drive south

Since Pat and I moved to Ohio, we have made a concerted effort to explore our state. Growing up in Illinois, between school trips and my Dad making sure we explored all of Illinois, I became pretty well versed in Illinois history. I took an Ohio history course, but that just wetted my appetite for more. We have explored eastern and western Ohio and think a trip to Columbus from Cleveland is something we can do on a moment's notice. We had never explored Southern Ohio. I don’t know where Southern Ohio starts but I am pretty sure that we drove through it on our way to Ashland, Kentucky this last weekend. It’s kind of funny how age changed my interests. In my youthful past, I was always looking for historical markers where some famous dead guy stopped. That is still fun but know I want to see parks and gardens because that’s where the plants and flowers are. Greenhouses, nursery centers, and flea markets have taken the place of brass plaques as places to stop.

North of Columbus the landscape was all brown and gray. Spring was holding its breath. The further south of Columbus we drove the more hint of spring we saw. The tips of trees and bushes were green. Farm fields had a three day beard of green. By the time we made Chillicothe (our first state capital), the landscape was verdant. Forthysias were in full bloom, daffodils covered the front yards of houses we passed. Magnolia trees and crab apples were in flower. Spring was marching north, just not fast enough.

Pat and I went to Ashland Kentucky for a John Prine concert. The first thing we did after checking into the hotel in Ashland was find the magnolia trees we passed looking for the hotel. The magnolia trees were in full bloom. Ashland must be a month ahead of us.

In the old days (whenever that was), Pat would be dry when the Ohio River flooded in the spring because she is standing on the dry side of the flood wall. If she was on the other side, she would either be treading water or floating down river heading to Cairo (that is Karo).

The concert was very cool. We had center stage pitt seats. I was giddy with excitement, or at least as giddy as I get. Now the people next to us were giddy. It was funny being in an auditorium filled with gray haired middle agers who knew the words to all of the songs. We made it back to the hotel just in time to see the University of Kentucky lose some basketball game. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth at the hotel, but not by the concert goers. A bunch of us gathered around the bar and talked about our children and where we lived. Then it dawned on me, well maybe better late than never, Pat and I had turned into our folks. Now that is funny.