Tag Archives: urn
Excursion 6, Part 4 (The Return of the Urn)
In which our intrepid hero re-encounters a persistent mystery…
An interesting thing happened to me the other day. I was going on another excursion and had to pass through the town of Coshocton, Ohio, which happens to be a town in which I spent some time on this excursion as well (see Excursion 6, Part 3 as well as this post). I passed through Coshocton from a different direction and for a different purpose, and yet somehow the choices that I made in terms of streets to turn on managed to take me past the same old industrial buildings I had seen on my first trip and past the same urns (see below) I had passed by on my first trip. Although completely unintentionally, my brain had decided to take me on the same turns and I ended up in the same places. It occurs to me that this is a useful analogy to our own lives: all too frequently we think we are starting anew, but we end up back in the same old spots, despite all intentions.
Excursion 4, Part 3 (Urnhenge)
In which our intrepid hero revisits Zanesville, glorious Zanesville…
Population is an odd thing. In Ohio, the population has been stagnant for some time. There is a small net outflow of population, just barely compensated for by births. But within the state, population is far from stagnant. There is an outflow of people, often quite large, from every one of Ohio’s major cities save one (Columbus). There is also often an outflow from inner-ring suburbs. Where are they going? Basically to further suburbs. Ohio’s small cities and large towns are experiencing equally bad declines, with some having lost half their populations since World War II. Zanesville, Ohio, along U.S. 40/I-70 an hour east of Columbus, is one such town. Where did all those people go? I haven’t been able to find out.
Excursion 2, Part 3 (The Mystery Vase)
In which our intrepid hero discovers an intriguing and mysterious urn…
When some people drive alone for a distance, they are able somehow to tune themselves out. Perhaps they immerse themselves in music from the radio, or CDs or MP3s. Maybe they just focus on the road. Sometimes I am able to do that, especially if I am weary, or if the traffic or weather is such that I really need to concentrate. But all too often I am very conscious that I am with myself. My thoughts roam far and wide. This is a bad thing if you are depressed or if something unhappy just happened; your mind gets stuck in a loop and you endlessly replay conversations or are simply unable to get away from fears and anxieties. But if you don’t have those monsters lurking inside you that day, your mind can instead be a “happy place,” where you can absorb and process what you see in a mindset of peace and serenity. You can almost feel the dopamine kicking in when you get into such a contemplative, almost meditative mood. When this happens, I find it more than relaxing; it is almost as if my cares are falling away from me as I speed down the road…
Unearthed Ohio 