...both members of the FFA...

The title of this post is part of a line from a song by the Dixie Chicks called "Goodbye Earl." The FFA (Future Farmers of America) is front and center here in Indianapolis this week, where I am working. And if the newscasters are correct, these young agricultural aficionados are going to be in town for the next several days. Some 50,000+ of them. They are here for the largest convention that happens in the entire state of Indiana. Only the Indianapolis 500 draws a bigger turnout. (By the way, Obama will be here tomorrow as well.)


I thought it a bit odd when a group of high-school-age-looking people boarded my flight from La Guardia yesterday morning. One of them was wearing an FFA jacket. The rest looked like regular, metropolitan students. Could they, possibly, be "Future Farmers" if they live in Manhattan? Why not?


The other side of the coin, as it were, is there are no hotel rooms to be had tonight in Indianapolis. I found one last night--a Clarion Inn and Suites--that was tolerable but not up to my low standards. The first time I ever heard of a Clarion, I stayed in one. I don't know where I will be bunking tonight, so today I have the chore of finding a place to hang my hat. I recall many years ago a trip to West Lafayette, IN, where I stayed in a Family Inns of America. It was even farther down the ladder of standards than Clarion. At Family Inns, they gave you the remote control when you checked in. Clarion is more trusting than that.


Regardless, only two more nights of Indianapolis and then I can return to the calm of East Harlem. Ahhhhh...