Across the Heartland of America

I got up early, said goodbye to Mater, and got on the road to Michigan. The sun was shining through Kentucky, which was just as beautiful as I remembered. My route had me going south to north across Ohio on I-75, through Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo.


Listening to the public radio, there was an interview with a professor who studies Midwestern culture. (No, that is not an oxymoron). He likes to look at the Midwesterners based on the stories that they tell about themselves. As someone who was born in the Midwest, and lived many years in and around the Midwest, this was of special interest to me. He noted that the geographic boundaries of the Midwest vary depending on who is talking, and indicated that the heartland of America and the Midwest mean about the same thing. The Midwest really does feel different, lots of the towns feel older than most towns in the West.

After listening to that program, I searched across the AM band, and kept hearing Rush Limbaugh. I then went back and counted, and from that location, I could hear Rush up and down the band, on a total of eight frequencies. I guess that Ohio must really be the heartland of America. ;-)


As I got close to Adrian, I passed through the town of Blissfield. I was somewhat disappointed that the town name did not refer to a state of bliss, but to a Mr. Bliss. I made good time, arriving in Adrian Michigan around 2 PM. Sister Rosemary came down to the lobby to meet me. She was walking with a cane, but seemed like herself, and looked better than I had expected, given that she was at death's door for much of the last year. She is kind of an outpatient at the nun's nursing home, and hoping to get back into her apartment before the end of the year. Everybody talked to Rosemary, and many marveling that it was a miracle that she was doing so well.

Rosemary and I chatted for the rest of the afternoon, and then she gave me a small tour of the complex. After dinner, she headed back to the nursing home to get her bandages changed, and to rest. Tomorrow I will meet her for breakfast, and then we will visit the art studio as well as attend mass.

Richard