Now that we are into the home stretch of October, fall has hit the area like a sledgehammer. A few weeks ago, temperatures pushed into the mid-80s; as I write this on a Friday morning, the temperature outside is a balmy 35-degrees.
If I have to pick a favorite season, I suppose fall/autumn is it, at least until it gets closer to the start of winter. Daytime temperatures are usually comfortable, mid to upper-70s, allowing a wide ranging of clothing options, while mornings are crisp but not frigid.
In addition, the color palette chosen by the Master Artist for autumn is, to me, the most vibrant of that used in any of the four seasons. Reds and golds and greens and browns all compete for place of prominence on the earthly canvas, while the skies above stake their claim with a mixture of vibrant blues and dazzling whites, mixed with the occasional gray tones.
Autumn is also in many ways the most complete season in terms of the cycle of life. Even as leaves give up their tenuous hold on life and flutter noiselessly to the ground, new life begins its uncertain journey as seeds fall and blow on the capricious wind to who knows where, and those amongst us with green thumbs plant fall bulbs in hopes of seeing springtime flowers.
Fall has it all, life and death, endings and new beginnings, a microcosm of existence played out upon this natural stage. Mother Earth gives and she takes back, autumn being the season of tallying and re-balancing the eternal equation.
This, even more than the traditional travel season of summer, is the time of year when I most think about being on the road. Autumn is when the nomadic pull in me is strongest. I long to be on the road to somewhere, anywhere, to see new things, new people, new places. This is the time of year I think about places like New Mexico, Arizona, southwest Texas, Maine, the Carolinas. This really is the time of year when I am going to Carolina in my mind (apologies to James Taylor).
Of course, the trade-off to the richness of the autumnal color palette is, as Dylan Thomas might put it, the dying of the light, as days get shorter. Soon, many of us will settle in for our long winter's naps, going through the motions of getting through each winter's day in a form of semi-hibernation, as we wait for the coming of spring and the beginning of another cycle, another chance to dance.
What is your favorite season and why? Please leave me a comment below.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Friday, October 23, 2015
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
#173 - It Makes a Village Online
Since rediscovering a love of camping more than eight years ago – after moving to Idaho – and then discovering an even greater enjoyment of life in an RV (recreational vehicle, for those not up on the lingo), I have had in the back of mind the goal of taking to the road full-time in an RV once my working days are done. The road and some of the places I see help to make more real the journey aspect of life.
The move to life on the road in many ways seems a natural for me and my wife. Our fathers were both truck drivers, as was my grandfather. I also have an uncle and a cousin who drive a truck for a living, so it seems a natural that we would take to the highway at some point. In addition, my wife has lived in at least six states for some period of time, and I have lived in nine states, so there is a bit of the nomad in our blood.
Roughly five years ago, I began exploring the notion of full-time RV living. I discovered that an entire subculture of “full-timers” exists, complete with blogs and organizations geared toward RVing and RV life. One of the blogs I stumbled across in my research features a retired teacher from Georgia who had never done any RVing before beginning her grand adventure. RVSue, as she is known travels with her two dogs, known affectionately as “the Crew,” across the West mainly in her van and small travel trailer.
Although I read several blogs on full-time RV life, Sue’s is the blog I read most often and most consistently. Part of the reason is her entertaining writing style. An equally important reason is the fact that Sue does not write about typical destinations (state parks, RV resorts, and the like). She prefers to get off the beaten path, away from the crowd. It is the type of RV life I envision living, at least most of the time.
What perhaps makes RVSue’s blog the most entertaining of any blog I read is the multitude of comments from her readers (affectionately known as “blogorinos”) and their interaction both with Sue and with each other. The conversations that take place in the comments section are often as entertaining in their own way as the blog post that got everything started. Even though Sue’s blog does not contain flashy animation or graphics, does not usually feature videos or have interactive games, chat rooms, or a discussion forum, it is certainly much more than a static web page.
Comments, replies, rebuttals, and further responses, all help to make RVSue and Her Crew perhaps one of the most interactive sites on the internet. Her blog serves as an example of what good writing, done in an entertaining fashion, can lead to, even in our mile-a-minute, always connected world. The fact that her readers and commenters almost always get along and respond to one another with humor, respect, and civility further go to show that meaningful discourse is still possible in our electronic and often divisive world, the example of the current Congress notwithstanding.
