever I want singing along at the top of my lungs.  And there's one item that will be coming along that no woman should be without when separated from her lover for an extended period of time.  I'll let you figure that one out on your own.

Roger heads to California for spring break and research for his current project the same time I head out.  We're leaving the house clean and bare of food that might spoil in the week Roger is gone.  Before I leave, I may or may not have the yard ready for planting when I return.  It depends on the weather this week and my mood.  The condition of all three upon my return -- house, pantry, and yard after a couple weeks with Roger being on his own --  is a mystery and so I've learned, a part of the adventure.        

March 22, 2010

An Introduction

While I will begin an extended road trip in a couple of weeks and hope to record my travel experiences in this blog, I know that extended time behind the wheel will produce thoughts that range across a variety of topics -- life, politics, marriage, sex, philosophy, religion, friendship, and more. I hope to share these thoughts in addition to a travelogue.

I think of myself as a true Heintz 57 variety with only limited knowledge of my heritage (something I hope to correct in part while on the upcoming trip) -- a grandmother who was a foundling; a grandfather who died long before I was born and of whom no one speaks... even today; another grandmother whose family came over from Bohemia for reasons unknown; and another grandfather whose family, as the story goes, is distantly related to William Penn. My parents are products of the foothills of the Ozarks, the Bible Belt, and the Great Depression. My father dropped out of school in the eighth grade, lied about his age to get into the Civilian Conservation Corps and from there went into the Army. He served in Africa, Italy, and the Phillipines during World War II. Upon return he tried his hand at a variety of jobs settling on becoming a boilermaker. He became a field foreman for a large corporation out of St. Louis which resulted in my family being uprooted regularly as his job took him from state to state. My mother graduated at the top of her high school class and attended two years of college to become a medical technologist, an occupation she practiced intermittently between moves. When my parents eloped, my mother was three months pregnant with me. All of these details play a significant role in who I am and what I think.

As the title indicates, I am a sixty year old, American woman. Each of these descriptive details, added to the ones above, are important. They influence my thinking, my opinions, my beliefs. Childhood in the 50's, teen years in the 60's, a teaching career and a marriage in the 70's, a parent in the 80's, career change in the 90's, and retirement this past year from an elementary principalship -- I've evolved through these decades. What I think reflects the age in which I was raised, lived, and learned as well as my gender. It reflects the uniqueness of me and my existence. Keep that in mind.