8 miles to the gallon

Today finds me on a train from Illinois through Nebraska. The landscape looks like 'The Wizard of Oz' before Dorothy gets swept up by a tornado: flat for the last three-hundred miles, and it looks like staying that way... The occasional farm, with barn and silo, appears on the horizon then slides into the background again. It's been a great trip! Yesterday I was in Detroit - probably the most striking bit so far: 5192 square-kilometres in area, but one-third of it derelict. I rented a Ford and drove around the centre, past the Motown Museum, which stands amidst whole blocks of houses being reclaimed by nature or destroyed by vandals. The city has been hollowed-out: population from 2 million to 1 million since 1953; meanwhile the suburbs ooze further like a spreading ants nest. Four-lane highways under a completely clear blue sky, crammed with standard-issue SUVs: driving for miles but only reaching another Burger King, Taco Bell or Wendy's. I sat in my car, automatic, pressing stop and go on the pedals. It felt like a game; I could drive anywhere but get nowhere. Unending space made me want to consume - perhaps to prove I exist. Consequences are invisible: fumes evaporate into the sky, buildings are demolished and new bigger ones are built, waste is thrown into the trash and taken someplace else.

[driving along 6-mile road, Detroit]


[Highland Park district in Detroit, where '8-mile' was filmed]


[me near the waterfront, Detroit]