North Dakota
May 2015
Our next adventure is to drive the Enchanted Highway, a road flanked by sculptures created by Gary Greff, a local artist. Personally, I’m thinking that if this highway is truly enchanted, then none of these sculptures would have been manufactured, none would have had a human sculptor. Enchanted means, to me, they should have simply appeared one starry evening, unwitnessed by any mortals. Enchanted speaks of magic, charms, bewitching.
Oh well, none of that. However, looking at the glowing faces of the visiting children staring at the overgrown grasshoppers, I guess I can believe in enchantment after all. Supernatural gadgets, widgets, geezenstacks too.
The Enchanted Highway is an otherwise unremarkable 32-mile stretch of two-lane North Dakota highway connecting Gladstone, a city of 239 residents and Regent, with its 172 residents. What keeps the Enchanted Highway from being unremarkable is the assembly of scrap metal sculptures, the world’s largest. Driving from north to south as we do, Geese in Flight is at the junction of the interstate highway and the E H. Soon enough we come to Grasshoppers in the Field, our favorite, and Fisherman’s Dream. Continuing south, stopping at every damned one, is Pheasants on the Prairie, Teddy Rides Again and The Tin Family. Spider Webs is not yet finished.
Maybe Spider Webs will be enchanting, I have hopes. I mean, when we’re breaking spider webs strung across our hiking trail, I envision how she begins her web. First she builds a scaffold on a branch on this side of the trail. Then she somehow extends it to that branch over there on the other side of the trail. How does she do that, without external equipment or a harpoon? Now that’s enchanted.
Also, it might possibly be enchanted that the Enchanted Highway, beginning at the northern end at Gladstone, commences at 100 1/2 Avenue SW. Then somewhere along the way, it becomes 100th Avenue SW, and ends up as 102 Avenue SW when you pull into Regent.
Magical, mystical North Dakota, in scrap metal.
