Judy and I are currently traveling in “The Heartland of America.” We tend to like the state parks and the back roads over the big cities and the interstate highways. Occasionally that gets us in a pickle. We stopped in a small town called Parkin Arkansas and visited an archeological site where the Spaniard, Hernando de Soto met the natives at Casque, a fortified village some 465 years ago on the bank of the St. Francis River. It was interesting to walk around the village site which had been enclosed in a man made mote and see the man made hill in the middle of the village for the Chief’s house. Quite a feat for a people whose best tool was a stone adze made of chert mined in the hills about 25 miles away.

Continuing my story, we left the village site and headed toward Memphis. This took us south through the town of Parkin. We were following state route 75 and as we approached a railroad underpass I quickly scanned for the clearance sign and it read twelve foot even. Now we have a couple air conditioners that stick up to twelve foot four inches. I stopped and surveyed the situation. I had to choose between backing the rig through the last intersection or taking a narrow street around the block. I carefully eased the rig down the side street and as I emerged onto a somewhat wider street we were cut off by a man in a rather shabby old pickup. He stepped out and we stopped for a chat. He directed me around another block and back to another underpass with a more acceptable 15 foot clearance. He then met me under the indicated underpass to check us out and be sure we would fit as we approached. We chatted for a few moments in the middle of the road and he admired our “Winnabager” and wished us a safe journey.

This brings me to the subject of this little essay. We live in a really great country full of really great people. We are free to move about and enjoy the sights, study the history and meet people in new situations at every turn. Yes, I made fun of this local’s dialect. I believe in his jargon any big motor home was a “Winnabager.” These are the differences we love to experience.

So when you get tired of getting cut off on the local freeway or sitting in a linear parking lot on your way home, take yourself a little side trip to a small town and drive down their quiet lanes. Park and walk around town in an evening and chat with some of the residents. Even better, next time you need to travel, take a “long cut.” Get off the freeway for a couple hours and take some of the local state highways or even county roads. Travel through the crooked winding roads at a leisurely pace. When you drift through a small town at only 25 miles an hour, watch for the city park. It is usually somewhere close to the one stop light in town. Stop for ten minutes and stroll about. If you spot their small town museum and it is open, by all means walk in and look around. If you are my age you likely see things from your youth that are preserved as antiques. It is very sobering.

Today Judy and I treated ourselves to Thanksgiving dinner at the local Cracker Box restaurant. It was a five mile ride over there, so we worked up quite an appetite. We had to ask the waitress to repeat several things, our Yankee ears were not yet well tuned to this southern talk. Our new experience this time was okra, battered and deep fried. Rather tasty.

While I am being thankful, I will include our service men and women who are not able to be with their families this Thanksgiving as they protect this country that we love. I am thankful that we have a government that is largely responsive to our wishes and we are able to periodically renew our government without resorting to revolution or coup d’état. I am thankful that I may worship as I choose and not as my government chooses. I encourage you all to exercise that right often. Finally I am really thankful for the good health that we enjoy.

At times when we watch the morning news it seems that the whole system is broken. I truly believe that the problem is that 97 percent of the news is about 3 percent of the world that is broken.

Finally I am thankful for all of you people out there that receive these blogs and keep urging me on. For you I hope that this has been an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Judy and I send you our love from West Memphis, Arkansas right on the banks of the Mississippi River.

P.S. Check out this photo of a tug and barge on the Mississippi.