keystone dreams
Appalachian Trail, Michaux State Forest, Pennsylvania, 2022
Tomorrow we embark on our journey westward! It is not a far westward journey at all but oh is it ours nonetheless! The planned itinerary takes us out to the other corner of the keystone state to Pittsburgh. We then pivot northward after time in the city and ultimately head towards our terminus; Rochester, New York for the much anticipated celestial event of the Solar Eclipse.
We are making stops along the way at iconic Pennsylvania landmarks in the Western part of the state that I’ve had on my list of places to photograph for years. Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural marvel Fallingwater to admire the confluence of nature and man. Johnstown to visit the site of the Historic floods. Kinzua Bridge to witness the monument we’ve left of nature’s destruction. Disaster Tourism. We will stop at the Zippo Museum also, a way to pay homage to Pennsylvania industry and one of it’s many contributions to the fabric of American culture. A relic of an interest from my bygone smoking days. I’m guided on this trip only by my heart (but mostly Amanda’s itinerary).
If this trip planning was left up to me, my Subaru would be sinking at the confluence of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers. Amanda deserves 110% of the credit, as it hits all the stops and more.
For some reason the lead up to this trip hasn’t held as much weight or created as much jittery excitement on my mind as our trip to Montana did, even though I have a feeling it may leave just as big, if not an even bigger impact. Though the original goal was to foster some decent images, this comes at a weird time for me. I have not worked on this project for a number of years, neither have I done any research in the last 12 months or so. Photography itself has also been kept at arm’s reach, only lately have I started to become reaquainted with it like a dog meeting someone they haven’t seen in awhile and giving them a hesitant sniff. I can’t even make sense of Lightroom and Photoshop anymore and it’s only been a year.
Today was spent packing while tonguing an ulcer on the inside of my cheek that won’t go away (isn’t the mouth supposed to be the quickest healing part of the body?) and nursing my shoulder that tweaked itself last night. Great start to the vacation, but not perturbed. I packed more clothes than I normally do. It’s that weird time of year where the high and low each day border on somewhat warm and then freezing. I keep thinking about conscripting Amanda into documenting from her perspective and handing her a camera. I want to be present in the resulting memories (photographs) the same way she always is in mine. Maybe that’s why I brought so many clothes, I need to look cool in the pictures for posterity.
I expect our written words and photographs will blend well together. The more I read books that deal with time, legacy, nature, our human impact on it, and our ultimate connection to one another the more I keep thinking about what will be left of me.
