Have You Ever Heard of Chillicothe

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Have you ever heard of Chillicothe? My guess is that most of you answered no. But if you asked me that question, I'd ask which one? Chilicothee is the name of a town, and there are actually more than one of them. Strange as it may sound, I've been to several. In my years a union organizer, I was constantly traveling from, or to, or through one small town or another. Traveling that way, and sometimes actually getting to stay in the town for a little while, is an entirely different experience than gasing up your car, jumping on an interstate and going to some faraway point for your vacation. On the interstate, our cars are like separate bubbles that we drive in a kind of isolated meditative haze. When you drive hrough real towns on real roads, you can see how other people live and it sparks your curiousity. Who are these people? What kind of houses do they live in? Where do they work? What do they eat and what kind of music do they like? What never ceases to amaze me is that for all our supposed differences, we are fundamentally the same. Whether you are in Chillicothe, MO or Chillicothe, OH or Chililcothe, TX you see a similarity in the way people create the stuff of their lives and communities. There may be different architecture and landscape, but there is a familiar pattern that is strangely comforting.

We had not planned to "Mess with Texas" on our road trip, preferring instead to blast through to the more interesting landscape of New Mexico. But we ended up on a less traversed US route that shaved at least two hours between Dallas and Amarillo. Halfway there, we passed through Chilicothee, Texas. Having seen several others, I could not resist pausing in the little town - population: 798. It is in many ways a sad little town, down on its luck. The photo of the mural depicts the towns vision of itself, or perhaps more accurately its past dreams of industry and prosperity in cattle ranching and oil drilling. Now, most of the buildings in the tiny downtown are boarded up and abandoned, but for one bright spot where a garden has been planted by some optimistic soul bent on beautifying the town. I wonder if the people who live here know that there are people who live in some other Chililcothe? Do they, like me, imagine what it would be like to live there and call it home? Probably not, I think, they are already home. I guess that's the point, everyplace is home to those that live there.

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Comments

[KelleyD]

Hometowns of USA
I am glad you are taking a long journey to your new home in Portland. On this journey, your perspective is different from a recreational traveler. Your frame is about what makes a city or town a home. So what are the factors that make town USA -- a good home? Are the cultures different? Keep us posted. -KD

[Janet]

Injuns Here They Come
Hey kids! Glad your car is okay. I'm only just reading your other two blog entries now....at 5:40 AM....on my way to bed.....and really enjoying them. Back in the not so predictable south, Kaya, me, Frank, Aldo, and my other friends Rich (The Photographer), Ned Sublette (the author), and Larry Blumenfeld (the journalist, Jazz critic and author) found our way down to Washington and LaSalle at sundown to witness the annual St Joseph's night Indian ritual. It was the best I've ever seen. Everyone got their fill of photos and video clips. Frank was hilarious. Rich twisted his arm into being the lighting man - (with a little help from me). The job entailed carrying a light around on a stick to illuminate figures normally soaked up so much by darkness it's almost impossible to get a good shot. So Frank suddenly became the star of the show. The Indians LOVED him and Rich was in love with him too. There were a couple of fights that spooked him a bit but when he saw us standing our ground he got in the groove with us. The police were out in full force but well behaved so all in all I'd say it was a success. I'll try to write more later but now I have to crash. Tried to call you a couple of times to no avail but would love to talk to you if you find yourself in range of a cell tower. Meanwhile, safe driving and much love! J

[Suzanne442]

A journey indeed
It's been really interesting going off interstate and being in towns. We spent some time around Santa Fe and now again in Sonora, Ca near Yosemite. It's especially interesting seeing it through Cem's eyes. I think we've determined he wants to live in the country and I want to live in the city.