Pursuit of the Wide Open Spaces

by

Lorene D'Adam

The road beckons and we must go.  We had been casually plotting a trip for months but kept getting snagged by unfinished projects. 

It was the car commercials on TV with open roads in them.   What transported us was not the car –can’t even tell you which car was featured—it was the background. 

Ooooh, that looks like Zion!  Or, that could be eastern Oregon or northern California up by Shasta.

On cue, neighbor Dennis fired off his Harley in what sounded like our living room.  We looked at each other.  Garbage picks up Monday morning.   Let’s rake the leaves, roll the garbage cans back in and hit the road.

It is a thrill breaking gravity.  It’s easier to stay home—familiar, routine.  Escape!  Who knows what lies ahead. 

Our expectations were simple.  Let’s drive the back roads and get away from people…find those open roads with no other cars…those wide open fields with mountains in the distance, where quiet is deafening.  Let’s drive through those towns where a person’s daily normal, so unlike ours, will lend perspective.  Let’s find ourselves where nature’s compelling aria is uninterrupted…