Thinking and Driving.
I was hired to play oboe this morning at a church in a city west of Rockford. So, I hopped in my car and started driving west. I don't drive west very often; I drive east (to Chicago) and south (to Peoria) all the time and north (to Wisconsin) a fair amount, but not west. It struck me almost immediately how the drive west from Rockford has to be the most scenic of the directions. Route 20 drives along the top of rolling farmland and small towns all the way to Galena, which is on the Mississippi and a gorgeous area.
But, this entry isn't about Illinois tourism. :)
As I was driving along, enjoying the scenery, I spent some time thinking - and thought about thinking and driving. Heh. What is it about an open road that gives one's mind the freedom to run, too? Or is it just me? I feel like the kind of thinking I can do in the car on the highway is different than sitting in my house or walking in a park or driving my car around town or talking to somebody else. It's faster, freer - reflective of the circumstances, I guess.
When I was living in Dallas, every once in a while I'd have enough of the city and just need to get out of buildings and people and just be in nothing. It sure took a lot longer to get to nothing than it does in Rockford, but I found it eventually. There were several days where I drove around fields with no idea where I was, or where I was going, or how long I'd be gone, but just had something I needed to turn over in my mind and an aimless highway drive was the perfect opportunity to work on it.
On this morning's drive, I didn't have any particular subject to sort out, but I came away with a half dozen half-formed blog entries. Maybe some of them will be captured digitally at some point. I don't have any open road drives coming up in the next few weeks, which based on the rising prices of gas is probably good. I guess I'll just have to run on the fumes of a couple good weekends of driving in a row!
But, this entry isn't about Illinois tourism. :)
As I was driving along, enjoying the scenery, I spent some time thinking - and thought about thinking and driving. Heh. What is it about an open road that gives one's mind the freedom to run, too? Or is it just me? I feel like the kind of thinking I can do in the car on the highway is different than sitting in my house or walking in a park or driving my car around town or talking to somebody else. It's faster, freer - reflective of the circumstances, I guess.
When I was living in Dallas, every once in a while I'd have enough of the city and just need to get out of buildings and people and just be in nothing. It sure took a lot longer to get to nothing than it does in Rockford, but I found it eventually. There were several days where I drove around fields with no idea where I was, or where I was going, or how long I'd be gone, but just had something I needed to turn over in my mind and an aimless highway drive was the perfect opportunity to work on it.
On this morning's drive, I didn't have any particular subject to sort out, but I came away with a half dozen half-formed blog entries. Maybe some of them will be captured digitally at some point. I don't have any open road drives coming up in the next few weeks, which based on the rising prices of gas is probably good. I guess I'll just have to run on the fumes of a couple good weekends of driving in a row!