notes from Arkansas

Arkansas is a new frontier for the Tree of Valinor. But the climate brought me back home to Virginia's Blue Ridge. There are countless small differences, like the presence of armadillos and loblolly pines in Arkansas. But in the Ozarks in early spring, what the skin feels and the nose smells is the atmosphere of the woods of my youth. At night it stays warm. The pretty rolling hills are blurry on a moist day. The rain creates a sweetly decaying fragrance rather than the papermill scent you get around Eugene or the sharp bitterbrush scent around Sisters.

There are big signs as you pass Hope and Hot Springs, announcing Bill Clinton's birthplace and childhood home. Texas isn't the only state with a sense of pride. Texas seems overrated in many areas, in fact. I'm not sure it lives up to all the boasting.