We stayed in Sioux Falls, SD a few weeks ago after a quick trip to Omaha for one of my niece’s high school graduations, but we stayed in a different hotel than we usually do. Sioux Falls is not often a destination for us, but on this particular trip, Lisa wanted to check out some businesses similar to hers in the downtown area. I was intrigued by the idea that although I have been to this city dozens of times over the last 25 years, a slight alteration of our routine gave me a completely different window on the community.

I wondered how often I’d formed a faulty opinion of a city, even a smaller one like many of the other Midwest ones I visit like Bismarck, Fargo, Minot, Aberdeen, Bemidji, Sioux City, or the Quad Cities, when in truth I had only seen a small fraction of it- as well, those cities change over the years, like a familiar friend, but still with the possibility of renewal by a new idea or nudged in a different direction by a younger generation. Had I been in enough restaurants, music halls, museums, ballparks, bike/hike trails, and neighborhoods to even know? Have I seen it through the eyes of family, friends, or acqaintances? In my own town of Grand Forks, I have lived in a number of different areas, but where I had lived were areas that were also separated by time or era. I certainly was aware of all of the neighborhoods, but the change my in perspective has sometimes proven to be subtle yet transformative. Perhaps my other destinations have this power too.