Why did I pick Thursdays? Maybe because four days into pacing the confines of my sixteen-hundred-square-foot home during COVID shelter-in-place each week hit some sort of internal limits. Maybe because Fridays conjured images of crowded roads, people beginning their weekends early, and crowds are a no-go during a pandemic. Maybe because I had an argument with my husband that first Thursday, and I had to escape the stifling miasma of anger recirculating with every reboot of the air conditioner.
Whatever the reason, I hit the road on June 25th. I didn't really know where I was going, only that I wanted to avoid major highways and any sort of schedule. I headed north and east, stopping to take some pictures on roads so quiet, I was often the only driver for miles.
I didn't go as far on July ninth, only stopping to take in the views of Lake Georgetown. It was really warm outside!
July sixteenth was the trip on which my phone died, then came back to life. I was driving on the east side of IH35; not much to see except farmland and hay bales, but I am always drawn to wide open skies and horizons uninterrupted by buildings. I felt I owed the car a trip through the wash after these past few drives, so I treated it to a rainbow sudsing.
Last week's trip was the last Thursday drive of the summer, so I had to make it a good one. I mapped out a series of back country roads that took me to and around Canyon Lake. The clouds were spectacular that day! I got lost a couple of times...or was it just wandering?
I am grateful for a working car, money for gas, and the opportunity to get away. I credit these hours of focusing solely on the road and the view for maintaining some semblance of sanity, belting out songs with the radio a cathartic clearing of my lungs and my lonely worries. Here's to the wide open, healing skies of Texas.
WOW!! Thanks for posting your Thursday journal with words and photos. Your slide shows the power of a regular routine. I hope we can both recreate powerful routines once we return to work. If nothing else, you have lovely photos/memories to recall when a current future day isn't going the way you planned. And that is powerful, too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sally! That is my plan, to look back on these pictures and take a moment to breathe through this chaotic time.
Delete"belting out songs with the radio" this made me smile, keep on keeping on Chris!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI really do think singing makes our lungs healthier, Jimmy. I know I feel like I can breathe easier after a good session with the car radio!
DeleteLove this slice of hitting the road and the pics you shared. Awhile back, I made a list of things I wanted to do and "go somewhere" is on the list. Your post is inspiring me to do it!
ReplyDeleteKindred spirits, Ramona! Yes, just taking in a different view every now and then is so fulfilling! I hope you take a trip soon.
DeleteThe getting away helped to build resilience for the time being and for the school year ahead.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly got me through these last few weeks of being alone in the house during the day, that's for sure!
DeleteI love every bit of freedom in the journey and in these photos! It's catharsis even virtually. As I am usually a planner (very flexible as long as I have a general plan), I am most intrigued by your setting out without a plan. I think of the scores of stories lying in the images you've captured (-that boot!) and in simple communion with nature, in those beckoning vistas. I sense a breeze of peace emanating from this post, Chris, truly.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you brought up the planning...after the first drive, all the others were planned out turn by turn, to keep me off main roads and pointing towards home in the end! Still an adventure, though; one road ended up being unpaved for half of its length, another had a detour due to construction. All beautiful drives! And the boot--one of many along that stretch of fencing.
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