For the open road

"The Open Road, " 8 x 10 watercolor, 140 lb d'Arches rough press paper

"The myth, the mystery, the mythology," of the open road, in the words of poet Nathan Brown, reading my commissioned poem about back roads last night in his Fire Pit Sessions, titled New Mexico 104.

The magic back roads highway from Tucumcari to Las Vegas, where you can see forever, with little or no traffic, at whatever speed you wish--ahead are mountains, and to the right or left, wide open spaces.

Then of course I think of Walt Whitman and his "Song of the Open Road," which so fits my spirit, especially in these cooped up days of pandemic, racism and political chaos.

Listen to Walt:

"Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road....

"You road I enter upon and look around, I believe you are not all that is here,

I believe that much unseen is also here."

So today's watercolor, much better than yesterday's 4 1/2 by 10 quick study, "Mountains Ahead," from a photograph I took on that highway years ago, heading to my beloved Sangre de Cristos, and La Villa Real de La Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis.

This one will be framed as an 11 x 14 and hopefully sell. Thanks Walt, thanks Nathan. 

Yesterday:

New year, new journey, every moment

Today--The road ahead, 5.5 b y 8.5 watercolor

Every day is a new year in a sense, and we'd be better off if we thought that way. 
The road behind can't be walked again, and the way ahead is indistinct. There have been many miles, many places, many experiences, many people, but just as you can't step in the same river twice, you can't cover the same miles, visit the same places, have the same experiences, know the same people. 
We are not the same people we were yesterday...everything has changed, even if imperceptibly.
How much it would change us if we thought of every moment as literally a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience--because it is.
The road ahead is indistinct, in spite of all our efforts to want and have 2016's itinerary meticulously planned. Instead, we take the first step.

"Song of the Open Road"

Walt Whitman

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

"Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,

Strong and content I travel the open road...."

Road trip without roads, a book of summer

Road trip! We're traveling 350 miles plus into northwest Oklahoma, and then, staying on the back roads as much as possible, into Colorado, covering 2,000 miles in about seven days.
But before you get to the Western scenery, you need a book to listen to on long stretches of highway. 

Susan found an audio book that just fit, and I downloaded it on Audible. Thus Horatio's Drive became the first book I've "read" in July, my eighth this year.
It's the story of the first American cross country automobile road trip, in 1903, undertaken by Horatio  Nelson Jackson,  his mechanic Sewall Crocker and his dog, Bud.
No paved roads, sometimes no roads, no maps, no gas stations. 20-30 miles an hour was high speed in an open  20-horsepower Winton "touring" car he named "The Vermont." Starting in San Francisco and ending in New York, 61 days later, winning a $40 bet that it couldn't be done in under 90  days.
It's the book by Dayton Duncan, written for Ken Burns' 2003 documentary for PBS Horatio's Drive. The book is hard to come by in print, but easily available as an audio, and you can buy the documentary film too.

You know about Ken Burns, of course, including his recent documentary on The Dust Bowl which had its premier screening here in Oklahoma, in April, 2012, and we were fortunate to attend thanks to former student Ashley Barcum at OETA. Here's my report on that Dust Bowl documentary.
Duncan has also written other Burns' PBS films, on the West, Lewis and Clark, the National Parks, Mark Twain, and more. He's won many awards, including a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum here in Oklahoma, A conservationist, he's been involved in New England politics. The Audio book has an introduction by Ken Burns, beginning with a quote from Walt Whitman.

What a trip. Go take it. 

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road," --Whitman

"The Vermont" is in the Smithsonian, plus this display.