In many ways, RVSue and Her Crew is a 21st Century carrying on of the long standing tradition of talking after dinner, a practice carried on by cowboys around a campfire, guests at a fancy dinner gathering in the drawing room after the meal to discuss the issues of the day, even such things as a girls’ or boys’ night out. More than that, Sue’s blog is an opportunity for people of different backgrounds, different incomes, different demographics, different locations to come together to discuss things they have in common, creating in effect an internet village.
The RVSue and Her Crew blog is a shining example of what the internet can be and all too seldom is, judging from the many comments I glance through on other web sites. Even though she looks to escape in some ways from civilization, Sue’s blog actually gives me a little hope for the civilization she seeks to leave behind. I hope to hold on to that hope, at least until I, too, can escape.
The move to life on the road in many ways seems a natural for me and my wife. Our fathers were both truck drivers, as was my grandfather. I also have an uncle and a cousin who drive a truck for a living, so it seems a natural that we would take to the highway at some point. In addition, my wife has lived in at least six states for some period of time, and I have lived in nine states, so there is a bit of the nomad in our blood.
Roughly five years ago, I began exploring the notion of full-time RV living. I discovered that an entire subculture of “full-timers” exists, complete with blogs and organizations geared toward RVing and RV life. One of the blogs I stumbled across in my research features a retired teacher from Georgia who had never done any RVing before beginning her grand adventure. RVSue, as she is known travels with her two dogs, known affectionately as “the Crew,” across the West mainly in her van and small travel trailer.
Although I read several blogs on full-time RV life, Sue’s is the blog I read most often and most consistently. Part of the reason is her entertaining writing style. An equally important reason is the fact that Sue does not write about typical destinations (state parks, RV resorts, and the like). She prefers to get off the beaten path, away from the crowd. It is the type of RV life I envision living, at least most of the time.
What perhaps makes RVSue’s blog the most entertaining of any blog I read is the multitude of comments from her readers (affectionately known as “blogorinos”) and their interaction both with Sue and with each other. The conversations that take place in the comments section are often as entertaining in their own way as the blog post that got everything started. Even though Sue’s blog does not contain flashy animation or graphics, does not usually feature videos or have interactive games, chat rooms, or a discussion forum, it is certainly much more than a static web page.
Comments, replies, rebuttals, and further responses, all help to make RVSue and Her Crew perhaps one of the most interactive sites on the internet. Her blog serves as an example of what good writing, done in an entertaining fashion, can lead to, even in our mile-a-minute, always connected world. The fact that her readers and commenters almost always get along and respond to one another with humor, respect, and civility further go to show that meaningful discourse is still possible in our electronic and often divisive world, the example of the current Congress notwithstanding.
In many ways, RVSue and Her Crew is a 21st Century carrying on of the long standing tradition of talking after dinner, a practice carried on by cowboys around a campfire, guests at a fancy dinner gathering in the drawing room after the meal to discuss the issues of the day, even such things as a girls’ or boys’ night out. More than that, Sue’s blog is an opportunity for people of different backgrounds, different incomes, different demographics, different locations to come together to discuss things they have in common, creating in effect an internet village.
The RVSue and Her Crew blog is a shining example of what the internet can be and all too seldom is, judging from the many comments I glance through on other web sites. Even though she looks to escape in some ways from civilization, Sue’s blog actually gives me a little hope for the civilization she seeks to leave behind. I hope to hold on to that hope, at least until I, too, can escape.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
#145 - More Random Thoughts
I've been thinking a lot lately about writing, which means I haven't been doing much of it. Well, that's not quite true. I've been doing more song lyric writing of late, something that seems to come in starts and stops, much as it has for 40 years.
I think the writing has gotten better. After 40 years, it would have to improve, wouldn't you think? One thing it has done is gotten more introspective, I think. I've been writing of late about the things left undone, perhaps as a sort of purge as I begin to think about the things I hope to do as I begin to look forward to the next stage of life.
One of the things I hope to do in that next stage is travel. Deep down, I think I am a restless spirit. My wife and I both tell people we are nomads or gypsies and cite the fact that both of our fathers were truck drivers. I think I've always had an urge to roam. When I was younger, I saw moving as a way to break from my mistakes, to make a clean start, if you will.
