And the journeys continue, but it is not a foreign land anymore, is it?
In some ways, it is. I am continuing to gain a profound appreciation of how large and diverse America is - and how easy it is to explore it, yet it often goes undone. You speak the language, you can stay in luxurious conditions or camp for dollars a night. True, it is much more difficult without a car, and public transport is way less affordable, but that does not mean there are not lots of ways to travel cheaply somewhere close and yet experience a completely different landscape, weather pattern, even culture!
I am doing some of that now with this stint up and down the West coast that I get to do as a result of checking out grad schools. I've been completely at the mercy of amazing people hosting me, driving me around, and helping me get my stuff organized, ever since I got back - so big THANK YOU to them!
In some ways, it is. I am continuing to gain a profound appreciation of how large and diverse America is - and how easy it is to explore it, yet it often goes undone. You speak the language, you can stay in luxurious conditions or camp for dollars a night. True, it is much more difficult without a car, and public transport is way less affordable, but that does not mean there are not lots of ways to travel cheaply somewhere close and yet experience a completely different landscape, weather pattern, even culture!
I am doing some of that now with this stint up and down the West coast that I get to do as a result of checking out grad schools. I've been completely at the mercy of amazing people hosting me, driving me around, and helping me get my stuff organized, ever since I got back - so big THANK YOU to them!
Here's me and Victoria exploring I 5 together on the drive to Oregon.
Doing that drive at dusk was so magical. The woods were entirely different from the Himalayan woods, but enchanted in their own way. Peeking out of my tent at Sattal, I could see lights dotting the hilly landscape as village dwellers turned on their light for their evening meal. These woods were a completely different story - empty and wild looking, surrounding the suburban giants that reign over much of America.
I can say with certainty that somewhere in those woods, there is a patch of forest that feels just a little more mythical than the spot five meters over - it is unexplainably colder, more living, has a greater sense of presence than the rest of the spots. It's baffling and creates a sense of vertigo that you could roam the woods for weeks before you found it - and I'm sure it's a different spot for everyone.
The crooked trees by the road and the crooked road signs were all frozen in this same still dusky landscape. They come from such different backgrounds - the trees just grow, while the signs were man made and put there. They share a stuckness in their environment; they have nowhere to go, they are forever rooted as far as human time perceptions are concerned, so they simply are. And the rest of us, whether we are alive or inanimate, mobile or immobile, all share the same solidarity of being present in this timeless landscape.
We enjoyed an especially long dusk that settled around in a purplish color, interspersed with peeks of the glorious sunset, still bright blue and highlighting the clouds that would rain and snow on us in the days to follow. I was surprised at my lack of philosophical undertakings on the plane, but maybe the thought processes are yet to come..
