Collecting Thoughts on the Open Road

Collecting thoughts on the open road - - - -

Bright blue sky and very hot. Road trip is under way. With the backseat to myself, the expansion of my thoughts is able to take up both seats.

Sometimes my words and thoughts need the space to permeate beyond my current location and setting.
I like how Alain De Botton explains it --

 "There is an almost quaint correlation between what is before our eyes and the thoughts we are able to have in our heads: large thoughts at times require large views, and new thoughts, new places."

Wide open fields graced with gentle hills glide by and it feels northern, unlike Florida. My eyes trace the hills to the far distance, imagining myself walking the slopes.

The road curves and rows of identical pine trees line the road making the road seem more closed in.

Then the road opens again to farm land and fences. My eyes spy for beautiful patches of flowers in the median. I watch for the next state's welcome sign.

Mat Kearney is singing through the speakers - a favourite road tune - - Watch the video HERE

come on and we'll see
like we were free
push the pedal down
watch the world around
fly by us
come on and we'll try
one last time

Feelings of wanderlust are accompanied by his voice singing those familiar words. This road is familiar. This path has been travelled many time before, since I was little. These mountains have my footprints in various spots, and they look the same each time I come to add some more footprints. But even the mountains are changing, like we all are.

Mountain Silence

It's quiet.
So so quiet.
I am sitting outside on the balconey that overlooks the entire valley and mountain range.
Birds chirp in the distance. Trees rustle gently.
That's it.
We are up here by ourselves. And it feels like this mountain is our own.
The air is fresh, mountain air. The kind that smells like forest and earth.

God's expansive mountainous landscape is set before me and I sit amidst it all.
Green covered mountains are at our height and a bit higher with no homes and no powerlines. Untouched land. This is true North Carolina and it is glorious. I feel like I can reach out a touch the mountains and yet they are across the valley.

Sitting out here on our wooden plank balconey, I am perched on top of the world with so much space to expand my thoughts and imagination. Lofty, dreamy air is fresh and moist. Weather changes momentarily, and we can see it coming and going.

They're called the Blue Ridge Mountains for a reason. A misty grey shade of blue are the mountains that make up the skyline against the white foggy clouds and breaks of blue sky.

They are also called the Smokey Mountains for a reason -- the way the wispy white clouds rise from the valley between all the peaks, it resembles smoke rising to the great reaches of the sky. It is dramatic and beautiful and invokes a sense of smallness in me. That I am able to sit here with a view of God's big-ness, which is just a tiny glimpse, I feel tiny.
But to feel small in relation to God is an inspiration. I don't want to feel big in a small world, but rather a tiny piece of a big, beautiful world with so much to discover and appreciate.

Lucky Enough to be in the Mountains

A sign in our mountain home reads:

If you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough.

I think that is what our motto of the week is going to be. We have been forced to recognize to go with the flow, in all circumstances and enjoy what we have.

After a much longer than anticipated drive to the mountains, we arrived at our gorgeous home perched on top of Scaly Mountain, North Carolina with a million dollar view (and probably a million dollar home). But we also discovered the home did not contain many of the items that were described online, notably, air conditioning, internet, and the right number of beds. We are rearranging and making due. Cell signal is also pretty scarce up here, except for Renee's phone and my phone. We are truly appreciating the scenery and nobody can spend hours browsing the Internet.

So we are taking the sign to heart considering the circumstances and reminding ourselves that we have a 200 degree view of mountains and a big wrap-around balcony to view them. It's amazing, really. The view from most windows is spectacular as well. Our situation isn't so bad. We have all our windows open and the mountain breezes come through the house.

So far it has been rather nice. The sun was out this morning and then fog rolled in and clouds covered the valley. A breeze blew the clouds up and we sat above the clouds until they eventually rose above us. And now the clouds sit just above us, hovering with a damp greyness that covers us from the hot sun. 

Road Trip Ready

Road trips.
Does that invoke something adventurous in you?
It does for me. There's so much possibility out there when you step outside your door.

Today is road trip day. We are hitting the pavement, loading the car, and leaving Florida in the dust to welcome the lovely North Carolina mountain air. It's not that far from home and yet it feels a world away.

