<DIV>Roger Welsch is a fierce fan of Nebraska—not just the football team, or the state's famous beef, or its endless sky, or its ferocious and ferociously unpredictable weather, but the whole thing. His license plate says CAPT NEB, and he means it.</DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV>Welsch loves Nebraska as the heart of America's Great Plains. His perception of the state is not always conventional—occasionally it's even abrasive—but he's thought a lot about this place some call “Fly-Over Country” or “The Middle of Nowhere” or even “The End of the Earth.” And what he has to say about it makes interesting reading not just for natives but certainly also for outsiders, for those who love the place and those who would rather travel through hell than make another drive across Nebraska's endless miles.</DIV>