forever...on the road

I hate driving on the highway. One minute the speed limit is 55, then it’s 65. Does anyone realize that that is a “6” not a “9”? Today I had to take to the road in order to make a speaking engagement in Carroll Valley, PA. After about 30 – 40 minutes of driving north on I-495, I merged onto US-15N and the landscape stretched out before me like a huge canvas. Gosh it was breathtaking! I had a flashback to the first time I drove from NYC to Vermont almost 10 years ago. I rounded a bend in the road, passed between two huge cliffs and out of nowhere appeared the most spectacular view of mountains covered with more trees than I could fathom. The array of colors, the forever hills left me speechless. Even now I still can’t adequately describe what I felt as I moved between what seemed like two separate worlds though it was just a drive from one state into another.

I experienced that same loss of voice as I drove the highway from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, NM last year. I almost wrecked the rental trying to take in that mountain in the distance that seemed to follow me all the way to the hotel…it and all the others along the way were hypnotic. When I arrived in Santa Fe and drove up into the hills, I was so humbled by the majestic views that came out of nowhere that I finally had to stop the car…tears were in my eyes. Could it be that beautiful and how far away were those huge rolling mountains hovering over smaller ones like parents protecting their young? Actually my trip to New Mexico was a spiritual experience that I have yet to truly articulate. I will never forget that little pink cloud that stayed alongside the car as I drove back to the airport...

Today is warm, sunny, a delightful autumn day. US-15N made me want to love careening along taking in its views. Traffic thinned out, I opened the windows and fall fell in. Somewhere leaves were burning; the highway gardeners were on their lawn mowers so the smell of freshly cut grass drifted through the car. The convenience of a welcome place to make a u-turn allowed me to go back to ensure that the glorious scene of a lovely college campus that flew by was not just a mirage. The foliage was showing off big time! A infinity of lush oranges, yellows, reds, greens, and browns formed a dazzling drop cloth that blanketed the left side of me. Dotting the countryside to the right were farm houses, sprawling homes, cows, horses, corn fields. Up the hill and over…forever was before me. I wanted to close my eyes and embrace grateful.

Photographs can never really capture a picture taken with your heart, soul, and spirit. I will refrain from dropping in those taken with my IPhone so you can develop some on your own. Open yourself to all that is around you and…

keep your peepers open! ®