Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thursday's Children Blog Hop: Into The Great Wide Open

"Into the great wide open
Under them skies of blue
Out in the great wide open
A rebel without a clue"
- "Into The Great Wide Open", Tom Petty 

What is it about an open road?

I have a bit of an obsession with them.  Whenever I see a long stretch of highway, my feet start to tingle.  Some mornings, I just need to get up and get outta Dodge.  I buckle my son in the car, pop in my "driving music", and go.  

This is the picture that has fueled my imagination throughout the writing of my first book.  It's a photo of the Kougarok Road in Northern Alaska.  It starts in Nome and stops... where?  Most people never reach the end of it.  To look at the picture, you would think it lasted forever.  It beckons you to hop in your car and drive, until you reach either a town or the end of the world.  

But like all great roads, and all great adventures, it ends eventually, at a vaguely derelict bridge out in the middle of the tundra.  The bridge taunts you.  You can see the landscape stretching off until it melts into the distant horizon, but this is as far as you can go by car.  Unless you have a four-wheeler, all you can do is stand and admire the view.

Big scenery like this fuels me.  It makes me want to push myself just a little farther, drive just a little longer, try just a little harder.  What's beyond that distant horizon?  What's beyond the horizon after that?  It reminds me life is just one long adventure, waiting to be had.  

When I look at this picture, it makes me itch to get in the car and get started.

   


12 comments:

  1. Great post. Makes me want to get my Magellan on...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet! Then my job here is done. Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  2. I love that photo (and the song) :) It makes me want to go exploring. I'm not a fan of the freeway road trip, but back roads? I'm there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed, though it depends on the freeway. CA Highway 1 is just a skip from where I live, and it's gorgeous! But back roads are always worth exploring...

      Delete
  3. I once had a plastic topo map of California hanging in my office at Syntex. There was a valley, Death I think, that you could fit your fore finger in, and from there a long straight road. That called to me till I went there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's awesome! Some places just get in your head, don't they?

      Delete
  4. I love your love of roads :)

    I see them as being symbolic of beginnings... the beginning of a new journey. Kind of like the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz. I use them a lot in my work, as there's just something magical about a character taking their first step on a new path.

    Now how about a take on bridges???

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally agree! Love the symbolic use of everyday things in literature.

    I'll get right on that bridge post...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post. I've always thought the journey is the destination ;-) Beautiful photo. It totally makes me want to try to reach the end! Thanks for joining us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for having me! So glad you enjoyed it!

      Delete
  7. That picture is amazing! I love your take on roads. I think I'll see them differently now.

    ReplyDelete

What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Either way, I want to hear from you!