2002mar20. Mail.
On this page there are a number things which aren’t quite correct regarding South Dakota.
1. The “THINK” signs are used to denote a fatal traffic accident, and are placed as near the spot of the accident, while remaining in the right-of-way, and off the roadway. When these signs wear out they are not replaced in kind.
I surmised exactly that in the article. That doesn’t qualify as “not quite correct.”
2. In Vivian, SD, the object referred to as a “grain silo” is in fact called a grain elevator. A silo is something different. A silo is what a single farmer has in his yard, the elevator is akin to a mass storage clearing house for grain and seeds. An elevator is to a silo what a SAN is to a floppy disk.
Got it. SAN. Like SAN Francisco.
3. There are few natural sunflower fields in South Dakota. They are planted with intention. Out west, where the writer noted the vacant landscape, there are no ‘farms’ but instead, ranches. The soil out there is highly erodable and entirely unfit for growing much of anything, though people try. It’s corn, wheat, soybeans, and misc other crops in Eastern SD, and mostly cattle in Western SD.
Where do I say that the sunflower field is “natural"? I said it was “naturiffic” from the Greek “nature” meaning “plants and stuff” not “natural” which would have been bent thusly: “naturaliffic.”
4. Back in the day, the towns were constructed such that the railroad could stop and fill the engine up with water. The towns are spaced at at distance something like 14 miles because that is how far the engine could go before needing water.
For the third time, you’re not “correcting” me, you’re just “adding knowledge” to my meanderings. I suppose a number of South Dakotan experts could do this all day, but then it would turn into this boring hodge-podge of historical writing.
That’s about all. Interesting reading. As a South Dakotan, I detest Wall Drug. Those damn signs are everywhere, and the whole town is an amazing shithole tourist trap. It’s good that the writer was able to take joy in the oddball nature of it.
That’s a strange take on the article, which alludes to my Wall Drug-induced nausea. I’ve been there a few times now, it’s certainly not a good place to stop and eat. Also because the town is so small you run into the one police SUV over and over again. I’d just take the subway into town if I were going again, and I’d pack a lunch.