KGBlog

tomorrow (5-22-06) i will drive what should be the longest day drive of the summer. starting in winston i will be meeting james at his house in monroe LA and we will proceed west within the week. looking forward to crawfish, the norris fam, and this thing really getting started. the link is the mapquest of my route...maybe i'll keep those coming so you can follow along with us visually.
also fyi, ideally posts will come once a week-ish throughout. one post with our path and event details and such, along with any typical posts that would have ocurred from my usual meandering thoughts. (for those tuning in late...see the "bip" post to be enlightened as to what i'm rambling on about.)

in todays post you get the map of the first leg (above). also, you get my thoughts on road trip budgets. they are interesting. a week ago i finished working for the year. my budget imediately switched to road trip mode. i try not to buy anything anymore. food has come to me from various families, wedding festivities(of which i was a part), and friends. every tank of gas is precious to me. it's amusing but until we really get things underway i feel like every purchase is detrimental to the tail end of this adventure. were there a job waiting at the tail i might not feel so...but as there is not at present i cannot help but feel that what we are doing is a bit rediculous. so, yes mom and dad i know what youre probably thinking, but it' s happening and i'm going to be ok. dont worry about us. this is not wasting our lives or anything like that. its being stretched. seeing something new. receiving a new perspective on things. a larger one. finding out a little more that its not all about us. that the world is in fact apparently large. it's about a lot of other things too i think. but it's mostly about god teaching us something if we're willing to put ourselves in his hands. i dont think i'm usually willing to...but with something like this i'm hoping he can get through my fear. as "bip" sugests i feel that my senses have become dulled. i brush against time not recognizing the beauty around me. occasional brushes with the painful side of life have taught me to avoid contact with the world. but that is not gods way. he suggests that we seek out beauty and truth. in the past i lived for these things. i want to get back to that.

two comments to close:
a good friend once noted that i was putting myself into situations that were necesarily going to cause pain. that i should avoid those and seek out ones that would produce joy instead. david gray sings, "It takes a lotta love/ It takes a lotta love my friend/ To keep your heart from freezing/ To push on till the end". without too much detail i feel that those situations were mostly unavoidable but have indeed cooled my heart and passion for life to some degree. i want to put myself in a long thaw. surround myself with life and beauty so that i cannot avoid it. granted that can be done anywhere but what the hey might as well be on a road trip.

ps: i keep speaking of "we", james and myself...so far these have been all my thoughts...so i promise to include his idea of what this trip is soon. or anything else he has to say to the two of you out there reading this.

Posted in: on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at at 7:03 PM