Did Someone Say Road Trip?
by Kimberley Allen McNamara
Our plan: to head south to Florida and enjoy some February sunshine.
The problem: the blizzard of 2022 at January's swansong.
The situation:
We lost power at 7:30 am Saturday. No big deal, it will come back. Hadn't we received an email saying crews had been deployed throughout the state? We built a fire, lit the pilots on the gas range with long stem matches, made pancakes, heated water for our French press coffee, and put on pots of water to heat and produce steam. We make the best of the situation.
Flash forward: 11:00 pm Saturday night. The power remains off, our woodpile has dwindled to four logs, and the temperature has dropped to 17 degrees. Oh, and did I mention the wind? Well, the wind has picked up.
These happenings are not unlike the Hero's Journey as famously broken down by Joseph Campbell. If you are a reader, a writer, or a lover of films, you get the concept.
The Hero (the Main Character) has a desire/need to act on something (think our desire to drive to Florida for a small stint of relocation. Note, we have to drive as we bring our dogs). As the Main Character embarks on their journey, they encounter a problem. Our problem: No power.
As with the Main Character, our problems build: power doesn't return, the temperature continues to drop, our heat source reaches limits (firewood depleted). These problems prompted a change of plans. We could go to a shelter, but we have three dogs and a cat (as our daughter has joined us with her dog and cat). Seeking refuge at midnight with a menagerie is not easy, but think of the people already sleeping there and the disruption we will cause. We try hotels, but all are filled; we've waited too long. Our solution is to drive to relatives who have the power and space to accommodate us. We arrived at 3:30 am. The roads covered with snow and snow plows doubled our drive time. Florida is put on hold, but our plan hovers in our periphery like the Main Character's yearning.
We eventually make our trip to Florida once the power is restored, the car refueled, luggage packed, and animals separated and redistributed. (daughter returned to her home)
At night I read as YouTube channel plays tranquil music and aquatic animals (seals, fish, turtles, etc.) dive and swirl among coral and colorful plants. This channel allows the noise of the hotels we stay in to blur.
The book I read: Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami (translated by Allison Markin Powell) is a meandering tale I miss when I am not reading. I treat the book like chocolates, I read-only in bits.
The story does not follow a mainstream or, rather, a presumed mainstream fiction runway. The departure from the runway is not due to the translation (initially written in Japanese). However, the wording reflects either the original Japanese word choice or the translator's interpretation. There is also the inclusion of specific details that are perhaps cultural and are probably not salient for the reader. The tale meanders, pivots, and dives, not unlike the underwater scene on our hotel television; both dream-like and real. At night I am transported to Japan and return each morning for our two-day + drive on the highway to Florida.
Our plan to initially listen to The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (author of Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility) is scrapped, or a trip to see my grandmother's birthplace also forfeited. We are not caught in the narration of three teens and a child as they embark on their own road trip on the Lincoln highway, nor do we visit Fitzgerald, GA, outside of Atlanta, where my grandmother was born and raised. Our road trip is filled with conference calls and other work-related items which must be read or reviewed. Between these work to-dos, we listen to the radio, ESPN XM, etc. Did you know TB12 retired (a tired story, like the song that never ends)? These departures prove the adage: the best-laid plans often go awry. Like the Hero's Journey, our road trip to Florida was filled with complications (plot points driving the story and testing the Main Character's mettle). Plan, blizzard, power outage, shelter necessitated, launch delayed, route recalculated, audiobook not listened to–the list seems stacked against us, the main characters in our little story.
However, there are two bright spots in our journey that were not part of our original plan, and these were a direct result of our original plan being foiled.
The chance to read and contemplate a book left of center, a book that haunted my thoughts when I drove or rode shotgun or tended to our dogs. There was a constant conversation in my head about what would happen next and why I was so enthralled with this story? What was the author doing that keeps me reading?
Another: we stop in Savannah and spend a morning walking the streets. Ghosts and stories hurry past as we walk the dogs with our coffees. The first and last time I visited Savannah, Georgia, nearly 18 years ago, I fell in love with the city. That love happily echoed and announced with every step I took before I got back in the car. How many stories will spring from this visit?
Like the Hero's Journey, our road trip didn't go as planned, but as with any main character, there were discoveries to be made along the way. For me: the rediscovery of Savannah and the exploration and appreciation of a new author. These are my take-aways, my salient details of a road trip gone askew. I remain hopeful that we will listen to The Lincoln Highway on the drive back home.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I think the beach is calling.
Savannah, I’ve been missing you @kallenmac
