“A good story is one that isn’t demanding, that proceeds from A to B, and above all doesn’ t remind us of the bad times, the cardboard patches we used to wear in our shoes, the failed farms, the way people you care about most in this world just, one day, up and die on you.
It tells us instead that hard work and perseverance can overcome all obstacles; it tells lie after lie,
and the happy ending is the happiest lie of all.”
~Kathleen Norris
Out here, one the biggest lies you can tell someone is that–for most every story–there is a happy ending. The truth of the matter is, in western Nebraska (just as it is for virtually all of the people who live in the far reaches of the Great Plains), there just aren’t many happy endings.
Farms fail. Business close down. Jobs dry up. People move away. It’s been the storyline of this territory for more than 100 years and I sure as hell don’t see things changing anytime soon.
Boxcar, near Alliance, NE
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