Dawn on Mount Hope

As I drove down a nicely packed, crushed limestone gravel road it’s tiny fossil packed pebbles made comforting music as I randomly turned off course. Having chosen to simply follow my instincts on when to have some creative play I found myself on N Irish Road. The view to the far ridges on the other side of the Wisconsin River valley was the background to a small barn with around a dozen cattle (see it on my site in highres) The foreground was covered in crops.

The early morning light emphasized the fertility of this labyrinth-like land. The northern slopes all descend quickly into the basin below. The bruised dawn sky is split in two as a first wave of particles wash high over the land. The west coast wildfire smoke was just beginning to reach this particular part of western Wisconsin.

This is also the very first place that I felt it was the “right moment” to get my dSLR out and be creative. I wanted to capture the amazing landscape I was passing through. This crazy moment in my life. I’ve learned to trust the process. You can’t force these things. I had to pace myself.

The stop was brief and by total coincidence was in Mount Hope, Wisconsin. Perfect because I was full of HOPE as I took this photo. I hoped going to pick up a fragile, total stranger and her cat wasn’t total madness. I was getting close to the Mississippi River. I had to go get Peggy. And I really HOPED this all went well.

*This is a very detailed photo that will not translate well on most social media. It will be on my site via the homepage on my profile. Just look for the Gotta Get Peggy! Gallery.*

#GottaGetPeggy #OIIIIIIIO #JourneyToTheWest

EndemicTaxa

As dawn broke behind me smoke bruised the distant horizon. The morning weatherman mentioned that Wisconsin would begin to see noticeable effects from the massive wildfires a couple of thousand miles away. The urgency to get to Oregon and back initially had me consider taking the main highways all the way. Once I realized it would take three days to get there, no matter which way I went, I began to pace my journey and just ramble.

My own troubles sunk into the ancient bedrock. The oceans that once flourished over this land left little evidence of it’s passing. It’s packed layers of compressed remains nestle dark, misshapen voids of dissolved matter that can never be remembered. It’s not unlike the porous-like nature of my relationships with those I’ve truly hurt. Little tiny vugs of blackness fill me with those moments in which I’ve truly wounded other souls. Each chamber hollowed out nothingness. Lost forever. They’ll be the only sign of what will be left of my personal mass extinction of self loathing moments in time.

Passing through the lush and fertile ridges I let myself just head West. Driftless hills carried me towards the Mississippi.

I had to get Peggy.

#GottaGetPeggy #OIIIIIIIO #JourneyToTheWest

A Damsel in Distress

All right. I guess I should tell you who Peggy is? I hadn’t really heard about Peggy until a couple of weeks ago. It was September 15th, 2020 when I got word of her plight. Fires raged out of control in the wilds on the western coast of the continent. The air had become the most toxic on the planet. Peggy was eighty five, living with no direct personal family relations able to assist.

I was informed that coughing would kill her. That she had a cat. A room full of stuff in a senior living facility, and hadn’t been seen in person for over fifty years by my wife’s family. Also, she was so high risk of death due to her condition she was prohibited by her Doctor to use any form of public transportation and given papers for a medical evacuation. Nobody knew anything else about her.

In other words, I had no clue what waited for me on the other end of this trip. All I knew is that I had to go get Peggy and bring her home.

#GottaGetPeggy #OIIIIIIIO #JourneyToTheWest

Lunation 1209

I passed the Blue Mounds a few minutes after leaving home at 6am. Uncertainty and determination made for an interesting combination. I’m not alone in feeling that way these days. The growing chaos of 2020 as families, friends and neighbors is being torn about by zealots of every stripe and color, all against the backdrop of a pandemic that’s taken nearly a quarter of a million souls.

I drew strength from the Mounds as I rolled past. It’s a place tied to my very soul having been a battleground for my struggle with alcoholism. I spent over a year burying myself in labor on and under the land. The total darkness of the caves is where I began to drag the monster within into the light of the dawn. To face the pain caused when anger slips. But especially when I have a severe relapse with drinking and I vent my anger on the people I am supposed to nurture.

The ever recurring role of my internal rage over unresolved frustrations I have with my own self, and how it affects my child and family weigh heavy on my mind as I set out. I’ve three days to cross 2000 miles in my Wrangler. I am not the hero of this story. This is not a Jeep ad.

All I knew is that I had to go pick up Peggy and bring her home. So began my personal Journey to the West.

#GottaGetPeggy #OIIIIIIIO #JourneyToTheWest