Love and travel

A couple of particularly interesting items from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac for today, via the daily email newsletter.

-It's the birthday of American statistician George Gallup, born in Jefferson, Iowa (1901). He was a student at the University of Iowa when he conducted his first poll for the Daily Iowan, to find the prettiest girl on campus. The winner was Ophelia Smith, whom Gallup later married.

-Ticket

I love the moment at the ticket window—he says—
when you are to say the name of your destination, and realize
that you could say anything, the man at the counter
will believe you, the woman at the counter
would never say No, that isn't where you're going,
you could buy a ticket for one place and go to another,
less far along the same line. Suddenly you would find yourself
—he says—in a locality you've never seen before,
where no one has ever seen you and you could say your name
was anything you like, nobody would say No,
that isn't you, this is who you are. It thrills me every time.

Poem: "Ticket" by Charles O. Hartman, from Island. © Ahsahta Press, 2004.

Watercolor of Greek church by Rebecca McGoodwin after photo by Louise Robertson