Prairieland - Chapter Two

There is not much to see here but what you hear makes up for it.! ~
Postmistress, Fairfax SD (population 123)

Highlights from the past few days.

North Dakota - We're following a muddy Ford pickup complete with a cowboy hat bedecked driver across the stark plains of North Dakota, accompanied by Melissa's Cessario Evora music of the Canary Islands. The ambient sounds of Nebraska - grooves in the ribbon of highway - are a memory of yesterday. Although I thought we'd already been traveling through the plains when we drove through Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, the "Welcome to North Dakota" sign's subtitle was "home of the plains" - so, I'll keep you posted on the geographic distinctions I note - so far the difference seems to be the absence of power lines, the occasional tumbleweed blowing across the highway, and the addition of hummocks about 100 feet high dressed in snow. Could have used a ratchet strap to hold the steering wheel against the prevailing northwest wind today, but our driver, Melissa, instead elected to use it as her isometric exercise (always one to capitalize on multitasking opportunities, our sweet Melissa has taken up body sculpting training while driving).

Fairfax, NE - The juxtaposition of two consecutive signs caught our attention. The main road beckoned: "Welcome to Fairfax: home of the fishing holes - FREE!" and a quarter mile down Main Street, where we noticed a small pond off to the right, a hand-lettered sign: "Sewage lagoon - no fishing."

Kearney, NE - We have had standing ovations at six of our seven concerts. More than 4,000 people have heard us sing. We end each program with the encore: "Obey the Spirit of the Lord", featuring soprano Claire Hungerford, in a call and response format. Without exaggeration, we've sung it more than 500 times over the past 8 years, but last night, the Spirit moved Claire and she took us through a cornfield maze of improvisation that surprised all of us, and had the audience immediately on its feet at the last chord. Now, when we get lost in the van we say that we are taking an "Obey the Spirit of the Lord" detour.

Dinner in Winner, SD - Well, lunch at Shirley's diner filled us with more than just burgers yesterday - it was the unadvertised Elvis memorabilia Mecca of the Midwest. Shirley was busy cooking, but her daughter politely explained, "Mom is just a real Elvis fan - that's all."

Pierre, SD - We arrived with a couple of hours to spare before rehearsal and visited the beautiful capital of South Dakota. The architecture from 1889 was breathtaking, especially the four story interior expanse to the dome that revealed lovely paintings, stenciling, roll top desks for each member of the legislature, and magnificent wide marble central staircases. We also found the Governor¡'s mansion, which the rookie member of Counterpoint, 22-year-old Teddy Crecelius declared was BORING (he orders green pepper and pineapple pizza).

Yes, we are learning each other's quirks and one (more) of Nat's (Dr. Nathaniel G. Lew, our Yale graduate, esteemed professor of music) is that he memorizes facts from every town we stay in, seemingly instantaneously, from the ether. Since there is not a competitive bone in my body, I lackadaisically sigh and let the little factoids pass. Nevertheless, one high point of the last few days was discovering a piece of information Nat didn't already know: Barry Manilow's song, "Mandy" is about a dog. (See footnote below *) In case the rest of you are as noncompetitive as me, you may be delighted to know of other things we've discovered that "Natopedia" does not know:
- Most songs of the 70s, including "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" are by Cher.
- South Sioux City residential neighborhoods (which, while driving through, he claimed were on the authentic Lewis and Clark trail, on which we apparently were destined to make all the same mistakes that they did).
- Anything related to cooking potatoes.

Got the answer to one of my recurring questions, "Why are so many acres of corn not yet harvested?" Yesterday one of the concert patrons told me farmers are penalized at the mill if the corn has moisture content of greater than 15% , regardless of whether it's used for cattle feed or ethanol.

**Notable store names**
Gas 'n Git
Keep-U-Neat Cleaners and Beauty Salon
Sooper Dooper Market
Jackie's Kurl Shack

**Local signage**
Highway sign outside O'Neill, NE ~ Attention: Telecopier Permits Required


Ramkota Hotel of Pierre ~ For your convenience, we have rags available for your use. We ask that you please do not use our good towels, hand towels, or wash cloths to clean your guns, boots or dogs.

**From the local papers**
Voices of the Sandhills (SD) - Introducing Mike Vaughn, the Singing Cowboy Pastor, or, to be more accurate, a minister of the Lord, who sings country western gospel music.

Kearney Daily (NE) - Sauerkraut casserole may be what's for dinner tonight.

The Mobridge Tribune (ND) (obituaries) - Edith Traversie danced with Lawrence Welk at age 17, a highlight of her younger years. In addition to being a mother to 15 children, Edith was a homemaker.

Mary Lou excelled as a breadmaker. She was especially noted for making the most wonderful fry bread and lima beans.

** Recent random comments made in the two vans **

- The rolling hills of NE have so much more character than the flat, flat plains of IA.
- A unison cry of glee spontaneously erupted as we caught sight of a field of itty bitty baby bison
- Oh! A Japanese car! (North Dakota had by far the most Buicks per capita of any state).
- There's a long load of poop in that truck!
- Hey - that looks like the turn: a straight road that goes to nowhere! - "What's that?" "It's a combine." "What's that?"
- My camera only takes pictures of the dashboard.
- It's a good thing we have mile markers so we know we're actually moving.
- Hey look! A tree!

Footnote:
* In the interest of full disclosure and the need to be VERY precise, at least as far as the Natopedia is concerned, I double-fact-checked my proclamation that the song Mandy was about a dog. I was wrong. Laurie Wheeler, a member of the Barry Manilow, International Fan Club for 30 years, and Owner and Co-Moderator of the All4BarryManilow Group set me straight. First, the original title of "Mandy" was "Brandy," and Scott English and Richard Kerri wrote it. Scott English says that Brandy was about a dog in the booklet included with Barry Manilow's "The Complete Collection" Box Set. But Laurie found out how that story began. During the year Scott had his eight minutes of fame with his own rendition of "Brandy," a reporter awakened him at 7:00 A.M. He wanted to know who "Brandy" was. Scott recalls he would have said anything to get rid of him, so spat out the first thing that came to mind. "It was about a dog like Lassie and I had sent her away. Now you go away!" and hung up on him. So now, you know "Brandy" was not written about a dog at all.