Starting last week, I made trip from Central Pennsylvania to Gold Canyon Arizona, home of the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It took 4 relatively long days of driving. I've always loved long drives- seeing the topography, flora, and fauna change as the miles go by has always held a fascination for me! Living in such a large and diverse country is a gift, I began in well forested rolling hills that gradually flattened as I made my way south and west. The hills eventually giving way to open prairie and an incredible big blue sky that stretched so far, I could almost imagine I could see the curve of the earth. The open land began to break and rise, and soon I was among the mesas and stratified rock of New Mexico. Soon after, the high desert gave way to tall pines of Northeast Arizona as I climbed in altitude before making my descent into the Greater Phoenix area and the pines disappeared in favor of cholla plants and saguaro.
It was a beautiful drive, and I was thankful that my timing put me about a day ahead of the snow storm that inspired snowball fights on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The temperature didn't rise above 30 until I was into my descent into Phoenix. It was snowing through Albuquerque, but wasn't sticking to roads (although it was starting to lay on the exits).
The vistas were amazing, but the other thing I love about days-long drives is seeing how people differ from place to place, as well as seeing others in the midst of long trips. There is a liminality to a long trip, a between-ness that suspends our customary patterns in favor of the many compromises to our daily comforts of home. It's a good place to reflect on what is, what was, and what perhaps could be.
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Jeremy
www.jeremygraeffmusic.com