In my previous life in television and radio, I moved seven times over a ten year period. I was not one for putting down roots. Now, after living ten years in the same city, I have an urge to move again, although perhaps not at quite the same pace.
There is one blog I read regularly that captures a good sense of the kind of life I am looking to lead. That blog, rvsue and her canine crew, captures the daily essence for me of life along the road less traveled (to borrow from the M. Scott Peck book of the same name). As Sue paints it in her word portraits, life is not always exciting, but it is always fresh and always real.
Sue's blog has, at last count, attracted in excess of one million visits. The figure is mind boggling to me, not least of all because this blog stands at roughly 0.02% of that figure. I'm not jealous of that success, but I am most certainly in awe of it.
Thinking about Sue's blog and mine got me to thinking about my rationale for numbering my blog posts. When I first decided to number my posts, I think I did so in order to see how far I had come, a means of measurement, I suppose. I've also come to see the numbering as a way of showing myself that I was writing something substantial, even if it wasn't always of great import.
Writing, although I see it as one of my talents, is not something I can easily sit down to do. The numbering became an easy way for me to measure production, I suppose, especially since I still can't make myself sit down to write that novel.
I am also coming to see the numbering of blog posts in a different light. The numbers are becoming to me something like stepping stones or mileposts along the way. Some travel blogs contain maps with numbers that illustrate where the author was at a given point of time. The numbers serve to allow the readers to visually follow along with the author on his or her journey.
I am coming to see my blog post numbers as serving a similar purpose. Subconsciously, perhaps, the numbers allow any readers to follow a map of my journey. I cannot post a visual map of my mind (it would be very messy, for one thing), so the numbers are as close as I can come.
One last number just came to mind. At my current rate of page views, I only need to write 59, 736 more posts to reach a million views. One down, 59,735 to go.
I think the writing has gotten better. After 40 years, it would have to improve, wouldn't you think? One thing it has done is gotten more introspective, I think. I've been writing of late about the things left undone, perhaps as a sort of purge as I begin to think about the things I hope to do as I begin to look forward to the next stage of life.
One of the things I hope to do in that next stage is travel. Deep down, I think I am a restless spirit. My wife and I both tell people we are nomads or gypsies and cite the fact that both of our fathers were truck drivers. I think I've always had an urge to roam. When I was younger, I saw moving as a way to break from my mistakes, to make a clean start, if you will.
In my previous life in television and radio, I moved seven times over a ten year period. I was not one for putting down roots. Now, after living ten years in the same city, I have an urge to move again, although perhaps not at quite the same pace.
There is one blog I read regularly that captures a good sense of the kind of life I am looking to lead. That blog, rvsue and her canine crew, captures the daily essence for me of life along the road less traveled (to borrow from the M. Scott Peck book of the same name). As Sue paints it in her word portraits, life is not always exciting, but it is always fresh and always real.
Sue's blog has, at last count, attracted in excess of one million visits. The figure is mind boggling to me, not least of all because this blog stands at roughly 0.02% of that figure. I'm not jealous of that success, but I am most certainly in awe of it.
Thinking about Sue's blog and mine got me to thinking about my rationale for numbering my blog posts. When I first decided to number my posts, I think I did so in order to see how far I had come, a means of measurement, I suppose. I've also come to see the numbering as a way of showing myself that I was writing something substantial, even if it wasn't always of great import.
Writing, although I see it as one of my talents, is not something I can easily sit down to do. The numbering became an easy way for me to measure production, I suppose, especially since I still can't make myself sit down to write that novel.
I am also coming to see the numbering of blog posts in a different light. The numbers are becoming to me something like stepping stones or mileposts along the way. Some travel blogs contain maps with numbers that illustrate where the author was at a given point of time. The numbers serve to allow the readers to visually follow along with the author on his or her journey.
I am coming to see my blog post numbers as serving a similar purpose. Subconsciously, perhaps, the numbers allow any readers to follow a map of my journey. I cannot post a visual map of my mind (it would be very messy, for one thing), so the numbers are as close as I can come.
One last number just came to mind. At my current rate of page views, I only need to write 59, 736 more posts to reach a million views. One down, 59,735 to go.
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