Tuesday, July 3, 2007

By the shores of Gitche Gumee...

A couple of weeks ago we were at one of the local (okay, oldest in the nation) malls, and decided to stop at Caribou for coffee. (Caribou is a midwestern Starbucks wannabe. ) It was mid-afternoon, and as always, I glanced up at the daily trivia question, always hoping to get a dime off and feel smart at the same time. And I often have some luck, except when the questions are about sports. (I did once get a sports question to which the answer was: The Minneapolis Lakers.)



On this particular afternoon, the question was about poetry. I read: "In Longfellow's poem, what was the name of Hiawatha's love?" I had one of those, "I'm an English major, I should know this," moments, mentally going through the most famous lines of the poem, the ones that all schoolchildren, at least at one time, were forced to memorize:

"By the shores of Gitche-Gumee
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis
Daughter of the moon, Nokomis."

Then, totally independently of the poem, the answer came to me. "Minnehaha?" I ventured to the clerk. "You're right!" She smiled. "You're the first person to get it right today."


Now that made me feel smart, at least for a minute of two. And then I thought: at 3:00 in the afternoon, in the land of Minnehaha Falls, Minnehaha Park, and Minnehaha Parkway -- nobody got it right before I did? There's even a statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha in the park -- a beautiful place to visit, by the way. In fact, I think it was my ancient memories of seeing the statue, the many times my family and I picnicked at Minnehaha Park, that jogged my memory of the famous name.


And it made me think: what do we know, anymore? In whatever place we are in, whether Tokyo, Japan, or Portland, Oregon, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- do we have a sense of the place we are any more, its unique history and landscape? Do we see the birds who live there, the wildflowers that color the summer? Do the names of the places (Hennepin, Nicollet, Hiawatha, Pillsbury) make us curious to know the travelers who were here before us? Or do our eyes glaze over as we travel from one strip mall to another, stopping in at Starbucks and Walmart and Toyz 'R Us?


There's a way in which each big city now begins to resemble every other city. Minneapolis no longer has Daytons and Donaldsons downtown, and you don't have to go to New York to experience the thrill of entering Macy's -- so it's not such a big thrill any more. I miss Young Quinlan and Powers, and innumerable small shops now disappeared. And there is something handy, I'll admit, about going into a Target in any city and knowing exactly where to find what I am looking for.


And yet, under the surface, if we dig a little deeper, the unique places in each city still exist. Lac Qui Parle and Nicollet remind us of the French traders here long before the Norwegians or the Swedes. Hiawatha and Minnehaha (although fictional) remind of of those who were here longer still. Scratch the surface, and there are a million stories of famous and ordinary people, of famous and ordinary places.

But what do we know anymore ... about the places we live?

6 comments:

Hot Cup Lutheran said...

Excellent post Diane! I think you could use this line of thought to develop a sermon for Sunday. Regarding the hospitality... the disciples had specific instructions b/c of the hospitality codes of the day... how about us? Isn't it part of hospitality to know about where we are & to share the treasures of where we are with those around us? You could extend the metaphor from specific community to local church even. Just a thought... if my sermon well runs dry I might in fact be back and use this thought myself!

Caribou... so jealous. I've got "Kitchen Coffee"

Terri said...

This one is a thought provoking example of being disconnected to our home, land, place.

RevDrKate said...

I was thinking not long ago about sense of place and how growing up in unique places shapes and defines us. Had a conversation about this in fact with a woman who grew up in Lead, SD, a very unique place. But if every place starts getting all homogenized, that fosters that disconnect.

LoieJ said...

Seen one Mall, you've seen them---mall.

Yep, dates me to know the store names of downtown Mpls, as I've lived away from there 30 years. I remember my first time to Daytons, all 9 floors of that store! An impossible place to figure out, for me.

My kids don't have near the curiosity that I've had all my life. I like local histories, place names, etc.

We should not let this knowledge get lost.

Maybe someone wants us all to become defacto clones.

Ann said...

Very thought provoking and I agree, there is definitely a sermon in this train of thought. I think your Scout needs to meet my Maddie, my 5 month old Golden. Thank you for visiting my blog and for the warm welcome. I know that I will visit here often.

Sally said...

Interesting- echoes here of Bill Brysons trip through America- longing for uniqueness- though I admit that UK is exactly the same- we have Tescs's Stores everywhere- all the same!!!