Roadtrippin' Sabbath, Leg 1

The whole point of a roadtrip home was to relax. This was my first week off in a couple of months and I slipped it into October because I wanted some time to absorb the beauty, visit friends without rushing, and soak in some family time without ending it with a sprint to the airport. However, when driving alone, there are some restrictions if you plan to be a) alert and b) moderately comfortable for most of the trip. For me that means daylight travel and not too long in the car. I did want to make the first 9-10 hr drive between Peoria (IL) and Steubenville, Ohio in one day, so I couldn't dawdle too much. But I also wanted to capture some of the Midwestern farmland in autumn warmth: there's more to this route than endless cornrows....




So I compromised and did some literal application of the "point & shoot" approach to photography. The TLC (Trusty Little Camera) sat gunshot, sharing space with the maps, CDs and water, ready to go. When I saw something I thought looked particularly classic, unique or striking, I picked up and not really looking - because that would mean not looking at the road - took a snapshot. The term now has a whole new meaning in my mind! Naturally, the lighting, composition and even the angle of my hand were completely hit or miss! I did a lot of deleting when I got home. But I did capture some of what I saw, with no danger to life, limb or other drivers. (You will notice almost no cities appear in this series for obvious reasons.)

I had a lot of angle issues - apparently my sense of what we call proprioception, or where your body is in space, is relatively poor. I always THOUGHT my camera was reasonably straight, but the photos say differently.... So don't flip through too fast if you are prone to motion sickness. :)

Leaving Illinois.... you would think a tornado was rolling through, but no such drama developed. Just wind and clouds....

Heading towards Indianapolis....

Afternoon sun over soybeans....

(Clearly not a moving shot.)

Making progress!

Ohio farms in the early evening

Small town American pride...

Setting Autumn sun....

Getting on towards dusk, but still a few hours left....

Eventually I made it through the detours and construction and found welcome rest, warm dinner and (of course!) good conversation with my professor and friend, Justyna...

There is a delightfulness in Polish hospitality from which I come away thoroughly refreshed everytime I come to visit. A day or so without a schedule is a good, good thing once in a while.

The weather was perfect for walking, so there were several of those - with Justyna and with Sherine, Scot and their girls.

Leaf collecting was a high-priority task for Hannah (above) and Cecilia.

Serious inquiries only. Red, Yellow and Orange are acceptable exclusively.

No other imposters of Fall Colors will be entertained!

It was a humorous and eventful excursion!

The Blackburn Family, Steubenville, Ohio

"... And on the seventh day, God looked at what He had created, and saw it was good. ..

And He Rested.... "

October 18-19, 2008

Moments...

It is tempting to say that I have been on call perpetually since I last updated this little place, but that would only be partially, not entirely true. More accurately, I have been on call so much for the past two months that I have spent my non-hospital time attempting to chase down dust bunnies and piling dishes in the house, watching sunsets out of my attic hideout, drinking in the comfort of friendships and good music (such as Caron and my roommate Kate below) in hourly doses if lucky and- oh that lovely thing - sleeping. And then I go back to work. :)

Today is the end of a long string of calls which I thought would never end. As usual, however, life moves right a long and here we are. Well over 200 hours in 18 days, but now I get to rest! Fortunately, this is a perfectly sunny, clear and mild October days. The wind is soft through the windows and Kemba - despite my protests at stealing my spot - is taking the lead in our afternoon activities: napping.

These quieter post-call hours at home always leave me twice as attentive to the little things.. the way the sun filters through the blinds. How good coffee and raisin toast taste together! The neighbors and their morning routines...

As I as admiring the white pillared house on the corner with their red maple about to turn color, an elderly man right at noon stepped out onto the porch and deliberately turned his back to the sun shining onto it. He carefully lined up his heels with the front steps, then started swinging his arms - his bare shoulders and back were shiny with oil of some sort and every little muscle and frail bone was visible as he gently stretched and limbered up his arthritic joints in the autumn beams. He seemed oblivious to the cars passing by. This was a moment to soak it up - the sun won't be there for his arthritis too much more this year.

I've also made a point of getting outside to take in the sun...

Being so busy this summer, I've finally learned the value of knowing when to sit and be still to recuperate and when to simply get up and go. In the latter category, Saturday morning farmer's markets on the riverfront has been a lively substitute to the produce aisle. My old roommates from Chicago joined me one morning at the end of August - I think was came away with some amazing peaches that time...

There have been more hikes, unfortunately without my TLC (Trusty Little Camera), walks downtown, friends to move and welcome back, Kate to send to Africa... It's been quite a summer.

Now were are fully into Autumn, though.... a whole other season of goodness!

~ October 8, 2008 ~