The lost art of just taking it easy
Today, I was feeling kind of wound up and felt I needed to just do something other than something that was a requirement. With school, I'm required to do certain things at certain times, with relationships, it is necessary to do certain things at certain times as part of the relationship (not a negative thing, but it adds onto the things one has to do). With my writing, there is both the writing and the business of writing. Over the last few days, I've been feeling overstretched and just needed time to do something other than something constructive. I discovered recently that even my play time activities, like playing a computer game, are work as well, even if done under the concept of "having fun".
So, I was driving towards Lodi today, thinking I might hit Wal-Mart and get some "needed" stuff, but instead of stopping, I just kept driving. And driving.
I ended up finding myself on a road towards San Andreas. I thought, "maybe I'll see the San Andreas Fault, stand on it, and call someone on my cell phone from there to tell them where I was." So I drove for another forty minutes until I reached San Andreas. There are caves and mines there, but nothing that indicated the "fault". So I just kind of drove through it, turned around and headed back.
But I can't tell you how refreshing the drive was. There is some beautiful unseen land on that trip down a side road that really doesn't lead anywhere in general. We rarely see these places. We take the main highways, and we stick to the solid roads, afraid to steer from the safety of having a huge gas station every 22.7 miles.
I drove through some old gold mining town, and it looked like it was an old western town trying to maintain its westerness while fighting off the growth of the occasional Starbucks and McDonalds. Some of the buildings looked like old saloons, while others looked like they were 1930s era and run down with age and disuse. One has to sometimes wonder who lives in these types of towns, and what do they do to survive.
A few hours later, I made it home. It wasn't a horribly eventful day, but sometimes you need to take the time to do absolutely nothing because if you don't, the world will refuse to do it for you.
Stumble It!
So, I was driving towards Lodi today, thinking I might hit Wal-Mart and get some "needed" stuff, but instead of stopping, I just kept driving. And driving.
I ended up finding myself on a road towards San Andreas. I thought, "maybe I'll see the San Andreas Fault, stand on it, and call someone on my cell phone from there to tell them where I was." So I drove for another forty minutes until I reached San Andreas. There are caves and mines there, but nothing that indicated the "fault". So I just kind of drove through it, turned around and headed back.
But I can't tell you how refreshing the drive was. There is some beautiful unseen land on that trip down a side road that really doesn't lead anywhere in general. We rarely see these places. We take the main highways, and we stick to the solid roads, afraid to steer from the safety of having a huge gas station every 22.7 miles.
I drove through some old gold mining town, and it looked like it was an old western town trying to maintain its westerness while fighting off the growth of the occasional Starbucks and McDonalds. Some of the buildings looked like old saloons, while others looked like they were 1930s era and run down with age and disuse. One has to sometimes wonder who lives in these types of towns, and what do they do to survive.
A few hours later, I made it home. It wasn't a horribly eventful day, but sometimes you need to take the time to do absolutely nothing because if you don't, the world will refuse to do it for you.
Stumble It!
posted by Duane @ 8:23 PM
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