The Getting There part i

In the getting there, things happen on a trip to make it more interesting. A friend wrote about traveling through the Ozarks when his car’s engine repair light came on. The fix was expensive, but while waiting for a local garage to repair his car, he explored the area and ended up writing an interesting story about it. But more than that, he wrote this about travel.

“Although it’s impossible for our finite minds to understand the workings of the infinite universe, I can tell you one thing with complete certainty. Us humans can’t appreciate the good without experiencing the bad . . . travel as far as you can, as much as you can, across the ocean or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes – or at least eat their food – it’s a plus for everybody. Keep in mind that oftentimes those perceived curses can easily turn into blessings.”

Writing this after a five-day car trip from Arizona to Wisconsin, I concur there is a lot of bad out there: bad food, bad hotels, bad drivers on bad roads, and bad attitudes from bad people.

It’s also true that it’s hard to experience discovery and learning – the good – without going through the bad. These photos represent discovery, learning, and meeting good people who were simply doing their jobs. Simple stuff, really, but this simple stuff makes up the gravitas and grace of life.

And where were these people just doing their work?

The Getting There

In Utah, friends from a motorcycle ride; in Wyoming, tending the Sacajawea Cemetery and doing their sacred work; in South Dakota, filling the coffee canisters at the hotel, taking care of pools and lawns, cataloguing the discovery of bones, and handling the unrewarding duties of a night desk attendant.

They are everywhere… people doing good work, trying to keep in touch, taking care of business.

The long open roads of SD