It turns out the Gateway to the West isn’t all that different from any other gateway. It allows travel in both directions. Whether heading in or out, all travelers seek the same thing: to quench their thirst.
The thirst they wish to slake can include many things. It can be physical, like food, drink, or air conditioning. It can be emotional, like happiness, a sense of belonging, or simply a good joke. Finally, it could be spiritual, like being closer to God, Country, or the Green Bay Packers.
Americans grew up trained to satisfy their thirsts. It doesn’t matter which part of the country you come from; the grass is always greener on the other side. Chances are, if Americans see a doorway, they’ll eagerly pass through it. Such a portal always signals a better place, a better future, a better life.
Perhaps that’s the purpose of the West. It symbolizes something new, a place where dreams can come true.
Or am I confusing the promise of the American frontier with Hollywood?Continue Reading “Quenching Thirsts With Bud, Pepsi, And The Arch That Defines America”
To The Tables Down At Yorkside… (Wherever That May Be)
That tells you everything you need to know. There may be other contests throughout the fall sports season. There may be other seasons throughout the year. But only one singular event towers above all. It is the ultimate game (or at least it used to be—but more on that in a moment) of the Ivy League football season. It is the world’s second-longest continuous football rivalry (behind only Yale-Princeton). Students, alumni, and affiliates of New Haven and Cambridge eagerly await the finale between Yale and Harvard.
But it’s not just “a” game; it is “the” game, as in “The Game.”
People don’t go merely to watch a classic eleven-on-eleven gridiron clash. They go for Continue Reading “To The Tables Down At Yorkside… (Wherever That May Be)”