Road Trips

When I was a younger, I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig and had to lie about the fact that I really appreciated and/or understood anything the philosophical elements he describes while making his journey west. But after multiple readings, it has become one of my favorites and I can now honestly say that not only do I have a better understanding of the philosophical aspects, few books have affected me more fundamentally. There are a host of reasons why, but one of the most basic is that it remains one of the better road trip books and lately I've been thinking a lot about the allure of the road trip.

Why do I like the road? After much thought, it probably stems in no small part from growing up in South Dakota, and though I've come to appreciate her beauty in ways that youth cannot, I spent a lot of my teenage years reading and thinking about other parts of the country. Coupled with my later interest in the beat poets and antics of the Merry Pranksters et al., I fell in love with the road and though I never spent time freight hopping or hitchhiking or any of the more extreme road trips, over the years I have developed a deep appreciation for being on the road. Often I will go long spells without a true road trip, but I never go long without thinking about one. Be it a nice sunny day, a particular time of the year, a long since forgotten smell, the thought of people or places from my past or just a yearning for places more obscure, these journeys continue to be a big part of who I am.

I now live about a mile from I-5, a long stretch of interstate that connects Canada and Mexico. Living this close to a major interstate definitely has its downside, but one upshot is the fact that I frequently have the opportunity to ride my bike across one of the overpasses and see travelers from this strange stationary perspective. I will often stop above the speeding cars and trucks and wonder where they are going and what they are thinking about as they speed past another random town. I wonder if they see me and wonder what it would be like to live here. I know I often think those thoughts when I am the one in the car.

Lately, I've been putting some thought into this subject and began to wonder about the reasons why these travels have been and continue to be so important to me. Of the many road trips I've taken which of them stand out and why? I found that many times they have a purpose, vacation, to escape a negative element, to seek out a positive one etc. But I also found that whatever the reason initially, many times in retrospect the trip becomes something wholly different. That meaning presents itself to me after the fact and I understand the journey in a different way.

I am convinced that this is probably true for others and I wondered if I would find similar themes if I asked my friends to share their own stories. So, now that the holidays are past and thinking about a good road trip might help to shake off some of the winter doldrums, I ask you to try to find a minute to think of your favorite trips and what made them so. Of course this being my sabbatical year I'd love to have enough information to be able to present some of my "data" (aka your stories) somewhere but know that reading your stories and researching what little "research" exists on this topic is enough. I may ask to follow up with you at some point and, if nothing else, it will give me an excuse to share a story and good times with some of you. I know how valuable your time is and, if you've read this far, I've probably taken up too much as it is but I hope that, at the very least you had the chance to reflect on a good road trip or perhaps you've been inspired to set out on a new journey. If so, I hope the road treats you well.

For those of you who would like to respond to my query here are a few parameters to help narrow things down. I've posted specific questions below but to set the general tone I'm looking for those trips where, though there may have been a purpose or goal to the trip, try to think about why, out of all the trips you've taken you chose to talk about this particular trip; What about that journey was special. It can be something as simple as the pace or aimlessness of the journey, or the obscurity/randomness of the places you visited or the way it changed the relationship (for better or worse) with the person (and this could be yourself) who traveled with you. Was it just the right trip at the right time, either in celebration of a significant life event or accomplishment or in mourning over the loss of someone or something? The idea is that you took a journey by whatever means carried you and that aspect of that journey moved you emotionally or spiritually. So, if you've followed me so far the next step is to try to understand why that specific trip moved you. Here are some specific questions to get you started. As you answer these try keep coming back to how you felt during the road trip.

• Where did you go?
  
  • Was the destination important?
    
  • Did the destination become more or less important in hindsight?
    
  • Where the places you visited (either planned or unplanned) on this trip important and did the gain or lose significance as you traveled?
    
• When did you go?
  
  • Was the timing of this trip significant i.e. it came after or before a big life event (planned or unplanned)? Related to this question….
    
  • How old were you on this trip? Was your age an important factor? If so why?
    
• Who went with you?
  
