the road

The road runs nearly east to west, rising somewhat as you travel east, almost straight and level with only a few dips and gentle curves. To the south grass land rises up to a line of hills parallel to the road. The road forks and the southern road goes around the eastern end of the hills and then up to their summit where there are a few scattered houses. The northern fork crosses the valley south to north and forks again. The east fork leads up a very steep mountain and over a high pass to places unknown. The road now skirts a line of hills on the west. Another fork to the east runs down into a valley and to a small town who's residents are ignorant and xenophobic. Past the town a small stream runs down out of the hills.


Near the west end of the road sits the house. It has two or three stories but I am familiar with only the ground floor. An elderly lady may inhabit the upper rooms of the house, no one ever sees her. Behind the house is a large back yard with a few trees and dry weeds. A tall wooden fence forms the western boundary of the lot. Beyond that is an abandoned complex of buildings whose original purpose in unknown. There are machine shops, fuel tanks, old vehicles and other signs of industry. On the southern side there are large partially collapsed underground rooms.


To the north of the house there is a lawn bordered by a white picket fence. A step hill, covered with brush and scrub oaks, sits beyond the fence. Near the top, about an hours walk from the house at the back of a flat area is a cave carved out of the natural limestone. To the east of the house sits a ravine also covered with brush, scrub oaks and dry weeds. At the edge of the ravine is a small travel trailer that has some of my collected "stuff" in it that needs to be moved. Past the ravine are some hills and then a little town. A trail leads through the hills to the college.

This is the landscape of my dreams. Many of them are set in one of these areas. Some of them have emotional meanings going back to my early childhood. I might share those meanings with Black-eyed Susan. Why am I sharing these images here?

Why did early hunters paint on cave walls? Why do kids mark walls with spray paint? Why do politicians give long speeches? Why is there an American flag on the moon?

The Internet is modern man's cave. We sit in darkened rooms throughout the night, basking in the warm glow of the computer screen, our shadows looming up behind us, pulling hope and fear from the recesses of the subconscious and posting them on the virtual wall in a vain attempt to gain power over them by giving them substance and permanence.

OWL

June 19, 2007