Sunrise (from work) 2.15.24
I started re-reading a Steinbeck book last night - Travels with Charley. Steinbeck's observations on people (and their motivations) always fascinate me, and those bits are definitely present in this particular book. This will be my fourth or fifth time to read it.
In the first few pages I had a revelation - I am reading it from a different set of eyes. Steinbeck lived the book in 1960 and wrote it in 1962. He died in December 1968.
Our timelines on earth overlapped only five months; however, I've been a fan of his writing for three and a half decades. As I've read his work, I've always envisioned him as a much older man than myself, but I can't do that this time. In the opening pages of the book, he mentions that he's undertaking the journey across America at the age of fifty-eight - just three years older than I am now.
In the book, he talks about a wanderlust he's had his whole life.
I drink coffee most days with another man named John, a man who always has that urge to get up and go. He reads Steinbeck too, and (like Steinbeck) has named his pickup truck Rocinante. John (not Steinbeck) has been having a rough time lately, rough enough that his wanderlust has faltered a bit. But we heard some encouraging news this morning.
Thank you, Lord, for these two men and their impacts on my life and the way they've helped me see the people and places of this world. Godspeed, John.
Sunset (from home) 2.15.24
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