  • Was the person(s) you traveled with either the reason or an important element of the journey i.e. honeymoon, first love etc.
    
  • Did this person or persons become more or less important in hindsight?
    
  • Did it change the relationship with the person(s) with whom you traveled?
    
• How did you go? By what means did you travel?
  
  • Was the method of travel an important element of the trip and if so, why?
    
• How did the trip change you as an individual?
  
  • Was the purpose of the trip about self discovery?
    
  • Did the trip end up having the "type" of influence you hoped it would?
    
  • Did the journey end up having a different "type" of influence and if so, what did you discover and how was it different than what you had expected?
    
• Reflecting on your journey
  
  • In thinking back do you get a strong sense of how you felt then? And, if possible talk about how those feelings are different than how you feel about the journey now.
    
• What other thoughts, feelings or reflections do you have to share about this experience?
  

 

Please feel free to share with everyone by posting your thoughts under comments. It would help if you posted your real name but if you feel the need to protect the innocent, by all means post anonymously. If you'd rather just respond via email send them to me at deneuid@sou.edu.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Four Things I Don’t Understand

On Al Franken: I read an article on Salon's web site by Joe Conason about the right's response to the contentious senate election in Minnesota. Essentially, it's the typical response from the usual suspects i.e. Limbaugh, O'Reilly etc. who are up in arms about the way that Franken has apparently stolen the election. Conason contends that because they offer no shred of evidence that Franken has done anything illegitimate, that he actually has a pretty strong case for a libel or slander suit (albeit one that he won't file for obvious reasons). Now at the risk of sounding naïve, here's what I don't understand about the right's reaction to this senate recount. The same folks who are claiming that Franken has stolen the election must realize the inherent hypocrisy when they make these claims. They must at some point think about the presidential election of 2000? There are really only three options when they do: a) They have completely forgotten about the shady way that Bush was appointed to the highest elected office in this country b) they truly believe that the process was done fairly and in accordance with the law c) they know it was shameful if not illegal and they realize that there are many people who are still a little chapped by the events. In the event that it is c, perhaps they just shut up and quietly make the case that this is payback for the 2000 presidential election and declare the slate clear. Even if they did this I don't think the slate would be clear but the point still stands. The bottom line in all of this is that when you have elections at the state or national level decided by very small vote margins we are forced to peek behind the curtain and when we do, we very quickly realize that it is not a perfect process and somebody is always going to feel disenfranchised. Tough luck Norm.

On Blagoavich: Granted my knowledge of this situation is limited to a few stories I've read on the typical lefty websites so I admittedly might not have the full understanding of this guy but is he not the slimiest pol alive? Wow, how does this guy not just crawl into a hole and take a little time away? Seriously, there is evidence that an apology mixed with a dash of contrition and self-imposed exile appears to go quite far in the attention deficit days of the 24 hour news cycle, see Eliot Spitzer http://www.slate.com/id/2207920/. But perhaps shelling out $5,000 for a hooker is less damaging than attempting to sell the seat that the President elect (not for long) vacated. Conversely, one might argue that a 5g hooker is endlessly more interesting than dirty political haggling but I digress.

On Somali Pirates: Okay, yes I have a fairly good understanding of the socio-economic factors that produced the foundation for the actions of the Somali pirates. That said the very notion of modern day "pirates" is strange to say the least. The sheer number of ships they have commandeered and the attention they have received is hard to fathom in our modern world. Seriously, these young men hop in a rubber raft armed with automatic weapons and are able to overtake cruise liners and oil tankers? I'm not an advocate of violence but couldn't you position a guy with a rifle on either end of the ship who might not only serve as a lookout but could even shoot a hole in the boat if need be? You could even give the guy a way to communicate with the ships captain and tell him that there is a craft approaching. It might go something like this. Lookout: "Captain, there appears to be a small, maybe 15 foot rubber boat approaching with five armed men in it" Captain: "Hmmm, I wonder if they are pirates intent on taking over our ship?" Lookout: "Could be perhaps we should slow the ship and ask them their intentions" Captain "No, I think a better option might be to increase the speed of our ship so that we are going at a faster rate of speed than the men in the rubber boat" Lookout: "wow, that is a much better plan".

