Hello Readers,

The above shot is from the Wabash Trail in southwestern Iowa.  It’s a 63 mile long bike path that starts in Council Bluffs and goes…somewhere (I’ve never followed the trail all the way to its end).  For me, the trail holds sentimental value as the place where I first started running and training for track and cross country during my middle school and early high school days at St. Albert’s Catholic School.  This was it, my original training ground.  The place of my youth.  It’s a surreal feeling being back here and running on this flat, endless trail again.  It makes me reflect on the years passed, the thousands of miles I have logged since running here, the successes, the failures, and everything in between.  It’s powerful stuff.

My Jeep’s here too.

I’m here in the Midwest to get out of California for a while and reflect on life.  Apart from being the place of my youth, this is a place that is fundamentally different from where I’m currently living.  First, there is the green of the landscape.  Everything is green for summer.  Everything is growing.  It’s like a jungle out here.  You would never guess that this is a place of bitter cold winters and long, dark nights.

Second, there is the politics.  This is not cowboy country.  Omaha is Warren Buffet’s hometown, and it is also home to a quite thriving hipster culture that has evolved into something fairly nauseating.  It’s this bizarre mixture of vaguely liberal corporate culture and very liberal counter culture that for whatever reason gets along just fine.  Needless to say, both cultures are quite upset that Republicans are currently in charge and I’m doing my best to just nod my head as I talk to people and not get myself caught up in a political debate.

Finally, there is the kindness.  People here just seem more laid back and willing to smile and say hello than their west coast counterparts.  You don’t need grit and hardness to get by.  Mild manners and softness do just fine, and I can never tell whether that’s a good thing or bad.

Anyways, I’ll be here for the rest of the week and then it’s back to California.  This has certainly been an interesting trip, starting with a wedding in the Pacific Northwest, then visiting graves and a battlefield in rural Montana, and finishing here in the place of my youth.  I’ll let you know of any further developments.

Cheers,

Rob