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Nebraska, Autumn 2010, Part II
Nov. 9th, 2010 14:53The first half of the saga can be found here, should you need any background.
On Saturday morning, after a particularly terrible breakfast at "Mary's", a local greasy spoon in what was a truck stop back when Hwy 2 cut through the middle of town as what was optimistically called "The Viaduct", we drove into downtown for coffee.
Nebraska City has two coffee shops, one of which has a very large "going out of business" sign in the window, and one that serves really, really good truffles called Janie's. We stopped for coffee, and, naturally, I made arrangements to come back that afternoon with my guitar. Rhonda, being a lover of Celtic music, readily agreed.
We did the Tree Adventure, Part I, then back into town. We spent a terrific hour there: I sat and played through my songbook while Michelle and the kids played "Trouble" and gin rummy in one of the booths. I'd kind of hoped to be able to play for Rhonda, the owner, but she was stuck in the back decorating a cake. Nevertheless, before we left, she came out and I gave her a song in parting, "Armstrong's Goodnight." She told me that the next time we were in the area, I should let her know and she'd advertise the visit and host a concert.
Some of you know that I am working on a song about the POW camps that existed in the midwest in World War II. My mother used to speak of hearing the POWs singing at night and as a child I never thought anything about it. Having now written a song about it, it occurred to me that I didn't know where the Weeping Water camp actually was, though I did know there was one there. I thought I might know where it was - an area of town across the creek known today as "Swede Town" - and as it turns out I was incorrect.
After chatting with the folks at the Weeping Water Museum - "My backyard is at the edge of the camp.." - "They used to walk the POWs by my house on work detail..." I realized I'd been driving through the camp and never realized it: the main road into town from the South cuts through where it used to be. Most of the buildings are gone - some were moved and repurposed, some rotted away and were torn down. The road into the camp is pretty much just a driveway so we didn't follow it down, but there are still three buildings we could identify as barracks, ugly little nondescript things.
As issues go, there are far more important problems in the world that need solving, but it was a personal quest for me, and I'm glad for the information.
On Saturday morning, after a particularly terrible breakfast at "Mary's", a local greasy spoon in what was a truck stop back when Hwy 2 cut through the middle of town as what was optimistically called "The Viaduct", we drove into downtown for coffee.
Nebraska City has two coffee shops, one of which has a very large "going out of business" sign in the window, and one that serves really, really good truffles called Janie's. We stopped for coffee, and, naturally, I made arrangements to come back that afternoon with my guitar. Rhonda, being a lover of Celtic music, readily agreed.We did the Tree Adventure, Part I, then back into town. We spent a terrific hour there: I sat and played through my songbook while Michelle and the kids played "Trouble" and gin rummy in one of the booths. I'd kind of hoped to be able to play for Rhonda, the owner, but she was stuck in the back decorating a cake. Nevertheless, before we left, she came out and I gave her a song in parting, "Armstrong's Goodnight." She told me that the next time we were in the area, I should let her know and she'd advertise the visit and host a concert.
Some of you know that I am working on a song about the POW camps that existed in the midwest in World War II. My mother used to speak of hearing the POWs singing at night and as a child I never thought anything about it. Having now written a song about it, it occurred to me that I didn't know where the Weeping Water camp actually was, though I did know there was one there. I thought I might know where it was - an area of town across the creek known today as "Swede Town" - and as it turns out I was incorrect. After chatting with the folks at the Weeping Water Museum - "My backyard is at the edge of the camp.." - "They used to walk the POWs by my house on work detail..." I realized I'd been driving through the camp and never realized it: the main road into town from the South cuts through where it used to be. Most of the buildings are gone - some were moved and repurposed, some rotted away and were torn down. The road into the camp is pretty much just a driveway so we didn't follow it down, but there are still three buildings we could identify as barracks, ugly little nondescript things.
As issues go, there are far more important problems in the world that need solving, but it was a personal quest for me, and I'm glad for the information.
