How to really grasp America?

A possible answer is to drive through a good portion of it, like we did a few days ago, and realize how large, varied and almost infinite it appears to be (we drove close to 50 hours!) It's also a wonderful way to seize up its economic power and its non-stop activity.

In my nearly four decade of living in this country-continent, I had never seen so many trucks crisscrossing the highways in all directions, so many train lines, bridges and water ways of all kinds. Should I mention the airplane criss-crossing the skies? To me, these images conjure the strength and the power of the United States as the underscores an incredible infrastructure that is still working well in spite of its venerable age.

All that to attend to the needs of so many people and connect them together with a remarkable network of communications. But most importantly, what has the most impressed me was to see so many people united by the same language, the same standards of living and the same culture. This unity of sorts makes the place unique in the world, by its seamlessness and efficiency, and yet potentially able to do so much better!