Another Wednesday, and I’m sitting outside in my comfy camp chair, gently rocking with the breeze as I write this. If I sound mellow, that’s about right. Two weeks of being in one place has been a luxury. This trend will continue till late January, and I’m enjoying it so very much. It’s not that I hate moving, it’s more that I’ve realized I was moving so much that I didn’t have time to be still and let what I’ve seen seep into my soul and then come back out as art. I was taking photos on the fly, hoping that a bit of post-processing and a quick blog post would capture the essence of what I saw. As the weeks and months flew by, I was getting more frustrated with my posts and yet I couldn’t figure out why. It took sitting still for a few weeks to realize that things need to change when I go back out on the road next January.
This is the first time ever that I have not been in motion in my adult life. I’ve always been working or looking for the next job; I’ve never had the luxury of just being somewhere, without the pressure of a job, either in progress or ahead of me. And since I moved into my trailer, this is also the first time I’ve stopped for more than a few weeks and not had to be thinking ahead about packing things up and moving to the next spot. I have the time to think about what I want to do, and the when and the how of it. This stillness is starting to pay off.
Two ideas I’m working on have to do precisely with “moving and doing” vs. “stopping and thinking.” In 2019, I’ve decided to focus my travels on two themes and build in time while traveling to stop and reflect on those themes and process the photos and experiences before they get away from me. Sometimes it feels like the last two years of traveling are a jumble in my head and the challenge of writing in depth about what I’ve seen or done is overwhelming. By focusing my travel on themes and locales, with time to synthesize my thoughts and images before I move on, I hope to produce better blog posts and maybe even some essays that dive more deeply into places or topics of note.
The first theme for 2019 is the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. I had originally planned to explore places in Alabama this fall, but I realized I wasn’t ready for it. I need to do more reading and learning about historical events and and politics before I see these places in order to fully appreciate them in the context of American history. This winter, I’ll be working my way through a reading list as well as selecting places to visit and then the time to absorb it all and write about it. I’m giving myself eight weeks in the Spring to explore this theme, and that feels like a solid start.
The second theme is more photography-based. One of the photographers I’ve followed for years is David du Chemin, because he writes more about the why of an image than the technical side, like lenses, tripods, and lighting. He’s much more apt to ask Why that image and not this one? or What story am I trying to tell? and that speaks to me more than worrying about which F-stop I’m using. His latest missive was about diving deep, rather than wide and in it, he challenged his readers to pick a subject and dive into it for a year. The second I read that sentence, the word “trees” popped into my head and it hasn’t left.
The idea of spending a year really looking at and learning about trees seems to be exactly the right idea at the right time. As with all ideas that resonate deeply with me, the synchronicity of trees has been building for a while. I just finished reading The Overstory, a fantastic book that weaves trees into the stories of several characters, who then are woven together by the tree story lines into one larger epic, sort of the way individual trees are really a forest. The book is amazing on many levels and it got me thinking deeply about trees and all that I have seen as I’ve gone cross-country the last few years. In 2019, I want to head out west by mid-year, and so the range of trees and forests I could see in the next year could encompass most of the forests in the US, if I plan it right. I have no idea where this theme will lead me, but I want to find out.
Other than thinking a lot, I haven’t done a whole lot the past week. Did a few hikes bathing in the Florida forest, had some good meals with friends, walked around the neighborhood, and got to know my way around on foot. Now if only the weather would cool down, it would be perfect.
When you go into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees… and some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens and some of them are – whatever. And you look at the tree, and you just – allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is, you sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way, and you don’t get all emotional about it, you just allow it. You appreciate the tree.
The minute you get near humans, you lose all that, and you’re constantly saying, “You’re too this,” or “I’m too this,” or – that judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees, which means appreciating them just the way they are.
