On the Road Again 2017 Epilogue

For such a short trip (2.5 days from Winnipeg to the west coast), the notes took forever to get to the page. It was frustrating knowing that I needed/wanted to get them posted and yet there always seemed to be something more interesting to do.

Part of the problem is that, after 14-15 trips, writing about the journey is just not as interesting as it was the first few times. The people who pick me up are just a wonderful, the Canadian scenery continues to inspire and delight me and at least once every trip I do something that is, at the very least, somewhat unique to hitchhiking (i.e. sleeping outside a gas station). But there is no doubt that some of the romance is gone. I like hitchhiking, that activity at least in part defines who I am, I just don't like writing about it as much.

The other part of the problem - and I knew this - is that when I weave or spin and listen to an audio book, my brain focuses on the text that I am hearing. It seldom wanders off in some other direction. I don't think about anything else other than what the author has written. On the other hand when I listen to music, especially stuff that I have heard before, my brain wanders all over the place - in other words I think. It is so much easier to write about something when I have thought about it before I sit down at the computer. I have listen to music more this week than usual. It feels as if the creative juices might still be percolating somewhere deep in my being.

However the turnaround point for me to get back to writing consistently was attending this year's Rainbow Gathering on Vancouver Island. There were a few times when the conversation turned to hitching and why we did it. At the full moon celebration we were telling stories and I told the story about Reg (someone I met in Sault St. Marie more than a few thousand miles ago) and about the following year when I saw an angel in the sky  - people liked the story. I was reminded that I like telling stories. It is not up to me to decide whether or not a story is boring or exciting, whether or not I had fun is not the point. The best that I can do is to reflect what I saw, did and heard. Whether or not the reader (if there is one) enjoys it or not - I hope they do - is up to them.

I am many things - a dad, a grand dad, a spinner/weaver, an occasional struggling writer, a retired social service worker....but I am also a hitchhiker and storyteller. I need to learn to keep them all in balance.

Every year - at least once during the trip - I wonder if this is my last trip. It can be hard on my aging body. But all things being equal - next year look for an old man with a long grey beard, a beaten up hat and a smile on his face somewhere along the Trans-Canada. That will be me. Pick me up and I will tell you a story or two.