“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
And Touching History
I have sat in the Old North Church in Boston, a landmark of the American Revolution. I have stood where Americans shed blood fighting each other over the issue of slavery. I have floated down the Mississippi River in a steamboat in the wake of Mark Twain. I have shed tears while standing in front of the black Lincoln in which JFK was riding when he was fatally shot. And I have walked on an Atlantic Beach near where The Virginia Company made its first landing in the New World.
In other words, I have traveled.
But it’s only now that I am coming to realize just how much history I was touching during the nine years I crisscrossed this country in a small RV – from ocean to ocean and border to border. Back then I was more interested in finding birds, camping beside a lake, admiring Mother Nature’s art, and exploring new hiking trails. Learning about history was never foremost in my mind.
My reasons for taking to the road, after retiring from my 37-year journalism career, were to satisfy my lifelong wanderlust and to see America’s wondrous landscapes – from gawking at a sunset over the Pacific from a cliff-top campground in Oregon, to wandering through the South Dakota badlands on a day so windy that my RV did a rock-and-roll dance. Satisfying my late-blooming bird-watching addiction was an unexpected surprise bonus.
Yet looking back now, I realize that the history of the sites I visited almost always prompted additional research that ended up being what I wrote about in my blogs and in my book, Travels with Maggie.
I came to realize early on that travel is as much about discovering oneself as it is about seeing new vistas and meeting new people. So, it seems strange that I am only just now realizing how much traveling is also like taking a ride in a time machine through the pages of history.
Bean Pat: Don’t take life too seriously https://bebloggerofficial.com/2018/05/11/dont-take-life-too-seriously/ Good advice, especially these days.
Pat Bean: is a Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder. Her book, Travels with Maggie, is now up on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/y8z7553y Currently, she is writing a book, tentatively titled Bird Droppings, which is about her late-bloomer birding adventures. You can contact her at patbean@msn.com
I love that landscape. Well, actually I haven’t been to the SD badlands yet, but the Painted Desert is somewhat like it, and the Theodore Roosevelt NP in ND does have badlands, too, and we got a glimpse of those last year on our “SolarEclipseRoadTrip”.
Have a great weekend,
Pit
Hope you make it to the South Dakota Badlands some day. Thanks for the weekend wish. And ditto.
The SD badlanfs cerianly are on our bucket list. We’d like, in addition to exploring the badlands themselves, also do part of the George S. Mickelson trail.
For now, though, our next road trip [starting Wednesday, will take us east and north, through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. We’re really looking forwrd to it.
Amazing photo in South Dakota!
Thanks Tierney.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the S. Dakota badlands, over 50 years, now, but I’ve never forgotten them. One of the neatest things I’ve ever done was take a helicopter ride over them. The feeling when we were barely above the ground to suddenly passing over a deep gulley and seeing the land drop away from under us was breathtaking. It was enhanced by being a belated honeymoon trip so maybe that has something to do with the memory. A lot has changed since then. Still, it’s a strong memory.