America, One Moment at a Time — #12

The Clouds Were Putting on a Show

We were driving from Boston towards upstate New York.

It was one of those long American drives where the road seems to have no particular intention of ending anytime soon.

The highway stretched ahead. Trees lined both sides. Cars and trucks came and went.

And then there were the clouds.

They were putting on quite a show.

One moment the sky was bright blue, with enormous white clouds floating above us. A little later, darker clouds had moved in, making the whole landscape look completely different.

Then, almost as quickly, the blue would return.

It was as though the sky had decided that a long highway journey needed some entertainment.

There was something strangely relaxing about watching it all happen.

We weren’t sightseeing. There was no famous landmark ahead. We were simply going somewhere.

But every now and then, something on the road caught my attention.

A bridge.

A passing truck.

A sign.

Then came this one.

Apparently, we were at 1,724 feet above sea level — the highest elevation on I-90 east of South Dakota.

I had never thought I would be interested in knowing such a thing.

But there it was.

One of those little discoveries that makes a long journey more interesting.

For someone used to travelling through more crowded places, there was something striking about these American highways.

There seemed to be space everywhere.

Space between the lanes.

Space between the road and the trees.

And above everything, an enormous sky.

Perhaps that was what stayed with me most.

We often think of travel as being about the places we reach. The destination, the landmark, the photograph we stop to take.

But sometimes the most memorable part is everything that happens between those places.

A changing sky.

A strange sign.

A bridge.

A stretch of road that seems to go on forever.

None of it was on our itinerary.

But perhaps that is precisely why I noticed it.

We were going somewhere.
But for a few hours, the road itself became part of the journey.

And the clouds?

They simply came along for the ride.