still catching up - I see in the book it was wild hay - I have heard how the plains was a sea of grasses with a strong, deep, entangled root system that not only held the earth but choked out invading weeds - with that wind that is described in the book it really must have been a very effective natural protection to keeping pure various swaths of grasses.
On page 45 there was a line I had to stop and read several times it was so beautiful - "I could feel the slowing of the day; a shadowless truce while light speaks to time."
So far I am seeing the two personalities as representing the two kinds of immigrants that settled this nation - the opportunists much like an investor today however, a dreamer - Which reminds me of the Samuel Johnson quote, "The pleasure of expecting enjoyment is often greater than that of obtaining it, and the completion of almost every wish is found a disappointment." and there in lies the impulse to move on the the next dream -
The other, the worker looking for a certain morality and ethic who lives in the now with ties to the arts and recognizes beauty. The saying that the ethical and moral worker reminds me of, that I would like to whisper in Angus's ear is - "Happiness is not something ready made. If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, you have a problem."
I see in both the wonders of character that made this nation and the dark side of each that continues our struggle living and governing this nation. In addition the 'Land' appears to be a character in this story - it is described as if a fashion designer is explaining the lines, workmenship and affect of a new Paris creation - and the temperment of the land is affecting both the dreamer and the worker - almost like the Trinity - God the father the dreamer - Jesus the worker - the Holy Spirit the land.
I must say though, constantly reading how hard the work and how hard they worked - sheesh the old proverb keeps popping into my head - "The tiredness leaves but the profit remains."
And Nancy - the perfect metaphor to how we treated those we made powerless in our quest for greater personal oppontunity... we took and took and kept on taking.
Well, again my thoughts may change as I get deeper into the story - I keep wondering what each of our deviding line is - where is it that we come from our past and where we are embracing a future. Age or not, I think we keep doing this in our lives - in many ways I can see we emigrate from our past and immigrate to our dreamed of future. Is it a morning event - or an event in our lives where there was a large shift --- interesting to contemplate.
Oh yes, one more - I noticed they arrived before Ellis Island was the point of debarkation - this is a nice link the history of how
Castle Garden became established as a central point of debarkation.