Vagabondage

I was reading excerpts from "Home Country" this morning, which is a compilation of Ernie Pyles columns he wrote on the road during the 1930's. He and That Girl who rode with him were "at least three times into every state in the Union. We have been to every country in the Western Hemisphere, except two. We have been in every city in America of more than a hundred thousand population, except one....We have stayed in more than eight hundred hotels. have crossed the continent exactly twenty times, flown on sixty-six airplanes, ridden on twenty-nine boats, walked two hundred miles, and put out approximately twenty-five hundred dollars in tips. We have worn out two cars, five sets of tires, three typewriters, and pretty soon I'm going to have to have a new pair so shoes.......When we started I weighed 108 pounds, had two bad colds a year felt very tired of an evening, and was scared to death at meeting strange people. But now, after five years and 165,000 miles of travel, I weigh 108 pounds, have two bad colds a year, feel tired of an evening, and am afraid of people. Travel is indeed broadening."

Ernie expressed some interesting opinions he developed during all of this travel, and I hope a few readers weigh in with opinions of how true these assessments may or may not be today, almost seventy years after Ernie wrote them. He said: "I suppose the following assertions will draw forth screams of righteous wrath, but I say every man is entitled to his opinions. The prettiest girls are in Salt Lake City. The best-dressed women, outside the coastal cities, are in Memphis. The friendliest public servants are bus drivers. The nicest rain is in Seattle. The American town with the most spectacular setting is Ouray, Colorado, completely cupped by terrifically towering mountains. The most beautiful single scene on this continent is Lake Louise, in Canada. There is no really perfect year-round climate in America. Of all the places we've been in we'd rather revisit Hawaii. In the States, we are partial to New Mexico. The happiest people in America are not those who are wondrous wise, but those who are a little crazy."

Well, now I'm not so sure I am happy about being a generally happy fellow. Here is one of my favorite places: Mammoth Hot Springs, in Yellowstone National Park.