A Lot Going On, Part 3

Every region of this country has its peculiarities in the naming of places and Nebraska is no different. Example: Norfolk, NE, is pronounced as though it were spelled Norfork, which makes this the second state I've been in where a town of that name is not pronounced as it is spelled. While in the army, six centuries ago, I was stationed near Norfolk, VA. It was made clear to me early on that pronouncing it as it was spelled marked me as an alien creature. The citizens of that state pronounce it "Nawflk", no exceptions allowed.

I regularly visit a local "village" here named Orleans. Please articulate it as "Orleens". However, if you are in Louisiana, be advised that the battered city on the delta is not pronounced "New Orleens". It is "N'awlins" to the true natives, a few of whom I have met along the years. To the ears of the westerner, the southern pronunciation of ordinary sounding words can take some strange turns. The same is true of some towns here in Nebraska.

Nebraska has the town of Beatrice, and it is pronounced "be-at-ris", with the accent on "at". It's almost directly south of Lincoln, so someday I'm sure I will be there for a visit.

A couple of familiar names to my friends in Southern California would be the towns of Arcadia, NE. and Fullerton, NE, which are pronounced exactly as they are back in the far west. I also notice that just across the Nebraska border in Colorado are the towns of Akron and Yuma.

There are many towns in Nebraska that reflect its direct involvement in the opening of the west and its Native American homelands. Place names like Red Cloud, Broken Bow, Tekemah, Medicine Creek, Red Arrow County, Omaha and Ogallala all give testimony to the Indian past of Nebraska. And, of course, Red Cloud was the home of Willa Cather, who wrote so many classic stories about life in pioneer Nebraska. I recommend everyone rent the movie "O' Pioneers" with Jessica Lange, which is a faithful re-telling of Cather's greatest novel.

Even the name "Nebraska" comes from an Otoe Indian word for "flat", but it's misleading because Kansas sets new standards for the definition of flat. Pool tables dream about being that flat. Nebraska farmland is primarily gently rolling countryside, but the sandhills in north-central Nebraska and the canyons of the badlands in the east belie the belief that Nebraska is absolutely flat.

Currently, I am reading a book by Roger Welsch, who is to Nebraska what Garrison Keillor is to Wisconsin and Minnesota with his tales of Lake Woebegon. For years, Welsch appeared on the "CBS Sunday Morning" show with his "Postcard From Nebraska". His love for this state is up front to the point that he describes his disgust when he lived briefly in Colorado and found that the scenery was obscured by all the trees and mountains. He loves these plains and I can see why.