The road trip is part of the adventure. I love watching the changing landscapes glide by from the car. I love daydreaming as the road rolls underneath and watching the puffy white clouds as they change shape and move across the sky. I love bringing a favourite snack and drink to enjoy. I love to be on the lookout for interesting things to photograph. I love becoming engrossed in a book to make some of the time fly by.

And I love reaching the destination and the giddiness rising in me of all sorts of adventures lingering in the week ahead.

The Secret's Out.....

Flowers bring cheerfulness, especially when they are given by dear friends.

Getting a new phone is fun. My old phone was a dinosaur. I have an iPhone now, which makes me a black sheep of my anti-Apple family, but joining the family of those in my life who love Apple. It's a torn world out there. You can't make everyone happy. Such deep thoughts care of my mobile phone.

 Rainy days are really lovely. It's on rainy days that I notice how much green surrounds the streets of my neighborhood. The dirt is getting washed away. The air is refreshed. I love the mossy green and the old trees soaking in the Summer rain.

Wearing colourful shoes is more fun. I mean, why not? Especially when it's Friday.

Writing about words is a passion of mine. I wrote a little article about my love of words last week, and posted it on the blog here but it was also published in Catapult Magazine! They even used my photo. Click here for the magazine issue on Words. Click here to go straight to my article.

Getting Lost in the Books

It is an easy thing for me to do.
Get lost in books.
Summer is the perfect time to get lost in books because it's so hot outside. What else should you do? Read, of course. The library is a place of reprieve from the heat and it's full of books you weren't looking for but stumble across. I love when that happens.

What kinds of books do you get lost in?
If a book engages my imagination I can read super-fast. But I am caught in a dilemma because if I enjoy it I want to slow down so I can savor it and not rush. But I don't.

It's like eating. Some of us tend to eat really fast and barely chew the food. You see it on the plate, turn around, and it's gone. I eat slowly, and like to taste each bite. So, I am pretty much always the last one eating.
Sometimes, though, when reading, I act like a rapid eater.

Here are a few books I have devoured very recently:

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
This young adult book is about a 12 year old boy who goes to stay with his aunt and uncle's farm with three other cousins. He sleeps in the attic room, and one night he hears bumps in the wall, which is covered in plaster, but when he chips away at all the plaster, he discovers 100 cupboards in the wall that all lead to different places. It's a little creepy, thrilling, and adventurous, with just a little bit of magic. It's a fun read, for sure.

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
If you know J.D. Salinger, you kind of know what to expect. Bad language, but interesting thoughts. Two stories in one. Franny is a college student and she is tired of the selfish culture in which she lives, but doesn't know what to think about the religious and spiritual paths she is exploring. She kinds of suffers a breakdown, which is where Zooey, her older brother, steps into the story. He's there at the apartment with her and does what an older brother would do. Offers advice and also tells her things like they are, causing her to cry but finally understand something deeper. There's no action in this book. It's all conversations that explore that young culture in 1955.

Lighten Up

Cheer up, my fiend. If you're having a rough day, you can start it over right now.
My little doctor pen wanted to pass that message along to you.
And also -- lighten up. I think it's telling me that.

I usually find myself in a state of gratefulness and thankfulness each day. I believe God has provided gifts in all moments of the day set-up as reminders of His love. No matter what we are given, there's a positive light to find. God wants to make something good out of something that might be less than dandy.

I try to see those gifts all day. To focus. To be inspired by the good things that God allows to unfold before my eyes.

But it's hard sometimes. Occasionally I feel frustrated from something going on that day or from something coming back from the past. How can I lighten up when hurt/frustration rise like waves returning to the shore?

The answer comes as a smile in my heart.
Laugh. Smile.
Always the things that evades me all too easily. And the things that stare me right in the face.

My super-detailed nature will kick into gear and steer my ship in that focused direction, sometimes by-passing the gentle lapping shoreline where I should be making a stop along the way. I need the reminder to pause. To laugh. It does me so much good.

I love this little doctor pen I have at my desk. My company exclusively works with doctors, so it's a very appropriate prop (which, funny enough, my chef friend Emily gave me), which I use as a reminder to lighten up. To laugh. To give thanks.

A Note to Writers

Stop hesitating. Stop waiting until you feel you have something to write. Just get up and write. Write the words that float around in your head all day and all night. Write the story you meant to commit to memory. Write the words that sit on your heart and you are afraid to set on paper. Nobody is going to read it unless you open your journal to them.

