One thing is very clear: wherever large crowds of people gather there occurs a flood of concrete and asphalt to cover the land. Maybe if I’d have listened more closely I would have heard how many acres are covered over by Disney World, MGM Studios, Epcot Center, and Sea World. The loss of the natural world is the price we pay. I see it occurring every time I pass through a growing Fargo where some of the richest farmland in the world disappears under that hard blanket. (Today’s Bismarck Tribune carries an article about the burgeoning price of farmland.) At the Epcot Center it was gratifying to see soil scientists experimenting with different methods of food production.
I marvel at the architecture of the Arch in St. Louis and the method used to build it. I wondered out loud how they found workmen to work on its dizzy heights and dangerous conditions and heard a response from one of my trip mates, “There’s always someone willing to work for wages.” I’m uncomfortable at the top; my claustrophobia really kicks in up there, but I never want to miss the experience. I think of the NE trip when Dick Huebner and I happened to look from the small window atop the Washington Monument and saw the President’s helicopter land on the White House lawn. The First Couple got out and walked across the lawn towards a small group applauding their arrival. If I had stayed on the ground, I would have missed that scene.
Beehives and ant colonies have nothing over the John Deere manufacturing plant in Moline, IL. The complexity of making and piecing together all those parts into a functioning, dependable farm machine boggles the mind. In graduate school I learned about system analysts and can imagine that is one place where their talents are used. The costs for this technology grows and is reflected in the prices charged. A showroom featured a large combine and tractor, each priced in the third of a million dollar range.
Anheuser-Busch brews oceans of beer in St. Louis, and it is only one plant. They have others. I quit drinking alcoholic beverages many years ago but still enjoy an occasional bottle of O’Douls, their non-alcoholic version. It’s their stable of beautiful horses that I think of when I hear the name Bud mentioned. While in the stable a couple other trademarks roamed among us looking for pats and scratches, their spotted Dalmatian dogs.
Well blogsters, I’m going to wrap up my impressions of our recent trip with one more blog.
(Florida Trip - Part 4 to follow)
