Thoughts from the road...part one...

Notes from the plane flying to the west coast (leg one):

The west has a stark & striking beauty from above. I see windswept mountains as stilled waves caught before they crash onto the beach. Occasional double-lanes [roads] sew the landscape together - tan seams on a chocolate expanse.

From above the clouds, canyons, and mountains are breath-taking. A river cuts the rock far below and the spotted crop circles announce man's green dominating presence.

It is a magnificent day. The sun so bright she burns onto the land and casts noir shadows, pulling the clouds up from the earth.

Seconds later and the clouds now mimic the mountains of a moment and 100s of miles ago...fluffy cotton ball rows rise and dissipate, the forgotten landscape peeking below.

The eternal vista has a contemplative and contenting effect. Beautiful and daunting, I am struck by the human commonality and our fleeting insignificance.

Arriving in S.Korea:

I arrive bleary-eyed and most certainly flat-tailed, sleeping through the dissent to be woken by a gentle touch down. This last 1/2 hour is the only shut-eye I allowed myself on the long leg of the journey. Best to arrive tired at 3 pm. When 7 or 8 rolls around I'll be exhausted. Exhaustion brushes away the time difference, filling the always rock hard beds with butterfly kisses and keeping The Sandman by your side for a much needed entire night.

The bus driver is listening to Korean music and it reminds me of Bollywood. The quick high-pitched tunes drift in and out of my awareness as background noise sometimes distinguishable.