Sunday, August 16, 2020

Travel During the Pandemic. Summer of 2020

A sketch from a journal sketch (see post of July 2...)

For years my favorite back road trip was up to
Skowhegan & Jackman, ending in Quebec City.

The Canadian border is closed, & I stay home a lot these days.
But road trips are still possible.

From Belfast to Brooks, Dixmont, Winterport, Hampden.
This is organic farm country in towns like Montville & Monroe.

Roller coaster ribbon roads. 
Forests, farms, scattered country homes,
occasional views of distant fields, faraway mountains.

Here & there, political signs appear on the sides of the road,
but I try not to look at them.

This is not the coastal route with its crowds & cars,
Its clusters of restaurants & hotels.

For a short time the world feels safe, normal & familiar. 
Beautiful.
The radio is off & I drive slowly, glancing, occasionally stopping.

I am told I will be able to visit Québec & other cities again.
In the meantime, how lucky I am to be here.

6 comments:

  1. A different life indeed.So sad..when you consider the lost lives and all the front line workers.
    All the businesses crumbling.
    Love your artwork Rita always.

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  2. Oh, this is beautiful. I feel like that, driving in parts of Northern Michigan. I love the sketch, Rita. It really captures that on the road feeling. I hope you can get back to Quebec and sooner rather than later. Quebec City is one place I've visited that I'd love to visit again. Loved the B&B where we stayed, the Vieux Quebec, the French, the whole thing. This post makes me smile, even though it has a bit of melancholy too.

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  3. Love this watercolor, capturing so well our beautiful countryside. xx

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  4. You are lucky, as your part of the world is very lovely. But I certainly understand the longing to explore, especially when we are unable to go very far from home. I guess we should take the time to appreciate and explore our own immediate surroundings :).

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  5. Lovely sketch of the road ahead! Coincidentally, I was just reading Earl Thollander's Backroads of New England, which is full of wonderful sketches. That book inspires me to go out sketching, but it is also a fun way to do some armchair traveling. Are you familiar with it? He has several such books but my favorite is the one of New England, published in the 70's.

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