Ram Dass
As I plan my future retirement coming this Spring, I find your ideas of travelling and focusing on differents subjects … excellent. I do a lot of photography and this will suit me perfectly when travelling with my Alto 1743… thanks Annie, as always, your posts are really inspiring! Merci
Oh wow Annie I loved this: “I’ve realized I was moving so much that I didn’t have time to be still and let what I’ve seen seep into my soul and then come back out as art. I was taking photos on the fly, hoping that a bit of post-processing and a quick blog post would capture the essence of what I saw.” This resonates so much with the recent hectic life I have been living.
And I love the image of the forest, in muted bw in the middle of your post. What gorgeous images you show this week!!
Wishing you a peaceful weekend, Vida.
Vida, you’re jet-setting all over these days, so I think you do know what I mean about being still 🙂 Hope you are enjoying your travels and work, and someday we’ll catch up at a bookstore or a beach.
Annie, Ram Das… one of my favorite books, Be Here Now. I like your reflections. Rich
Thanks, Rich, I’ll add that to my list. I read the quote in an article recently and liked it a lot.
I love your two topics! Since I am a tree hugger to the max I especially look forward to your tree photos! Did you know that trees can talk to each other thorough their roots by means of a fungus?
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet
At first in retirement, I did a lot of things. And I still do, but I’m trying to take more time just to enjoy and “be”. It will be interesting to see how our perspectives evolve as we are more distant from work!
I knew that about trees, but not much about it, so this winter I am reading about trees and civil rights. I get to jump between them when my head needs a break.
Retirement is definitely an interesting journey for us goal-oriented, always-striving personality types 🙂
Our 1743 is put away for the NH winter. Your posts excite and inspire me and help me consider how I will “be” on the road. We currently have three geriatric pets who require our presence and care for the time being. Until then, your posts keep the dream fresh!
Enjoy the stillness. Seek the silence.
Thank you!
Annie: You’ve inspired me to “follow in your footsteps” with my F1743 (if ever I can get the PA bureaucrats to issue me a plate for it)! I’ll be heading to Yuma in December to spend a few days with my Marine son before he deploys (for the 3rd time) to the Middle East with his squadron. I’ll then stay out there for awhile, visit Quartzite for a couple fo days, and perhaps the RTR. My camera will be close by.
When I was growing up in FLA, I recall seeing billboards proclaiming “Impeach Earl Warren.” I hadn’t the slightest clue who he was or why anyone would want to impeach him (whatever that was). I also remember, when I was either a junior and senior in HS, when the first black student arrived. I don’t recall too much except that there was a short-lived hullabaloo and then life went on. Most people don’t realize just how racist and violent FLA was during the Jim Crow era.
My first hero was our family doctor. He was the only doctor in Lake County at the time who would treat black patients. He had his own small clinic/hospital as he was also a general surgeon. To openly practice in the county, he had to obey the norms which meant that the black patients had their separate entrance where a black nurse would help treat them, and separate drinking fountains.
I remember seeing those billboards in Southern California when I was a kid, put up by the John Birch Society. Weird, especially since he had been a Governor in CA. Your family doctor was a hero, it was those small moves that made for greater changes over time, I believe.
For Quartzsite, check out the Plomosa 14-day stay area rather than the more popular Roadrunner area. I liked it better, farther away from the freeway noise and town. Hope your license woes end soon and you’re on your way.
Thanks for the suggestion re Quartzite.
Interestingly, I went to law school in Georgia with the niece of John Birch. She was the first female deputy sheriff in Bibb County. She told me that her Uncle John did not found the Society, but several wing-nuts who named their society after him after he was killed by the Chinese towards the end of WWII.
Thank you for allowing me to travel vicariously along with you through these beautiful posts. I’m so in awe of your
courage, wisdom and curiosity and for your willingness to be “still.” Your writing and your photos are true gifts – to me and others who are so fortunate to have access to them.
Onward,
Gaye Quinn
Thank you for that, Gayle, it means so much to me to hear it. I often feel like I’m either bumbling or rambling through a post 🙂