The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
- Marcel Proust




Friday, August 28, 2009

No Yesterdays


William Least Heat-Moon turned 70 years old yesterday. He wrote Blue Highways: A Journey into America in 1982, an account of his travels on the back roads of the USA.

Heat-Moon began his journey after he lost his job and his wife of 11 years left him. He decided to take to the open road and "live the real jeopardy of circumstance."

Over the course of three months, he traveled 13,000 miles around the United States. In comparison, I have been traveling since August 2008 and have put about 12,000 miles on Michelle.

Heat-Moon said, "When you're traveling, you are what you are, right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."

He's so right.

2 comments:

Wander to the Wayside said...

"When you're traveling, you are what you are, right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."

...I like that.

Wander to the Wayside said...

I'm back, Lila! I just wanted to say that I've been looking at your slide show photos, and I'm so envious of your travels. Also, I took a closer look at your pet portraits, and they are REALLY good. You don't tell anywhere how long you've been doing this or where your talent comes from and what you've done with it other than these pet portraits. I like to see life in the eyes of an animal or person in paint or drawing, and you've definitely done that. If I ever have that extra money (which is scarce right now), I'm think I'd like to get one done of my Annabelle if I could find just the right photo.