(no subject)

[liptonrm_backup]

cunien and writerj have been proliferating a meme that has left me with a strange bittersweet feeling. How could I not continue the trend by answering it for myself?

"What great countries have you been to, and where and what is on your list of places to go/things to see before you die?"


I've lived my life on borders, never one place or another. The only other country that I have ever seen is Canada. I have stood in the heart of Toronto and heard cellists busking in her subways. I've been to Stratford, Ontario and seen Shakespeare performed and been the closest to the joys of pastoral England as I have ever come.

In contrast I have been all over the United States. I've seen the flat cornfields of Illinois and gazed at the rolling Mississippi. I saw New York City before the Towers fell and was mesmerized by the bright lights of Broadway. I've seen the falls at Niagra and heard the crickets chirp on a warm night in upstate New York. I've been to Minneapolis in winter and wandered from store to store and building to building without ever having to go out in the cold. I've walked the streets of Washington DC in summer and winter and been awed and amazed by the history and the pomp.

I stood on a battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in a hot May afternoon and felt the ghosts of events that indelibly defined my nation.

I've swum in the Atlantic off at Cocoa Beach, Florida and explored Cape Canaveral. I've driven through the rolling mountains of West Virginia and flown over the dazzling peaks of the Rockies.

I've been to nearly every museum there is to see in Chicago and traversed Los Angeles in public transportation and on foot. I've explored downtown Seattle seen waterfalls in the surrounding heights.

I lived for two months in the dry claustorphobia of the Provo Valley and spent a year in the hot humidity of South Texas, so close to the border with Mexico that all I need do was step across.

And I've always returned to Michigan, my home. I know her trees and lakes, her poverty and wealth. I've experienced the abject depression of downtown Detroit and been high on the intellectual and cultural freedom of Ann Arbor. I've slept in forests that are the grandchildren of trees that once covered my home from shore to shore. I've dived under the cold depths of Lake Superior and cast off from the rocky beaches of Lake Huron. I've danced through the waves of Lake Michigan and built castles in her white beach sands. I've survived the grey months of winter only to be awakened to joy when spring is reborn.

I want to see everything, go everywhere. I want to see every people and learn every language. I want to spend my life seeing and learning and doing and helping.

Comments

[writerj.livejournal.com]

Am deeply jealous of the Lake Superior thing. I have a thing for big cold freshwater lakes -- they don't exist here.

The Niagara! Tonawanda! SKIP! *sob*

[liptonrm.livejournal.com]

If you make it to Chicago in May I promise to personally throw you in Lake Michigan. It's no Lake Superior but it'll do in a pinch;-).

Oh Skip. *mournful sigh* Methinks I need to find a way back to Niagara Falls this summer, with a side trip to Tonawanda.

[hlgraban.livejournal.com]

Well, I wanted to go to Ireland this year, but sadly that's not happening. I have been overseas though, twice, so maybe I can't complain too much. Both times I went to Germany, to visit my mom's relatives... and saw some really cool old castles and monastaries and such, in addition to a beautiful sprawling countryside and the Black Forest. Weather and temps are very much like here, but seems like there's a lot more countryside...

In the U.S., I've been to just about every corner, except the Southwest- something that will be remedied this year. Been to/through: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virgina, and Wyoming. (And duh, I was singing the 50 states song... only I'm rather rusty, and having trouble remembering how it goes :( ) I've also been to Canada several times, but never to Mexico- and I'd really like to go there, esp. to the Yucutan peninsula where I can see the Mayan & Aztec ruins, and the crater of the meteor that caused the K-T extinction! Ooh, iridium... cool. (Go ahead and say it, I know I'm a nerd!)

Would be nice to visit Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Florence, Venice), and Greece (Athens, maybe the island of Crete), would be very cool to see the UK even if it is rainy and cold most of the time, and I would SO love to go to Australia and New Zealand. Hawaii and other tropical getaways are on the list too, and I hear Alaska's really pretty...

*sigh*

But yes, I have to agree... I always come back to Michigan, and appreciate its uniqueness anew. Though I have to admit, Washington is pretty tempting... If my life were unfettered, I might think of moving out there. I know Erin wouldn't mind...