Indiana

Location: Gary & Goshen
When: Before Thanksgiving
Miles traveled: 453.5
Price of gas: 3.05
Interest: Ornamental grass that were everywhere
High point: Friends & soul charm
Low point: Train horns at night
One thing learned: Hair color changes a lot in 10 years.


    Hello.  Gary and Goshen are two towns in northern Indiana.  I thought it would be nice to drive through Gary and see how the town compares to the 2003 film "The Music Man".  The section of town I saw was not like the movie.  It looked a bit shabby, like it was once a flourishing city, but now only half as many people live there.  But looks can be deceiving.  Their public library was big and lovely, and I bought lunch from Food Express Cafe, a restaurant within walking distance of the library.  The restaurant was like an indoor food truck with decorated dining tables nearby.  Delightfully surprised, I discovered they were a Christian business with a lot of positive and bible quotes on their walls.  It also had that wonderful soul food+service feeling that I encountered in Mississippi!  Their jerk salmon wrap tasted good.

The Last Supper
    South of Gary is the Shrine of Christ's Passion, containing a trail with life size bronze sculptures of the Passion + Stations of the Cross.  At each station, an audio recording described the event and offered reflections on how it might concern the audience today.  It was interesting, but after my recent experience at Annunciation of the Mother of God Church in IL and Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey in IA, this shrine did not make a big impact.  Not that every religious location needs to deeply move a person every time they visit.  I just thought that the magnitude of life size sculptures of pivotal Catholic events, would be more dramatic/influential than it was.  That was my experience.

Jesus before Pilate

Simon helps Jesus carry the Cross

 

    Between Gary and Goshen, is Indiana Dunes State and National Parks.  During a half day visit to the park, I watched a lovely sunset and hiked Diana's Dune.  The dune is named in honor of Alice Gray (a.k.a Diana of the Dunes), a woman who lived among the dunes from 1915 to 1925.  Her free-spirited lifestyle and passion for the dunes fascinated people and newspapers, which in turn helped conservation efforts.  The clean sand of the dunes was being removed for glass-making and other industrial purposes.  Today, large flat areas can still be seen, locations of dunes that were hauled away before park protections were in place.  In addition to the dunes, I enjoyed watching the waves of Lake Michigan, which were much larger than I expected.  I also watched a frog hop towards and into the waves!  The sand looked like cornmeal.  I did not taste it.

Some dunes "eat" trees

    In Goshen, I visited my old haunts!  It was really neat remembering and finding places from my 2013 summer internship with Justin Rothshank.  I did not remember train horns at night, but the black squirrels, apartment building, and art gallery (which now is a motorcycle store) were familiar.  I was able to visit Justin and we chatted about all the changes that had taken place over the past ten years and what current adventures were taking place.  I also meet up with another ceramic acquaintance, Troy Bungart, just over the Michigan border.  Goshen is a large growing community with a strong ceramic presence.  If you are ever in the area at the end of September, check out the Michiana Pottery Tour, which is a great opportunity to meet the area's artists in their studios.

    Indiana is a great place with great people.  I enjoyed visiting known and unfamiliar places, learning about the history and how things are today.