Friday, February 12, 2016

Journal Entry From 21 Years Ago

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned taking a road trip with my friend, Chad. Casting about for something to write about today, I found my one journal entry written while on that trip. I did about 99% of the driving because at the time, Chad didn't have a license. He only drove one day when I couldn't keep my eyes open after driving for nearly 23 hours straight. That was a long haul.

Most of my journal entries involve various sorts of self-improvement strategies and reflections on my shortcomings, or agonizing over failed relationships. This makes them kind of tedious and grating to my current self. I might pick and choose a few other tidbits to share here, or maybe not.

"Today is Wednesday - we've been on the road since Friday and this is the first night we've slept in a motel. We spent three nights in the car and one in a friend of a friend of a friend's basement. In Idaho. Land of the hick.

Animals we've seen: I almost ran over a skunk in CA. The skunk is supposed to be one of my guide animals, along with the otter. Skunks command respect. It's interesting that I've seen two skunks in the wild since I've found this out (never seen a wild skunk before this). Both times I've been in a car with a friend. Something to do with friendship & respect?




Other than that, we've seen deer, buffalo, rabbits, a mouse, possibly an owl, lots of crows, and various chipmunks. A couple of deer got really close. A buck licked my hand but left when no food was forthcoming. While driving through Yellowstone, we had our car surrounded by a herd of buffalo. It was snowing gently as these ancient-looking animals made their unhurried way down the road. The whole scene was beautiful and somewhat surreal - also a little bit sad. it made me think of the past and what was done to the buffalo - hunted almost to extinction.


The crows also interest me. Wherever we turn, we see them hopping or flying away from the sides of roads. One flew in front of us in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. What do they symbolize? More later... wish I could write in the car like Chad does, but I have to drive. Oh well..."


During this point in my life, I'd become interested in the symbolism of the natural world. The bit about skunks and otters being my guide animals was inspired by a Native American tarot reading done by Laura. The crows which seemed to appear at every corner led to me getting one tattooed on my arm when Chad and I reached Flint, Michigan (where his mom and stepdad lived). One of Chad's friends owned a tattoo parlor, so my crow tattoo was heavily discounted. This tattoo would later inspire the camp name I chose when I got hired at my current job.

Other noteworthy moments included following some unpaved roads to the site of the Wounded Knee massacre. This was quite a solemn undertaking, and the bleakness of the monument and the tiny cemetery nearby has stuck with me all of these years.


In Michigan, we went river rafting down a tiny river. We went tubing behind a speedboat too, and I remember cartwheeling across the water after the poorly inflated tube spun out from under me. Here's me, Chad, and a couple of Chad's friends.


On the way back, we stopped at Mesa Verde after spending some time in Colorado Springs. I've been wanting to go back there ever since. We also drove through St. Charles, MO, which is where I was born. This was the first (and so far, only) time I've been back there. We looked at cute hedgehogs in a pet store and checked out some record stores. I bought a Saint Vitus CD from a guy who was a member of a band called the Strangulated Beatoffs. It's funny how I can still remember some of these details.


We briefly stopped at the Grand Canyon too, as well as Four Corners. At some point, we found ourselves following Satan's Freeway.


Revisiting these photos (all taken by Chad, except the one from the rafting trip, of course) confirms that I had a really crappy scanner back when I scanned them. There are other pictures from this trip in a photo album in the attic, and someday I might revisit those too. It's funny to think about how many photos I would take if I took such a trip now. Probably hundreds. There's something to be said for just experience life, instead of constantly recording it. Photos tend to narrow the focus of our memories down to the recorded images, leaving the rest of the experiencing in some unattainable mental archive.

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