Shaping and Shaped by the Land

In this final dispatch from the road, Stuart Chittenden finds a reminder of his Neolithic ancestors and meets some modern pioneers.

Although he's primarily focused on personal conversation, Stuart Chittenden says our relationship with the land remains a dynamic factor in our sense and articulation of community. In western Nebraska, he finds a confluence of themes that produce a narrative extending beyond the state.

A dark and stormy entry into a small Nebraska town eases into a morning of song, leg-extending laughter and a culinary adventure for Stuart Chittenden. In the Danish capitol of Nebraska, he dips his toe into “community,” and is pulled into the water.

Neligh has had its share of demographic shifts while striving for the kind of development that will secure the town’s future. And it has its occasional hiccups! In this dispatch from the road, Stuart Chittenden talks about his conversations in Neligh.