Baby on the Road: Thoughts from Places

2010-12-29 · letter vlog · John · 2:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing) · mode: Personal essay · tags: recurring series, on location, community lore, guest or collab

Driving his family from Birmingham back to Indianapolis, John contrasts his youthful road trips west, inspired by All the King's Men, with travelling as a father with responsibilities, and concludes that destinations aren't all bad: this road leads home.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Morning in the Yeti's childhood bedroom; Henry and Willy; packing for the drive from Birmingham to Indianapolis

• ★★ John woke in the Yeti's childhood bedroom, found Henry removing trash from a trash can, and the family had to drive from Birmingham back to Indianapolis. — 00:00:00 · Sarah Urist Green, Henry Green, Willy, Indianapolis

00:00:24 — Then and now: a whole life in a sedan vs a car-top carrier; past road trips; this trip all about speed

• ★★★ John says he once could fit his whole life into a small sedan; now he needs a car-top carrier on his station wagon for a five-day trip. — 00:00:24
• ★★ Recalling his younger years, John lists past road trips to the Grand Canyon, Alaska, San Francisco, and Arthur, Nebraska, home of the world's smallest courthouse. — 00:00:33
• ★★ John says he used to get distracted by roadside attractions, but this trip was all about speed: leftover barbecue for breakfast and no stop until lunch. — 00:00:45

00:00:59 — Nostalgia undercut by Happy Meals and the Play Place; a Google-translated German review

• ★★ John had been feeling nostalgic, but notes that on the old road trips he couldn't order Happy Meals or play in the Play Place, which he can do again now. (playful) — 00:00:59
• ★ While Willy slept, John read Sarah an excerpt from a German review of one of his books as translated by Google. (playful) — 00:01:06 · Sarah Urist Green, Google, Willy

00:01:16 — Why his old trips went west: open space and Robert Penn Warren's passage from All the King's Men

• ★★★ Driving north, John reflects that his old road trips all went west, partly because that is where America's open space is and partly because of a line in All the King's Men. — 00:01:16 · United States
• ★★★ John reads Robert Penn Warren's passage on the West as where you go when the land gives out or you are 'a bubble on the tide of empire', and wishes he could write such sentences. — 00:01:27

00:01:53 — Henry 'drives' the car at a gas stop

00:02:03 — Becoming an adult; the not-so-small courthouse in Arthur, Nebraska; journey vs destination; arriving home; sign-off

• ★★★ John says he kept thinking about the old road trips and this one, and about becoming a capital-A adult with capital-R responsibilities. — 00:02:03
• ★★ John recalls reaching the world's smallest courthouse in Arthur, Nebraska after twelve hours of driving and finding it not actually that small. (playful) — 00:02:06
• ★★★ When he complained on the way to Carhenge, a fellow traveller reminded him the journey matters, not the destination; John says that's true in its way, but destinations aren't all bad. — 00:02:24 · It's the journey, not the destination
• ★★★ Driving north with the whole family, John says the road delivered them to the one place his youthful trips west never could: home. — 00:02:36

Humor (significant)

• Feeling nostalgic for youthful road trips, John remembers he couldn't order Happy Meals or play in the Play Place then. — 00:01:02

  “which I can finally do again after more than two decades.”

• At a gas stop the family lets baby Henry 'drive' the car for a while. — 00:01:57

  “despite Henry's abundant charms, he is not terribly attentive behind the wheel.”

• The world's smallest courthouse in Arthur, Nebraska turned out not to be that small. — 00:02:20

  “I could easily build a much smaller courthouse in my basement.”

Threads in this video

• callback · John's wife Sarah as 'the Yeti' (2007) — John calls Sarah 'the Yeti' (her childhood bedroom). (00:00:00)
• told · John's family drives from Birmingham back home to Indianapolis (December 2010) — John narrates the family's drive from Birmingham back to Indianapolis: packing, a fast trip, Henry 'driving', snow, and arriving home. (00:00:13)
• callback · Willy as the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts (2008) — Willy 'says' he claims the snow for Fireball Wilson Roberts. (00:00:53)
• restate · Is nostalgia trustworthy: were earlier times, or earlier generations, really better? — John's nostalgia for youthful road trips is undercut: as a father he can again enjoy Happy Meals and the Play Place. (00:00:59)
• callback · 'French the llama': John's misreading of FTL as an exclamation of amazement (2009) — John exclaims 'French the llama' at Robert Penn Warren's sentence. (00:01:48)

Mentioned

Central: All the King's Men · Henry Green · It's the journey, not the destination

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green

Works: The Great Gatsby · The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Organizations: Google

Terms: French the llama

Places: Alaska · Arthur, Nebraska · Birmingham, Alabama · Carhenge · Grand Canyon · Indianapolis · San Francisco · Stonehenge · United States · world's smallest courthouse (Arthur, Nebraska)

Products: Happy Meal

animal: Willy

Only in the description or credits: Karen Kavett · Robert Penn Warren · Thoughts from Places

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