civilized ku # 474 ~ roll baby roll
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 10:17AM 
Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel • click to embiggenAfter a journey of 1,600 miles -Rochester, NY to Cumberland County, Tennessee and return - I now know no more about the countryside through which I traveled than I did before I left.
The reason for that rather astounding and somewhat depressing situation is the fact that for the entire 26 hours of travel time I was basically held prisoner in an interstate interred extended-cab pickup truck by 3 eye-see-nothing-and-eye-don't-want-to-see-anything traveling companions. And, to make matters even worse, they had no interest whatsoever in listening to music or anything else other than the not-so-melodious drone of the mechanical machine.
That said, it was this situation which led to my previously mentioned revelation / epiphany, re: the human condition, good ole US of A style. And that revelation / epiphany arrived in my head as a question -
how can supposedly sensate, sentient, and thinking beings be so utterly uninterested and uninvolved in their surroundings? How can they be so completely oblivious to the notions of curiosity, exploration, and the opportunity to learn / discover something new?
I mean, I could make a list a mile long of the places and things we passed through/by that would have made for some very interesting diversions from the tedium of a 13 hour interstate driving marathon. Let me mention just 3 - Ohio Amish country, Kentucky Bluegrass / Horse Breeding country, and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail (distillery tours)- that could have been very interesting indeed. Amazingly, there was less than zero interest on the part of my traveling companions for such activities.
However, truth be told, they were little different, if at all, from the tens of thousands of other intrepid interstate interred traveler-drones who were following the same brain-dead itinerary as themselves - keeping their eyes on the road and their hands upon the wheel until the gas runs low and it's time to stop at one of the same-o same-o interstate chain store oasis and fill 'er up with stop-and-go gas and fast food and then roll baby roll.
I must confess that I don't know why this experience comes as a revelation / epiphany for me. Perhaps it is simply because throughout my life I have been so far removed from the actual reality of that culture (as opposed to the somewhat abstract awareness of "knowing" that it exists) that the act of experiencing the actual fact of it came as a complete shock to my sensibilities.
Stay tuned for more regarding how I believe that this brain/curiosity-dead eye-see-nothing culture impacts the art and craft of picture making and picture viewing.
Reader Comments (7)
I'm thinkin' the real story is how you came to be trapped with 3 such uncongenial traveling companions.
haha! I agree with stephen.
I guess one question would be.... how come this revelation at this time? Your many trips to New York City might have elicited the same response in re: driving as a competitive rather than a cooperative exercise, people existing like burrowing animals dashing from hole to hole, etc... and equally oblivious to surroundings on the way.
Add me to the list of readers who want to know how you ended up in this self-imposed internment.
Steven:
The drive was a result of careful forethought and planning on someone's part.
I would guess that the drives to N.Y. City were different. The landscapist in in control of the vehicle and the destination. Some type of music will be playing or some type of stimulating conversation would be had.
Based on the Landscapist's description, the lack of music and the lack of conversation, I would think he'd enter a sort of meditative state, while on the interstate. I know I would. Imagine driving for hours and the only sound you hear is the muffled whirl of the engine.
I've noticed the same thing on the bus every day headed to work. I'm always interested in the view, though it's the same route every day, while most people dose, or read, or play phone games. I can't believe riding on the airplane, where people close the window, rather than see the amazing expanse below, whether it's the Sierra Nevada, the desert, cornfields in Kansas, or even uninterrupted clouds, which reveal all sorts of wind patterns.