Inspired by an essay on the loss of memory by a German philosopher, Larry McMurtry once wrote a book called "Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen." It wasn't the greatest book. It's an interesting look into McMurtry as a writer and told a little about growing up in Texas. But the thing that stuck with me were the passages about the Dairy Queens in and around Archer City, Texas.
In Texas (at least the part west of Fort Worth) road trips are measured by the distance between DQs. Children recount priceless memories based around the DQ in their grandparents town. Old farmers chat every morning over a Dilly Bar and a coffee.
So why should it be any surprise the parking lot at the DQ in Logansport has the strongest cell signal... and therefore became my press room for the basketball game I just shot.
Dairy Queen
Bayou Bliss
Just like we did in 2003, the staff of The Times' Photo and Sports departments are producing a LSU National Championship book. Here is the website: www.bayoubliss.com
The book will contain a chapter for each game including the SEC and BCS championship games and will feature stories and photos by the Times staff.
The website is already up and taking orders and is offering a pretty decent discount for ordering your book in advance of the January release date.
Road Trip Part Two (Degrees Fahrenheit)
Jeepers! It's cold up here, yeah?
Well we survived the storm and now are spending the last day in Minneapolis with tons of snow on the ground. In the in between, we have driven through the first major snowstorm of the year, spent a night on the shores of a frozen lake with Nancy and Bob (Fran's aunt and uncle) in the middle of nowhere.
We had our photo taken with a giant ridiculous fish at Mille Lacs (a giant frozen lake where all these people go to ice fish) and we had a little involuntary off road incident on the forest road to Bob and Nancy's cabin.
Hope all is well and warm there.
