Here Comes Sunshine

TGIM. Thank God It’s Monday. 

I always like fresh starts. First day of school, a fresh assignment, initial work on a project, the first tingling sensation when eyes meet. Today is one of those starts. Not only is it Monday but later this afternoon, once the obligation to lead a spin class has been successfully accomplished, I head out for five days on the back roads of what is left of America. I await this adventure with high anticipation. 

The goal of the trip has two primary objectives, one is to shoot video of states in which I currently have none, this trip another year’s inclusion to the video library whose goal it is to compile footage from all 50*, and two, to enjoy some time off, visit some new places, away from and out of my current cozy and controlled comfort zone. Almost like an adventure. 

While this trip, all 2,500 miles and 5 days of it will be taxing and short of down time, I am eager to get started and see what each of the days brings. So far the weather looks perfect and there are no major fires between point A of Spokane and tonight’s rest stop, Point B, an Airbnb in Whitefish, Montana. Gear is packed, batteries are charged and ready, clothes are rolled, 3TB external storage awaits my daily download of new media. The last three things on my check-off list are my cigarette lighter phone charger, dop kit and bike camera mount. It is 0530, my class is 0845, ride to ferry at 1145, light rail to Sea-Tac and flight at 1515. I will shoot video from the turn-off of I-90 in Idaho and take 2 through Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint into Whitefish. The host of the Airbnb told me to watch for deer after dark. Roger that. 

Depending on the signal strength of my overnights in Whitefish, Dickinson, ND, Billings and Bozeman, the streak ** will from today through Friday be on an ‘we’ll see’ basis. If my cheap motel (advertising free wifi) and guest accommodations via Airbnb allow, I will post some pics from the days travels, if no or slow service, I promise to do the best I can. 

I had one thought yesterday that was quickly squelched like a flash insurrection, that I should dictate dialogue of the screenplay as I drive, ala Jubal Hershaw, to speed the laborious process of writing it and thereby stacking creative protocols. 

For the same reasons that I outlined my trip and its budget yesterday to my brother as we made a run to the job-site dumpster, I don’t want to let a measly thousand dollars (the trip budget) stand between an adventure and whatever logical and pragmatic reason I might take that same amount and save it for whatever pending emergency is currently making its way towards my young ass. Fuck that. Same with the multi-tasking dilemma, sure you CAN get more done, but I would rather be totally present in my adventure, wherever I happen to be, than to close my eyes to the now by looking to the future of the then. This will happen organically, on its own, as suggested by my ability to free-flow through space and time. My job will be to take notes of the suggestions when they arise, not force them to appear like a white rabbit from a black hat. 

So off we go. Here Comes Sunshine. 

* Remaining states (tentative 2019): Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, West Virginia. 

** The Streak is one blog post per day for 2018. We are on schedule, 225 down and 140 to go!