27th October
The air was cool, the road quiet, the wind was behind me and I felt rested. What was there not to like about this morning. I have noticed how the small things I would normally not notice are those that make me happy. Complexity has begun to be a confusion because on the road you need only to know where to find food, safe shelter and welcoming people to cheer you on.
I'm grateful that I have a small audience also cheering me on. It's lonely out here and I know the best view is the experience of self and not the warped view of someone else but you pay a price for that first hand privilege.
I saw something this morning that made me think quite solemnly that for all the things we do and know, feel and say that to share is the best way to be, but I saw a graveyard Arabic style, each human represented by a single stone pointing to the sky.
The Graveyard
The difference travelling without a companion compared to being alone is significant. I thought of writing a poem to my dear C now so faraway but I know it would never get sent:
I want you as water nourishes a flower
I miss you the way clouds obscure the sun
I need you as a cool breeze in a desert
We are in a connected world and a friend sent me a piece of music which perfectly fitted the straight road that was taking me deeper into the desert. My google maps turned me right by a large mosque brimmed with congregation. Rows of farming trucks carrying bales of hay were parked next to pickups selling dates, apples, pomegranates, fruits I didn’t know, feel-like vegetables, tomatoes, oranges, limes.
The police escort to Huatat Sudair have finally said goodbye
Map of the Day
Amongst all the marketing BS we all get, apparently there is some lady doing a "challenge" driving around the world in an electric (Audi) car..........what a mad world we live in! Real challenges are the kind of thing you are doing (especially now). The loneliness you experience Nick is a solid contribution for us all to remember that problems are solved by working together, listening to different perspectives, seeing different cultures and just for a while spending time in someone else's shoes. More power to your battery Nick and big cheers from North Wales!