It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
Where is Marti? I hope she is okay with all that snow in NY.
ReplyDeleteLovely picture! And a Happy New Year to you as well.
ReplyDeleteI need to look at that picture and remember that spring really does arrive eventually. In the meantime, the temperature here continues to drop even as the sun comes up. It's now 13 below zero ....
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year. Is that usual for it to drop down below 0 in Montana?
ReplyDeleteWas just talking to someone here at a job about how badly the response was to the snow in NYC. It used to be that life always went on no matter what the weather. I think it was because of previous layoffs of sanitation workers that the city was a mess, even in Manhattan.
The piles of snow (from the plowing) have gone down considerably, and what's left is very dirty. I think that some of it was carted away. It's been in the upper 30s the past two days.
That is a beautiful meander picture, Avrds.
Avrds: Here it is above 30C with a southerly coming this afternoon to ease the humidity. I have been for a swim at Bronte to see in 2011. I wish everyone the very best New Year, but remember Oscar Wilde " When the Gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers".
ReplyDeleteIs that the Big Hole River?It's a geat shot.TCM has Marx brothers flicks on all night long.Leftover Osso Bucco and Saffron Rice from last night,red wine and the Marx Brothers.I might even make it to midnight.But the one I haven't seen in years Go West isn't till 2:30.A prosperous New Year to all.For new years day I am going to cut up one of those southern lobster tails and make tempura instead of using Shrimp.Got a nice zuke to do veggie tempura with.One of my Xmas gifts was a CD Rom of the complete National Lampoon magazine.I have been laughing for days!
ReplyDeleteThat's the Yellowstone River in the Hayden Valley, where you see wolves from time to time. And usually there are bison roaming around.
ReplyDeleteI've cross country skied out there and heard wolves howling - enough to make me ski right back to my car! Beautiful valley though.
Swimming on New Year's Eve sounds very civilized to me. It's only 10 below zero (that's F) this a.m. Looks like we're in for a stretch of this.....
Here's an interesting idea that might be fun to keep an eye on:
ReplyDeletewww.notevenpast.org