My Fellow Americans

The long road, somewhere between Vernal and Vail

My husband and I like to travel and often we will choose to drive. We don't really like the fact that flying has such a huge carbon footprint, and it takes so long to deal with the airport. Besides, flying is uncomfortable and it's not always more convenient. Driving may or may not take more time, but it gives you flexibility and room for all your stuff, and and it's nice to have a vehicle at your end destination. I don't love interstate highway driving, but I do enjoy seeing how the view changes as we move from state to state and zone to zone, going from lush green forest to desert, hilly to flat to mountains and back. 

Wind Farming in Oklahoma 

Southwest Colorado

Nearing Telluride, CO

Cotton Fields in the Mississippi Delta

This summer we took a pretty epic road trip. We drove more than 4000 miles, from Athens, GA to Telluride, CO and on to Salt Lake City, and then back home again, with overnight stops in Tupelo, MS, Little Rock, AR, Shamrock, TX, Santa Fe, NM, Denver, CO, Wichita, KS, Bentonville, AR, and Birmingham, AL. We have an electric vehicle and so we charge 1-2 times a day on a long drive, and plan for a hotel where we can charge overnight. We usually eat lunch while the car charges which takes about 45 minutes. Whenever possible we try to find local eateries. Sometimes the chargers are located in parking lots with no food service nearby, so we hang around the car and snack or pick up munchies from a Walmart, one of the most common businesses that offer charging stations. Occasionally we luck out and find wonderful, fast chargers in beautiful settings and that makes a huge difference. Often while we charge, we have conversations with fellow EV drivers or people who are curious about how it works. Everyone is eager to compare notes about the various EV's and share good and bad charging experiences. 

Just a couple of EV drivers having a chat at the chargers

Typical hotel charger

This charging stop in Moab, UT is probably the nicest one we've been to. The chargers were fast and plentiful, and while you wait you can picnic or hike along trails that lead to Arches N.P.

We set out on the road one morning in late July, heading to Little Rock. We spent the first night in Tupelo, MS, and we came back to our hotel from dinner just as a massive flock of Purple Martins was flying overhead. I stood and watched for a good 15 minutes as tens of thousands of birds flew over in waves. Other people in the hotel parking lot were watching this amazing sight, too. It was marvelous. We shared a moment of awe and appreciation.

Tupelo, MS

A few nights later, we stopped for the night in Shamrock, TX, a small town just over the OK/TX border on old Route 66. We picked a hotel that said it had a charger, but when we tried to plug in, the charger just wasn't working. This could have been a problem for us, but the busy and kind hotel manager helped us by calling the charger company and resetting the system. She didn't know anything about the charger, and said hardly anyone used it, but she gamely came outside in very hot weather and worked on the phone with customer service to help us out. She said they get a lot of storms and the chargers probably got knocked off line. We thanked her profusely and let her know how helpful it was to have stops like this available on the road. Later that evening, we walked around town to find something to eat and ended up at a local bar and hamburger restaurant that happened to be hosting live music outside. The place was busy and everyone seemed to know each other and the musicians, but they made room for us and welcomed us in. We got a table by the yard and ate dinner while we listened to great music as the sun went down. 

Summer Music in Shamrock, TX

When we arrived in Santa Fe and then Telluride (our main destination, for a conference) we joined the ranks of fellow tourists in vacation destinations, where none of us were locals and we were all just passing through, enjoying the food, culture and scenery. People were from everywhere and from all walks of life and political persuasions and we all managed to get along just fine. And each leg of our journey gave us another taste (sometimes literally!) of the incredible diversity and beauty our country has to offer. 

Dead Horse Point in southern Utah

Silver Lake at Brighton, Utah

Traveling through Española, NM and Durango, CO, Green River and Vernal, UT, and Oxford, MS, we ate delicious regional food (blue corn pancakes with piñon nuts, or green chili cheeseburgers, or catfish and greens, anyone?) charged our car, rested up, and enjoyed our short visits. Everywhere we go people are friendly. Servers in cafes ask us where we're from and tell us what not to miss in their town. People in hotels or museums or parks are quick to say hi and chit chat about weather, cute dogs, etc. We get a lot of "Go Dawgs" when my husband has on his UGA hat. Mostly we don't know who they are voting for, and they don't know about us, though sometimes we can all guess, but it doesn't seem to matter. Everyone is nice. I know the friendly reaction might be different if we were not a middle aged, middle class, white, heterosexual couple, but even in small rural towns where we stood out with our EV, my jeans and nature t-shirts, and my husband's beard and long hair, everyone treated us well.

Huevos Rancheros in Santa Fe

Catfish for lunch in Oxford, MS

For the trip home from Salt Lake, we chose a slightly more northern route than we have taken before and it led us through the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah, then to Denver via Glenwood Springs, across Kansas, up to Bentonville, AR, and down to Little Rock. From there we drove the back way through Oxford, MS and down to Birmingham, AL and on to Georgia. The highways on this route, until about Birmingham, were smaller and we slowed down and enjoyed the scenery as we moved from the Rocky Mountains to the plains. We saw farms and forests, wind farms and oil fields, deer and antelope, prairie dogs and golden eagles, and watched storms blowing in. Arriving back home in Georgia, I felt happy that we had experienced so much of our huge and beautiful country. 

Denver after a big rain

Storm clouds building on the Kansas prairie

We spent a night in Wichita, across the Arkansas River from the stadium for the local minor league baseball team, the Wichita Wind Surge. There was a game that night and it looked pretty fun but we'd arrived in town too late to consider attending. 

