Oh, Beautiful

I'm a road trip convert. I can't count the number of times Michael has begged me to take a cross country road trip. I'd have rather been squished into a sardine can and catapulted across a snakepit (oooh, I'm in Tucson and I've got snakes on the brain. More on that later.)

So what changed? I'm not sure. There are no whiny kids in the backseat or a barfing dog. Been there, done that. (Sorry, D, C, and sweet Bentley)

Technology certainly makes a huge difference. Our car is super comfy for traveling. The iPhone is my new best friend. I love being able to text and email, google restaurants, hotels, and pertinent trivia along the way. The fact that I can take good quality photos with it AND it carries all of my favorite music which we can listen to through the car stereo system makes it the ideal travel companion. Yes, I'm in awe of my darling little gadget. Conversation with Michael was real....and easy. We had fewer distractions. (I know that sounds like an oxymoron since I just listed all the distractions/addictions provided by my phone, but you'll have to take my word for it.)

Who knew that I'd turn into such a road junkie? I had been dreading the road trip. Really. I thought it would be one long yawn of an experience. Instead, I found myself falling in love with our country. As the terrain shifted from the flat, snow-covered Illinois farmlands into the rolling hills of the Ozarks it became clear to me that we were doing something very important for ourselves by driving out to Arizona. Above us always, a constant, the blazingly beautiful azure skies. I'm so surprised at the depth of my emotion about it.

I woke up in Amarillo (now there's a phrase I never expected to cross my lips!) and I realized I had been humming to myself even before I opened my eyes, "Oh, beautiful for spacious skies..."

America IS so very beautiful, as these photos attest. It's winter, so there are no "amber waves of grain" or "fruited plains." But, hell, the "purple mountains' majesty" and "spacious skies" have knocked my socks off!

Examining my surprise at my reaction, I'm remembering two other times when I was caught unawares at a sudden deep pull of emotion. Mm hm. June 1977 and April 1980. (I know. You're wondering why I didn't say three other times. Michael and I had a quick courtship and fell deeply in love, but it wasn't that instantaneous love that I describe here. It was slower and then it swelled...OK. I'm making our romance sound like a hematoma or something. Sorry.)

But when David was born I was entirely unprepared for how immediately and deeply I fell in love with him. (I had secretly worried that I might not love a child as much as I loved our Newfoundland, Dempster.) Why had nobody told me about this new intense love that overwhelmed me the minute I laid eyes on him? I could barely breathe, I was so overcome with love. While pregnant with Carrie I worried that I could never love a second child as much as I loved the first one. Boom! She arrived and, again, I was smitten instantly. She settled into a place in my heart and just snuggled right in, where she remains.

Our hearts are elastic. There's always room for more love. Welcome, America.

(If I had a clue, I would re-order and label these photos. Alas...they remain fermisched. The snowy scene is rural Illinois on day one. The wide open prairie is Oklahoma. Beautiful. New Mexico sports the agave sculpture in the cliffs and the sunset into which we drove. Finally, Arizona and its rugged terrain.)

PS: Special thanks to David and Jolene for their late night tech support which now enables people to comment on the blog.