Monday, March 29

On the Road Again


There's something about being on a bus that makes me feel SO country music. Perhaps it's the extreme lack of shock absorbers on these bus monstrosities that make me feel like a ruffian out on the open roads. Or maybe my true vagabondness is amplified as I'm left to fend for myself with a very interesting roster of fellow travelers which has included everyone from a tipsy and questionably homeless man off to find a better life (or just more booze) to fellow Americans wandering around uncharted territory, navigating through foreign lands and languages. There's something about being on the road that brings people together when all you may actually have in common is your destination.


The European Connection 
Instantaneous bonds are created with some of these characters from your story from the road.  Never in a million years would I find myself at a German dinner party cooked by a Spaniard with a guest list of people in which my closest present companion I'd met less than 24 hours prior. This likely strikes immediate panic into the hearts of Mama and Nicky who undoubtedly raised me to "know better." But situations like these don't come about with clouded judgment. Quite the contrary, in fact. It's caution and intuition at it's highest, knowing off-hand that what is uniting you is anything but malicious motives, rather a sincere yearning for worldly knowledge and a sense of comfort and belonging when you're thousands of miles from home. Things are just different. It's exhilarating being in someone's home with people from all over the world with three different languages flying about and cultural dissimilarities as the topic at hand. I've said this before but you just don't learn this stuff from a textbook.



I'm not quite sure what it is about the language thing that fascinates me so much. I guess I have always been a lover of words since I had my nose buried in a book practically before I could even walk. The notion that verbal communication can transcend cultures, ages, backgrounds and everything in between is pretty remarkable. 


A recent hike up to Jaen's gorgeous castle with a colorful crew solidified how much I love being around a world (literally) of different perspectives. No subject is uninteresting when you have dozens of different characters contributing to a moment in time set against a historic background, an acoustic guitar, a little vino and a lot of sunshine!  


Don't get me wrong, I am just as happy with a group of people from all over Fresno, the great state of California or our kaleidoscopic mix of a country, nestled up in the mountains near the lake with the crisp breeze blowing about or at a bonfire on the beach with worn-in quilts and hooded sweatshirts. EVERYONE has a story to contribute, I am just grateful to have the time and opportunity to enjoy them as much as I do here!!!


I leave you with one of my favorite passages ever written, by the notoriously controversial yet undeniably brilliant Jack Kerouac:


"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

3 comments:

julia wheeler said...

that dinner party sounds amazing and far safer than, say, your late night fishing excursion in PB;) love you, lady! you are AMAZING!

Free as a Songbird said...

Hee hee hee... what can I say, I LOVE to fish! Happy Birthday, Ronnie! Love YOU, lady! Thanks for the constant support :)

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