Written from present tense. Not really present tense. Many observations taken from notes I wrote on the trip. Many just from recollection.
Day 3 (technically)
Mesquite
I decided that, since I would be missing all but the tail end of the concert, and it would cost me another tank and a half of gas to get there, and the hotels are more expensive there, I would simply turn around and head back, rather than continuing to LA.
I tried to decide whether or not I could make it home - or maybe just to Cedar City - for the night, but a storm made up my mind.
Lightning cracking over the desert is a beautiful sight. The wind and storm that accompany it make for exciting driving. My car was being knocked from side to side by some of the strongest winds I've ever driven in (if not the strongest winds). I didn't want to drive through the twisted canyon that separates Arizona and Nevada while that was still going on, so I stayed in Mesquite again.
Shockingly, I decided not to gamble. . . .
I really enjoy the fact that I have friends I can stay up into the night talking to, even if it is just online, despite the fact that this sometimes leaves me sleep deprived. More than one friend has started a conversation online with me tonight, for which I am grateful.
Maybe I really have started to make some breakthroughs. Maybe this is just premature enlightenment.
Here are some of my final reflections on this trip.
In talking to friends, I've been using the word KABLOOEY to describe how it's been going. Considering the car issues, the extra cost, the fact that I missed the concert, all of that, it seems like an appropriate word.
BUT, I'm not upset at how this trip has gone. The point of the trip was to think some things through, and make up my mind about a few things. In that way, the trip has served its purpose.
Also, though the point was supposedly for this concert, too, I'm not mad about missing it. Hundreds, maybe thousands, attended that Porcupine Tree concert. I'd wager I'm the only one who picked up trash on the side of the freeway while waiting for a tow truck. Oddly, I think I like my story better.
Part of the reason is all these little significant experiences I had. While picking up trash, I saw stories everywhere. A shattered cell phone. Dozens of flat tire scraps. I think my favorite was a CD, and I was curious what it was. I plugged it into my car's CD player, and it seems that it's a love mix. A love mix that someone threw out of their car onto the side of a California Freeway.
I caught the tail end of their story. I like that. It's the same reason I like graveyards. I like wondering what happened, and knowing that I'm connected to everyone else. That I can bear witness for the human race, for their existence, and for some small degree of their nature. I guess that's why I want to be a writer.
Some trips are about getting some place, or doing something specific. Some trips are far more about the journey than about the destination.
Day 3 (technically)
Mesquite
I decided that, since I would be missing all but the tail end of the concert, and it would cost me another tank and a half of gas to get there, and the hotels are more expensive there, I would simply turn around and head back, rather than continuing to LA.
I tried to decide whether or not I could make it home - or maybe just to Cedar City - for the night, but a storm made up my mind.
Lightning cracking over the desert is a beautiful sight. The wind and storm that accompany it make for exciting driving. My car was being knocked from side to side by some of the strongest winds I've ever driven in (if not the strongest winds). I didn't want to drive through the twisted canyon that separates Arizona and Nevada while that was still going on, so I stayed in Mesquite again.
Shockingly, I decided not to gamble. . . .
I really enjoy the fact that I have friends I can stay up into the night talking to, even if it is just online, despite the fact that this sometimes leaves me sleep deprived. More than one friend has started a conversation online with me tonight, for which I am grateful.
Maybe I really have started to make some breakthroughs. Maybe this is just premature enlightenment.
Here are some of my final reflections on this trip.
In talking to friends, I've been using the word KABLOOEY to describe how it's been going. Considering the car issues, the extra cost, the fact that I missed the concert, all of that, it seems like an appropriate word.
BUT, I'm not upset at how this trip has gone. The point of the trip was to think some things through, and make up my mind about a few things. In that way, the trip has served its purpose.
Also, though the point was supposedly for this concert, too, I'm not mad about missing it. Hundreds, maybe thousands, attended that Porcupine Tree concert. I'd wager I'm the only one who picked up trash on the side of the freeway while waiting for a tow truck. Oddly, I think I like my story better.
Part of the reason is all these little significant experiences I had. While picking up trash, I saw stories everywhere. A shattered cell phone. Dozens of flat tire scraps. I think my favorite was a CD, and I was curious what it was. I plugged it into my car's CD player, and it seems that it's a love mix. A love mix that someone threw out of their car onto the side of a California Freeway.
I caught the tail end of their story. I like that. It's the same reason I like graveyards. I like wondering what happened, and knowing that I'm connected to everyone else. That I can bear witness for the human race, for their existence, and for some small degree of their nature. I guess that's why I want to be a writer.
Some trips are about getting some place, or doing something specific. Some trips are far more about the journey than about the destination.
