the rest of the world moves while the midwest remains still. i love this essay. written by a regular old midwesterner who puts the feeling of the place into words. AI? self driving cars? They can't even get service south of van buren. the midwest does not get caught up in the excitement of the future. When you live in proximity to your family, it is impossible to forget that you will grow old and die. the mass baptism at the end really forced me to broaden my horizon. could i be happy if the best thing going on was the local baptism? my lifestyle would make this author physically cringe and yet its so refreshing to hear this perspective.