On Digital TV Converter Subsidies: 8 million people with televisions will not be able to watch T.V. if the government switches to digital television in February. Solution, a 1.34 billion, yes that's a b in front of illion, subsidy to make sure these 8 million folks don't miss wheel of fucking fortune. This is one of my favorite quotes from the Washington Post article "With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively-mandated analog cutoff date," John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, wrote in the letter to leaders of the Senate and House commerce committees. Vulnerable to what? They go on to say that, for many people this is their only source of news and information. C'mon, last I checked radios still worked and something tells me that many of the 8 million "at risk" folks probably still have one of these available. 46 million US citizens do not have healthcare.

Old News

Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving out of the rain and clouds that have recently defined my existence here in Ashland and into a sunny day in Northern California. Driving south for a doctor's appointment, I was again struck by the ruggedness of this part of the world. Mostly forgotten by the urban and more hospitable points further south, this part of the state is beautiful in a completely different way. This is no more apparent than Shasta City itself where I spent the late morning and afternoon. Shasta City sits in the shadow of Mt. Shasta a 14 thousand foot peak that rises out of the plateau of Northern California to tower over everything within 200 miles. Driving on I-5 northbound or south this mountain can be seen for hundreds miles and for a good chunk of a day's drive time. Every time I travel this road I'm amazed at the degree to the mountain commands my attention. I keep telling myself that I've seen this a hundred times but I cannot look away. This same grip compels me to take the same pictures over and over knowing they will never quite capture what I'm seeing with my eyes. The view from afar cannot prepare you for the sheer splendor of seeing the mountain from the streets of Shasta City. There is something about the perspective of this enormous mountain set against the more diminutive aspects of the city's architecture that produces this odd and sometimes alarming contrast. The mountain seems to produce the same eerie feeling I have when I feel someone is watching me. I also appreciate how you can forget for a while that it is there and then be alarmed when it again imposes its presence on you. Like yesterday when I visited a shop and walked out onto a street that afforded a particularly impressive view, I was again for a moment startled by this and paused for another look.

So it was in this context that I found myself in a small and quirky deli/grocery to have a little lunch before I made the drive back North. After ordering, I made my way to the back part of the store where a few wooden tables were set up for dining. There were a few folks sitting on their lunch breaks but I spied a table with a copy of the San Francisco Examiner. Determining that the table appeared to be unoccupied I sat down to eat and read the paper. I need to mention a few details that sound odd now but will become important shortly. First the newspaper appeared to be largely intact. That is the paper was arranged in way so that I quickly ascertained that most of the individual sections were present. The paper also appeared in good condition indicating that it had only been read once or twice. Third, the front page was on top of the pile and nothing about the main headline indicated that this was not todays or yesterdays paper. In fact the main headline said something about Israel and the Gaza Strip. When I read the first paragraph of that lead story something caught my eye when I read about Arafat. It didn't immediately register because, although he has been dead for a couple of years, I can imagine Arafat's name might still appear in a story about Israel Palestine relations. It was when I looked below the fold on the front page and saw an article about 9/11 that I became suspicious and checked the date on the paper and saw that it was from 12.4.2001. Oddly, when I looked around nothing about my surroundings offered any explanation for this. There were no other newspapers in sight, there were no other "historical" artifacts and there was, to my eye, nothing about that date or the headlines on the paper in front of me that implied that someone kept the paper as a commemorative. I found this puzzling and a bit disturbing existentially and combined with my aforementioned thoughts on the unique essence of Shasta City and the quirkiness of the grocery/deli I'd wandered into, I wondered if "things" were as they should be. After reading an old paper for 30 minutes and being immersed in the past, I walked out into that now sunny and warm day in that weird little mountain town and I found myself a bit unsettled. I wondered what had just happened and where I was and had to do a little checking to make sure that everything else was in order. It was but it put me in a strange space for the drive back and as I drove I sang to the songs on the radio just a little louder. They were old songs.