I took a road trip this weekend, just a weekend get-a-way to Arizona for a family members wedding. Driving 9 hours through the desert gave me a different perspective. California is the epitome of urban life. Surrounded by buildings, smog, people, and cars, there is no time to breathe, no place to look around and take in the scenery. I know the locals say, California is the perfect place, you can surf at the beach, snow-board in the mountains, and go dirt biking in the desert all on the same day. Well local perspective aside, as we drove out, I began to feel less closed in, more able to turn my head to the left and right and not see buildings. Slowly the city fell away and there were hours of desert driving. No houses, no cars, no smog only the openness and shrubbery found in the desert. Flanked on both sides by mountains and hills, I began to realize that my 16 years in California has helped me to crave the openness afforded by other parts of the country that I had previously taken for granted.
The wedding was beautiful, young love, wide eyed and eager to begin their life together as man and wife.
The chance to catch up with family whom we have not seen in a while renewed that sense of connection.
The laziness of a vacation was refreshing to restore that sense of balance to life
But the best part of this trip was watching the desert landscape go by, hours of silence with children in the back attached to electronic devices, husband in the passenger seat napping. I in the drivers seat gazing at hundreds of miles of beautiful scenery and left to contemplate how much easier it is to breathe without the claustrophobic crush of city life.
No comments:
Post a Comment