Write what is on your mind and other thoughts will follow. Write about your surroundings and you will realize how much you start to notice about people and places. You will start paying attention to voices at the next table, textures on the floor, expressions on your friend's face, and the scent of the breeze.

Get over your fear of not having anything to say. If you don't sit down and write and practice you will never become better. The hardest part is putting your pen to page. That initial start is the challenge, but once your hand is moving, your mind easily fills the page, releasing all those words like a dam opening to prevent bursting.

Your mind is overflowing with words. It always has been. When you were younger you didn't understand why nobody else had the same eagerness to pick up a book and read or to pick up a pen and write. But there's a reason for that. You were made with this desire in your heart. Just like others are made with other desires to use in life. There are plenty of things you do not desire, such as speaking in front of people a lot or selling things. Writing is your desire.

To write because you love it, above all else. Not to make a living. Not to make money or become famous. But simply because you love it.

If there was no such thing as the Internet and no way to post writings for anyone to stumble upon, you know you would still write like this.

This desire was written on your heart. So keep it going. Don't lose or muffle your writing voice. Don't let a day go by without writing. And when you sit alone in a coffee shop writing, and others look at you with curious expressions, write about them. Use it as material to write about. Your 'being different' is part of God's unique creation and you are a piece of His lovely mosaic. 

Studying Light

Studying the light
Focusing on that which is good, true, honest, and pure.

I just love the morning light in my office. The way is slices through the blinds leaving interesting shadows and patterns on the floor and wall. Natural light is such a comforting energizer for me. That may seem like an oxymoron to be comforted and energized at the same time, but it is possible. To come into the office and have a brightly lit office, not by a loud fluorescent bulb, but by the natural colours of the bright morning, or sometimes by the overcast morning if a rainstorm is coming. That is an inspiring environment that invokes an awake mind, which is what I need when I am going to work. A mind asleep doesn't do much good at the office.

I love the afternoon light in my home. The glowing rays of fading sunshine that glide through my windows and only linger for a few minutes before clouds and afternoon breezes change the light landscape. The colours in my home seem to change with the shifting light, always providing a new way of looking at my tiny space. I move a stack of books. I rearrange items on my coffee table. And it feels just right. A golden shaft of the deep light comes through my front windows and casts a glow on my pine floor, reaching all the way to the door. It is lovely, and makes me think of some poetic lines in my head. But it's also fading, like a rainbow does. Each time you look at it, it grows a little bit dimmer, until eventually it is too faint to see anymore. Only the memory remains.

Dreamy English Scenes

My dreamy Summer scenes look like England. Rolling hills and fields of green grass and flowers blooming. Sunshine and white clouds. Strawberries and cream. Apples and custard. Sheep and pastures. Long walks and picnics. Tea and scones. Windows open and a soft breeze. Old books and being outside to read.

I have been daydreaming a lot about England, as usual. The English way is my natural way, so I long for it like I long for the comfort of my own home.
I am taking myself back. I hope you don't mind.

Picture yourself stepping into one of these scenes from Oxford. Peaceful thoughts illuminate your mind as the sounds and sights of nature engage your senses. You walked here, so you know the paths you crossed to get here. You meandered down some narrow roads and passed many other people walking or on bicycles.

And now you are here. The sun is shining, but not burning hot. The shade is cool. The air is bursting with a sweetness not just from blooming flowers, but from the quality of the old. England feels aged, and in the best of ways. It is well-established. It holds centuries of history. It is beauty that has been there for ages, and now you get to experience it, too.

After walking for a while you find a place to sit, or to stand in one spot for a little bit. You are really paying attention to the elements of your surroundings and if you are me, you jot a few notes in your journal. You take several photos. You listen, you look around, you breathe deep the clean air.

Then you notice something in you.
Something like joy. You notice how your muscles are relaxed and your mind is uncluttered. Your soul is filled and a soft smile is on your face. Anxious feelings about life seem dim when flowers are surrounding your feet.

And you know this place is special. It displays the beauty of God's creation to a whole new level. Something almost beyond what you could think is real. Doesn't this kind of beauty only happen in books and stories? These are the kinds of dreamy scenes that are refilling my mind until I step foot back in England again.