What They Say

I know I should have posted something of value today, but it’s almost midnight and the night is calling me… still reality is a smack in the face and I’ve an early morning. I wonder if sleep is as overrated as they say. And, how do I find these “they” people so that I might inquire of them their logic and supposition points in order to better understand why I do not fly off on some killing spree of “they”.

You what “they” say: early to bed, early to rise leaves one with sleep in their eyes. Or, perhaps that’s me that said that. Still…

More later on the they of this world.

Freedom Like a Drug

One of my dreams of the last decade or so has been to take a trip along the historic Route 66, head straight up to Oklahoma City and turn west to California. To see those old quiet stretches of road and make stops in the small towns that dot the landscape of the once-heavily trodden western trail is to be truly free in a world where that word fails to signify all that it once did.

I suppose I’ve always had a wanderer’s soul. I love traveling the roads of this country. I have no problem setting my sights on a distant destination and just heading out, looking to encounter whatever adventure may lay in store.

It all began when I was a child, ten or eleven years old; my mother wound up divorced and following a man she probably thought she loved. I’ll skip my opinion on that presumption for the time being. She dragged along her four kids (of which I was the oldest) on that little journey of self-depreciation. Nevertheless, all of the traveling bred in me a love of the open road and a feeling of comfort on those long stretches of blacktop and open spaces.

When I joined the military in the mid-eighties, I really had no idea that it would only fuel my wanderlust. I’ve traveled the Western Hemisphere from Alaska to South America. I’ve loved every minute of it. (Although the very task of flying I find a bit of a pain… I would much rather drive, myself.)

The Route 66 trip will be part of my plan for a future “vacation”, I’m certain. The part I look forward to most is the New Mexico stretch, from Glenrio to Manuelito; all that quiet road, those little byways that render a small picture of what this country used to be: wild and free. Away from civilization as we’ve come to know it, you can taste a little of that freedom that once drove the settlers west toward the Pacific. You can breathe deeply the air unpolluted with the additives spit into the atmosphere as byproducts of industrialization and “progress.”

Three or fours days of travel to set your heart as ease, to strip away the worries and concerns of modern life and simply escape into a feeling of openness and carefree freedom – doesn’t that sound delicious? Doesn’t that sound like the life we were meant to lead?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not certain I could survive more than a week without my laptop. But, still. I would love to slip away into that world as it was for just a little while and feel that sense of everything “important” dropping away from me like the muck of the day slipping away in the shower. Let it slide away down the drain and leave me lighter for the loss, please.

I remember the trip some friends and I took once I got out of the military back 1995. We lived in Orlando, Florida and my best friend, Jason, was from San Diego. He was heading back there and I thought, “Hey, someplace I’ve never been. Why not?” We all packed up and headed west. The trip remains one of my favorite memories. Those long stretches of road with the windows down and the music playing, lost in whatever thoughts we might have been having at the time. I had left all that I knew behind me and this was a new adventure. The feeling of exhilaration, of pure freedom to make of my life whatever I could was like a damned drug, I kid you not. It was amazing.

So, yes, I long for that feeling again. Will I ever come close?  Probably not.  Life changes. You either change with it or you get lost in what was without a clue as to what could be. I understand this. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t search for a little taste of those past emotions, those feelings of weightless expectation. The search itself can be an adventure in itself. What’s better is if you can search with someone along for the ride with you. That can make it so much better. To share that with someone you love, that can lift the emotion to an all new level and make you dizzy with excitement for what is yet to come. Like a drug. Freedom. Shared.

I’ll be planning my Route 66 trip within the next year or so.  Company is welcome.

What do you think? Up for a road trip? Even if you are only there in spirit, freedom shared is like currency in life. Let’s go buy some happiness!