We stopped in Bentonville, AR to see the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It was totally worth the visit. This is a work by James Turrell. The blue is the sky, seen in this "Skyspace", a structure with a hole in the ceiling. The colors and reflections and shadows change constantly through the day.

Sleeping Cows in Arkansas

Crossing the Mighty Mississippi River

Busy Birmingham

Home, Sweet Home

Now, here we are on Election Day, and there is a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety all across the U.S. We are fearful about what the future brings. No matter who wins, the other side will be scared and angry. We mistrust the intentions of the politicians and the people who surround them.  I am very concerned and this election has been keeping me up at night. There is so much at stake. But I don't buy that the people of our country are as divided as we are led to believe. I think we are not all that different from each other. We all want a good life for our families and friends and we care about the places we live in. I have observed this through our travels and at home in my own neighborhood. At core, regardless of what we might be told by people trying to scare us into voting a certain way, we get along with our neighbors and are kind to strangers. We may disagree about our politics, but we put that aside and pitch in when we see someone in need, as evidenced in the recent hurricanes. We volunteer to feed the hungry, clean the roadside, coach our kids' sports teams, lead scout troops, and staff polling places. We say hi when we pass on the sidewalk. We smile at kids, and pet dogs. We hold doors open. We look out for each other. Most people are kind. We live in a beautiful country of good people. And our differences make us interesting! We are all in this together. No matter who wins or loses the election I will be keeping this in mind.

Time to Rise

Panther Creek Falls

Well, last night's election was a long, painful experience, and all day I've been trying not to give in to despair. I've already gone through all the five stages of grief, starting with Denial--this can't possibly be happening. Then Bargaining--if I'd just helped more with the campaign, maybe it would have turned out differently. I promise to always be more involved! Then Anger--blaming the mess on the media, or FBI, or people who didn't vote or who voted for the "wrong" candidate. All this was followed by Depression--how can I get out of bed in the morning when everything I believe in is going to be negated in this new administration? And in the end, Acceptance and Hope--my candidate lost, but one of the beautiful aspects of our nation is the peaceful transfer of power with each election. Like it or not, this is democracy in action and, as President Obama said today, we all hope the next 4 years go well. I shook off my dazed stupor and realized, that as bad as it might get politically, the world did not stop turning. Life is going to continue, and I still have my family and my health. There is still music and art, the birds sing, children play and flowers grow. After a suitable amount of mourning and moping, there comes a time to stand up, dust myself off and continue on.

Maidenhair Fern

So here I am, resolved to make these next 4 years work in my life. First off, I have decided that I need to exclude the negativity. The last year, and especially the last few weeks, were so stressful and I was anxious and depressed in dreaded anticipation of every dip and turn of the election, long before last night. Now that the election is done, I'm cutting back on the radio, newspaper and social media that thrive on fanning flames. I'll check in, but I'm buffering myself. And what I take and share with others will be nurturing and positive. I want to take the high road. Even though I enjoy a zinging bumper sticker or meme as much as the next person, I need to keep my personal world kind. We've had enough unkindness in this cycle for a lifetime. Instead of media/screen time, I'll spend time with people I love, listen to more music, read books, watch movies, cook great meals, visit with friends, and try to learn things, like improving my Spanish or mandolin playing. Most of all, I will get out and hike more. The forests, swamps and prairies give me strength and soothe my world-weary soul.

Bumblebee

I want to continue to learn more about natural history (especially of my new home of Georgia) so that I can be a better Naturalist Guide for the hundreds of young people who come through the doors of the nature center where I volunteer. I will teach as many of them as I can the value of protecting their natural areas. I will show them not to fear nature and to feel comfort, joy and awe when they are in its presence. Today's young people are tomorrow's adults and if they do not love nature they will not care to protect it.

Window Pane in Oak Leaf

I want to become more involved locally in the issues from the election that were important to me. Though I am a shy person by nature, I want to become a rabble rouser and a witness so that I can let my fellow citizens and elected officials know when I think attention needs to be paid. In the course of supporting the first woman candidate for president, I have realized how important it is to me that women have an equal voice in our government. And as a woman, I want to have my voice heard.  I will hound the president and my representatives if they try to take away health care, marriage equality or reproductive rights, or target Muslims or immigrants. I want to get involved in our local political organizations as they build a democratic opposition from the ground up so we are ready for the next round. In my state of Georgia, many state and even national representatives ran unopposed. Change starts from the ground up, but nothing changes if there is no opposition.

Eastern Phoebe

I think the most important thing to me is that I do my best to reflect the world I want to see in my daily life. I will continue to treat people with kindness, compassion and respect and "even if my voice shakes" will speak up if I see injustice. Because I am fortunate to have what I need, I will share more of what I have with others--resources to feed the hungry, clothe the cold, house the homeless and provide a good education for everyone, not just those living in the right zip code. I will continue to travel because it is important to understand people from other cultures. I want to be an ambassador, letting the people I meet know that we in the US do care about the rest of the world. I will defend the environment because this is the only Earth we have and I want something left to pass on to the next generation. Very locally, I will continue to model wildlife and environmentally friendly landscaping at our home so it can be a haven for wildlife and native plants. I will work harder to leave a smaller footprint, ecologically and economically by reducing, reusing and recycling and will drive less and walk or bike more.  And, finally, I will continue in my little project to fill the world with more beauty and joy by sharing photos and writing more and speaking out. It feels better to have a plan and makes me look forward to the future.

Maple Leaf