The Scenic Route

Starting a blog reminds me of moving into a new place: What color will I paint the walls? Where will I hang which pictures? How many times will I have to arrange the furniture until I find  THE positions which best suit that particular room and my needs? In blogging, my decisions were parallel ones about space arrangement, color and imagery. (What is the blog-verse version of an interior designer? Does the concept of feng shui apply to blogs?)

Anyway, I like this background image. The road is picturesque, and I have yearned for years to take the scenic route. My desire for what William Least Heat Moon called "blue highways" is possibly the result of having a Mom who at nearly 90 remains an inveterate commenter on scenery - "Look at that rock strata!"  or "Let's explore here for just a bit, okay?" More likely though it's a consequence of traveling alone; spinsterhood means I am unencumbered by someone else's demands, so I should have been able stop whenever and where ever I wanted to investigate whatever grabbed my attention. Not the way it really happened - I spent decades of vacations "watching the clock" so I would not be late returning to school. "The fastest way between two points is a straight line." described my traveling habits. I never had time to relish the journey.

Now I do.

The time factor segues into another reason this photo by Josh Peterson appeals to me - it's blurry (not a reflection of Peterson's photographic skills, I am sure!). Unfocused is how I feel right now. And that's very, very different from the previous four decades when I knew exactly where I'd be when from class period to class period - standing in a classroom teaching Language Arts to high schoolers. I am no longer traveling that concrete multi-lane superhighway that was my professional life. I no longer "have" to get up in the morning. I no longer answer to any bell. I no longer park in an assigned slot, nor do I eat lunch at a prescribed hour. 

I now spend each day on my own schedule - no, that's not it. I now spend each day with NO schedule!

Retirement offers scenic routes which are unregulated and varied. Roads rather than super-highways. turn offs rather than off-ramps. Route Option 3 rather 1 on my car's GPS.

My time is as wide-open as my route. I am no longer "under deadline" and can savor every journey.