Where the Green Grass Grows

Where the Green Grass Grows

Probably the loveliest spot in the United States is in the area of the four counties north of Dayton, OH. Miami, Shelby, Auglaize, Mercer. It's an area of rich, fertile,verdant fields with wide vistas of land and sky separated by a clearly defined horizon and dotted here and there with tall farm structures such as silos and grain elevators.

I have written before about the high plains of the Texas panhandle which is similar but drier and much lonelier. Here the towns are not as far apart, the wind doesn't blow quite as hard, there are more trees and generally more people, just the right amount of people.

The area was originally settled by German farmers, some Catholic and some Protestant, and their characteristics are still noticeable in the behavior of their descendants. The farms, properties and towns are almost compulsively neat and orderly. No blade of grass is out of place and the boundaries are precisely clipped and delineated. Street crime is low to non existent though every once in a while there is a kidnapping or a spectacular murder. Most cars are parked with their keys in the ignition. The streets and roads are populated but uncrowded and the people are friendly and non-threatening. Everything is fresh and new looking like a real life version of Lake Woebegone.

It was an absolutely beautiful spring day when, while waiting to see a customer, I decided to eat my lunch out of doors. I came upon a large park with few people in it and several clusters of canopy covered picnic benches on stone slabs amidst the incredibly green grass. I stopped at a bench to eat and during my meal noticed several other lone picnickers enjoying the brilliant weather. Almost all the others were single women, who drove up, ate their lunches, took in some sun and left. I must have been a sight in my suit and tie and yarmulke but I enjoyed it so much, I repeated it the next day as well with the same type of company.

This idyllic situation doesn't come without some tribulations. I began my trip very early on a Sunday morning in order to spend it in Detroit with a close relative. In fact, I left my house at 4:00AM to catch a 6:00AM flight. The flight left on time and even though it was cloudy, we immediately rose above the clouds and had a pleasant journey until we reached the area of Lake St. Clair which is the eastern border of Detroit. I noticed that we began a holding pattern and also noticed that even though we were at 13,000 feet, way below us, about 10,000 feet below us, the earth was covered with cloud cover. This is unusual since cloud cover usually begins much further up in the sky, but this time it was clear until very close to the ground. We were informed that Detroit was completely fogged in but it would soon dissipate.

That didn't happen and we got the go ahead to divert to Toledo (only fifty miles south). Strangely, there was no cloud cover at all as we approached Toledo from the east and landed in sunny weather. Because Toledo is a small airport, it took a while to get refueled and even longer till we got the go ahead into Detroit. We took off and flew for about 16 minutes and then taxied into our gate at Detroit for another 16 minutes. Had I left the plane, I would have been able to drive to Detroit and would have arrived 2 hours earlier than i subsequently did, but didn't realize how long we would be delayed.

Flying from Cincinnati into Newark later that week, about half way into the trip we again began a pattern and this went on for about half an hour when we were informed that it would be another 40 minutes before we would get clearance to proceed to Newark and that we were getting low on fuel.I noticed that when we finally left the holding pattern, we flew northward which didn't bode well and indeed the pilot soon announced that we were being diverted to Albany.

I had learned my lesson and insisted that I deplane at Albany (only about 2 hours by car from my final destination that evening). Before leaving the plane, I remarked to the pilot that this was my second diversion this week.

He replied, " Really? My last diversion was two years ago"