Bowdon, ND

I just got back from a three week plus trip to the East Coast to visit friends, and while it was nice to see them and sample some of the fresh seafood that’s always available, I can’t begin to tell you what a relief it was to get back into the wide open spaces of North Dakota and home to Bowdon.

Just to illustrate the contrasts in “lifestyle”, let me tell you about traffic. After leaving a shopping mall at a little before 4:30 one afternoon, I managed to drive 5 miles by 7:00. Now I have to admit that the roads had iced up and many ramps to the highways had been closed, so what seemed like a bazillion cars had to get to their destination on surface roads, but I think I could have walked home faster! The next instance was driving from suburban Washington, D.C. to suburban Baltimore, MD–a whopping 50 miles–at 1:30 on a partly cloudy afternoon. The trip took over three hours and the only thing contributing to the delay was cars, trucks, vans, and busses, waaaaaaaay too many of them for my taste. During one of the many times I was at a dead stop on the Capital Beltway, an interstate highway, I took the picture that accompanies this blog.

Now when I got back to North Dakota on Tuesday, February 19, I drove Loren and Patti Patrie’s van back from Bismarck; from Steele to Bowdon, about 60 miles, I had the road to myself–I didn’t meet, follow, or get followed by one car! Granted, it was the coldest night of the year, so most people with any sense were home keeping warm and toasty, but I cannot tell you how relaxed and free I felt not being surrounded by people, people, people and cars, cars, cars.

We here are so blessed to be living in such lovely surroundings with our wonderful friends and family in communities that are working to always be a little bit better.