'The Midwest was the first place America developed for itself - and the first place it left behind. The very name describes what it is not, an uncertain geography between the nation's coasts and mountains, neither here nor there. "It's a nice place to live", I told friends, "but I wouldn't want to visit."
-Stephen Longmire, Life and Death on the Praire.
The 13.5 acres and 800 gravestones of Rochester Cemetary represent one of the most biologically diverse prairie remnants in the midwest. More than 400 species, 337 of them native plants, grow, bloom and die here on the graves of pioneers, some born before the US was an independent country. Hilltops have the oldest markers, but there are no orderly rows, no grids, no plan. Fittingly, I think, as the prairie plants are situated much the same - where they want.
Wow, that's quite a quote. Have you ever read Ian Frazier's Great Plains? As a former midwesterner, I really enjoyed it.
Posted by: Sara | 17 September 2012 at 02:04 PM
Hi Sara - I haven't read that yet, but I will look it up. I am always in the market for a new book to read - thanks for the suggestion! I like this quote because it captures the inferiority complex the mdiwest seems to have, and as a former midwesterner, you'd probably agree it's a good place to live with not a whole lot of exciting vacation potential....
Posted by: Ingrid @ Jammy Chicken | 19 September 2012 at 07:31 PM