About

America has always been an idea, a construct of our imagination. Our pastoral yearnings have outdistanced even its cast boundaries and empty places, often far from the reality of unforgiving landscape and hard life on the land. This country is littered with buildings that are reminders of this struggle.

Our American West, its middle, and our Great Plains have provided us a rich metaphor for discussion of our hopes, aspirations and failures. They are the subject of literature, poetry and song, making up our American common language. For a number of years, I have taken road trips throughout …