Indiana

Now Playing: Devils and Dust - Bruse Springsteen

It's a shame that Mr. Springsteen extracts such a peculiar emotion when you declare that his music suits you. People think of a scratchy voice singing "born, in the usa, I was...", jeans with holes in the knees, and an overall - fake badboy - thing.
But old Bruce and I see eye to eye on the slower paced songs, songs such as "the ghost of tom joad," "Nebraska," and "Devils and Dust." They're settling. They evoke the feeling that life is what it is. Even if it hurts. But you don't feel the pain, you just know it can hurt.

So I've been thinking about Indiana. Never liked living there as an adolescent. Haven't lived there for quite some time. But today, in thinking, I've discovered something besides family that I like about the place. I like seeing "INDIANA" in all-caps on my license-plate. Even when the license plates were mainly a peach color with sunset on farm-land motif. Indiana is a 'rough around the edges' word and I fancy it to be a symbol of just that kind of place. Do not think 'Indiana Jones.' Its more of a feeling you get when you see that word on a license-plate at 4 in the morning at a gas station in December. It shows through the grey-filth that covers everything. It represents more than the 4 degree wind-chill you just fought to return to your car. It means getting home to loved ones, and enjoying warm nights indoors. It also means there will be fishing in the spring.

I am trying to figure South Carolina out in the same way. If I don't, I may not stay.