Ode to the Mysterious Midwest
and its rivers and birds
I feel like I’m on a lot of zoom calls with people in California and New York and Germany, and I’m in the chat all, “South Bend, Indiana!” Which is not even true because I’m actually in the next town over in Mishawaka, Indiana. Like, what? Where? But we’ve got this river. I grew up mostly in Cincinnati, where we had an even bigger river. Along the way I became a river girl.
A couple years ago I was asked to contribute an essay about the Midwest to Essay Daily. They called it, of all things, a “Midwessay.” This was what I wrote. I’m sharing it now because I’ve been appreciating the river and the Midwest lately. It’s beautiful in the fall. And I’m in Chicago this weekend with its Giant-City-Big-Lake-But-Still-Midwest vibes.
What am I doing in Chicago? We’re spending the weekend with friends to celebrate the life of a friend we lost last year. And I’m celebrating art and words at Woman Made Gallery with visual poets Monica Ong and Naoko Fujimoto.
Speaking of celebrating art and words, this week’s Letters to Dead Authors and Artists was a letter from
to an obsessive paper maker, Dard Hunter. Beth and I spoke about artistic obsessions on Substack Live.Thanks for reading The Habit of Art by Kelcey Ervick, a Substack Featured Publication (twice!). I love writing and drawing these posts and am grateful to everyone who follows along. I’m the author of four award-winning books and am a professor of creative writing. I live in Indiana on the banks of the Mystery River.
-Kelcey
Yes red wing blackbirds are so mean!! I love this post. I grew up on the east coast but have called the Midwest home since 2016. I'm still finding new things to love about it almost a decade later.
I grew up on the Ohio River too, just below the northern panhandle of West Virginia. When I think about living anywhere other than a river town, I'm not sure I like the idea! Thanks for your lovely illustrations and words--always inspiring!