In Oklahoma I saw two Jesus signs, one Jesus license plate, but no pro-life signs. Fortunately I do not have to listen to the radio as I have lots of CDs. There were about a million FedEx trucks headed to Oklahoma City, but I didn’t notice a comparable number of UPS trucks. Does FedEx have some big sorting facility there or something?

I remember as I am about to leave the state of Oklahoma that one of my favorite non-fiction authors, Sarah Vowell is from the northeastern part of the state where, “being at least a little Cherokee … is about as rare and remarkable as being a Michael Jorden fan in Chicago” (Vowell is herself a little Cherokee). In one episode of This American Life she relates the story of firing a cannon with her father, a story which is a sort of microcosm of politics in America. In another she and her twin sister retrace the Trail of Tears, which of course leads them back to Oklahoma. I am getting tired of my music CDs, so I put my audiobook version of Assassination Vacation (a terrific listen btw-), which is read by the author. As I listen to her read the book, I am starting to see many connections between the places I have and am going to be visiting on this trip. I had already started to see some of them before re-listening to the book and it’s interesting how everything in American history is all interrelated. Once I get to the end of my journey, I hope to connect some of these dots.

I have friends who live in Manhattan, not far from where the world trade center once stood. Some New Yorkers, I know, resent tourists coming to see where the fallen towers once stood. “Why didn’t you come when they were standing” one asks me as a proxy for the tourists on more than one occasion. I actually did go see it when it was still there and I’ve never been interested in seeing it since the collapse. So why would I want to go see the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum which memorializes the April 19th attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh?

I think it is because I am interested in the history, and in this respect I am well rewarded. The museum attached to the memorial does the best job I have seen of telling the story, starting with an audio recording that just happened to being made on April 19th, followed by the first TV news accounts, and artifacts from the attack. It goes on in excruciating detail. I am interested in the investigation that leads almost immediately to Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices, and later the evidence gathering which leads to convictions.

One thing that I found very difficult to see was a room containing pictures of the victims and artifacts chosen by the families to represent their loved ones. One man’s box included a TNG era communicator pin, which I relate to being a Star Trek fan, and it makes it so much more personal. One child’s box had a collection of Lion King figures. The deaths of the children are understandably the hardest to deal with emotionally.

One thing I think the museum expresses how everyone came together during the tragedy during the immediate aftermath and during the rescue operations. How terrible people were brought to justice using the rule of law and due process. I think like a politician seeking election, our principals do not count for much when they are convenient. It is when they are inconvenient that you find out if they really mean anything, and I think that Americans showed everyone that our principals do indeed count for something.

The memorial outside is a quiet and solemn place. Oklahoma City itself is not busy or crowded, at least on the day I am there. I took some photographs. It’s full of meaning, as most memorials like this are. I am quiet and contemplative.

I drove 431.3 miles today for a total of 1294.8 miles.