Refer back to some posts regarding North Dakota and their rich heritage. Alli shared with us the story of Whistling Bull, or something like that. That was the woman who turned into a buffalo and then a white buffalo, remember? There was a song and Jana sings it well. I'm not going to write about that.
I have a segue and here it is. We learned that story from our collection of rest stop literature. The same rest stop that gave us the white buffalo story also beseeched upon us a very confusing pamphlet about the long history of German/Russians homesteading in the middle of North Dakota. They must like the wind, long winters, and all the fresh wheat and beef you can handle.
What's a German Russian? It's a German that lives in Russia...or North Dakota as it were. Maybe it's a Russian that lives in Germany, I don't know. That's why this is so confusing. Anyway, we learned all of this last Saturday and it made no sense until we actually met one of these fabled characters.
Meet our friend Vladimir. We met "Vlad" at Mammoth Hot Springs near the north entrance of Yellowstone. He was all alone and asked if we would take his picture, which we did, of course, and then had him take a picture of all of us. We continued talking and learned Vlad was born in the Ukraine, moved to Austria as a boy, and then moved to Australia where he currently lives. Are you seeing the connection here? Let me help.
Ukraine = Russia
Austria = Germany
Australia = North Dakota
Vlad is a real-life, in-the-flesh, German/Russian. We didn't think such people existed. I honestly thought the whole idea was a fabrication propagated by the North Dakota tourism bureau. It's a ploy to get us to come to the state, spend our money, and keep their kitchy establishments in business.
However, I have been proven wrong I am proud to say. Our friend Vlad opened my world and gave me a new perspective on these strange refugees. The poor man doesn't have a place to call home. Maybe that's why he's traveling - he's just a nomad searching for his place in the universe.
Vlad, if you're out there, I salute you. Thank you for enriching my life.
But I still don't like North Dakota.
No comments:
Post a Comment