Outside an ambitious robin is tracking down a late breakfast and I am soaking up my remaining moments in the approaching Sierra summer sun. I have been saying my farewells to coastal friends and reassuring my family as I read up on the unique mountain kingdom which shall be called home for the next two years.
John Steinbeck is always a good author to have as a companion as one starts on a journey and I find myself drawn back to his book Travels With Charley. He is a kindred vagabond spirit.
"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand it."----John Steinbeck
Well alright, Mr. Steinbeck, we shall journey on, preparing above all the ability to be flexible.
5 comments:
The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho! Enjoy. Good luck, I am sure you'll have a blast.
Remember to go check out Durban for some warm water surf, then Cape Town for some Atlantic juice.
And I'll write you, even though I haven't emailed in how long? :p
I get to comment first (deleted in error!) and second, perhaps a third might be required..
Way to go Kjessie, my thoughts are with you on your journey to help the people of Africa
I love your Steinbeck quote, and think I shall adopt it as well. So now your journey is taking you... peace to you in Christ, my treasured friend.
great blog, Kjess. good colors, pictures, words....man the whole deal!!!
I think you should also adopt a quote from my father. He wisely says, "What is time to a hog".
I think there is a life time of study to grasp the significance of that one.
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