Thursday, 5/10

And welcome to the “Awesome Flatness of Reese”!

This is where Loraine was born and where we’ll be heading this weekend, a little community about the size of Gwinn 15 miles due east of Saginaw. And when Loraine coined the phrase “Awesome Flatness of Reese”, she wasn’t kidding. It’s flat there. . .it’s really really flat there. I think this is a perfect example of the “Flatness”--on a clear day you can even see the Zilwaukee Bridge from Reese. Now, while the Zilwaukee Bridge is about 400 feet about I-75 over the Zilwaukee River, it’s also 11 miles away from her parents’ house, which means that between Reese and the Bridge there’s nothing to get in the way of the view, nothing except the “Awesome Flatness” of the area. Not a tree, not a hill, not anything.

It’s astounding.

Speaking as someone who grew up with hills, trees, and water, I couldn’t believe Reese the first time Loraine showed it to me. Up until that point in my life I don’t think I had ever seen anything quite that flat. I mean, if you had a frictionless ball rolling down a frictionless road in Reese, it’d probably coast for miles before stopping at the crest of the nearest hill, which is about 8 miles away from Reese and, oh, about 5 feet high, which I believe makes it the highest spot of Saginaw County.

Have I mentioned it’s really really flat there?

Not only is it flat, but it’s an interesting place to drive, as well. You see, most of the roads in the area are just wide enough to fit between the drainage ditches of two farm fields. What that means is that you have a road with no shoulder and then an immediate 6 to 10-foot drop off into the drainage ditch that surrounds it. Some of the people who live there won’t, in fact, drive on some of those roads when it’s icy, if only because they don’t want their car to slip into one of those drainage ditches.

And I can’t say I blame them.

Unless you grew up there, I don’t think you actually ever get used to being able to glance out a car window and see something 9 or 10 miles away. To me, at least, it’s just. . .weird. Maybe not to someone who grew up in Kansas or North Dakota, but to me, it’s almost unnatural. Don’t worry, though, I shall survive. And I’ll always have an abiding fondness for Reese, if only because that’s where Loraine came from. . .no matter how flat it is.

And trust me--it’s really really flat.

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There won't be a new one of these tomorrow or Monday, although I WILL be writing one while on t6he way back in the car Monday. If I feel ambitious I may even post it then. If not, see you again on Tuesday!

(jim@wmqt.com)