Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1934-07-20
"a TRIP TO
CALIFORNIA"


on to Iowa City leaving Felicia and
me in Chicago. This morning we start
ed out by train to overtake her. Most |
of the country was open meadow |
broken occasionally by the tall red
silo Of a dairy farm. At Davenport
we crossed the Mississippi River. Per-
hsps the additionally muddy waters
would not have impressed me but that
they brought to mind the cotton pick
ers and the levees and the showboats.
Along the banks close upon the
waters edge were miles of little gar
den plots. In Iowa City we were
shown the campus of the University
of Iowa which is fast becoming ia
nous for its Dramatic School. Work
is being begun on Grecian ampi-
theater and an Elizabethean theater
"a rare thing in Americal
Sunday, July s,
Pleasantown, Kansas
And as yet the countryside is re-
ally much like Southern Maryland
yet even more rolling. The trees
have a certain airiness and softness
like those that Carrot paints. And
there are fields and fields of wheat.
Already the harvest is over and each
farm has a straw stack shining in the
sun. The warm smell of wheat is
everywhere. This little strip of East
ern Kansas is a herald to the West.
One begins to feel the nearness of
the sky. The road up each little hill
leads straight to the sky. Leaves of
the trees shine silver as the breezes
blow them up to the sun. All the
barns here are works of art, but the
houses are decidedly undressing.
Monday, July 9,
Norman, Oklahoma.
The West has begun, but as yet
the cowboys are scarce and l haven't
seen a single skeletonl At first Ok
lahoma seemed unfertile and barren.
Even the barns were dilapidated. The
drouth has burned the corn till there
are fields of fodder standing But
farther south and west, all was green
the many trees and the fields of
varying shades. There were stretch
es, however, of land quite bare of
anything but dull grass-no trees to
make one sure the sky did not meet
the rim of the earth. The close sun
warmed my bones and made me feel
glad. Oil wells covered the fields like
the spires of a skeleton city. The
little towns are dreadful-so bare and
unimaginative.
Tuesday, July 10,
Norman, Oklahoma.
Here we are the guests of one
Norman Macleod. The name may be
reeognized-as he is one of the "be-
coming famous" young writers of the
day. In the Southwest and in Europe
he is better known, however, than in
our section of the country. His poems
and short stories have been published
in such magazines as Scribners, Lit
erary Digest, Poetry, magazine of
verse; Saturday Evening Revue, etc.
and he has edited many magazines
in the West. His work appears in the
outstanding publications of France,
Italy, Belgium, Russia, and Japan.
Recently the Parnassus Press in New
York brought out his book of poems
Horizons of Death. A striking fea-
ture of his poetry is its conciseness
and vividness of imagery Lately he
has done much book reviewing and
he is recognized for his revolutionary
poetry.
Wednesday, July II,
Las Vegas, New Mexico.
know now all that is meant by
"the wide open spaces"l The old
Santa Fe Trail took US through the
panhandle" of Texas, and it is well
that one cannot judge so vast a state
by this little stripl The miles go on
and on through perfectly flat country
of monotonous dry grass and fences
But always ahead one sees mirages of
cool blue lakes and green marshes.
Little funnel shaped whirlwinds sour
ry along making small moving fires
of dust across the fields. Then came
the rolling prairies with their gray
green sage grass and little cactus
plants. Except for that part of Tex
as Of which I spoke, it is the low
vegetation and great stretches that
make one feel fatness that really
isn't there as we Fasteners imagine
it. The bare table lands faded into
long straight cut shelf mountains
striped by rock strata.
Thursday, July ~,
Grants, New Mexico
New Mexico is a wonder, brown,
tan and red earth sweeping into pur-
pie and blue and green Of graceful
peaked or shelf mountains. Every
where bushy scrub cedars are black |
green tufts against the grey green of |
sparse desert grass. Earth and sky
are intimate through spaciousness and
there is a special close whiteness of |
the clouds. The pueblo mud houses
Of the Indians are red brown like
the earth. The personality of the
Redskins has unavoidably drawn its