Travels

Call me Eleanor.

For in so much as from time to time I grow melancholy in my thoughts and find myself pressed with labours not of my own choosing, but by others demanded of me, I seek an escape from these troubles and venture afield. I do not seek the boat, or the mountain top, but rather a drive. Others may throw themselves on the harpoon of coarse adventure, but a more peaceful flight is mine. Through rustic hills I wander, with some small goal, but the larger quest in search of a mental peace, which lo, now these many years has eluded me.

So it came to pass that not long ago, I sought the comforts of friendship and musing that would be found on a drive though Pennsylvania, and at its terminus, Pittsburgh. For there one would find, the beleaguered and weary Mendoza Line. Who, after touring the country, would now finish their journey and return each member to their home port, where they might refresh themselves. For travel, though enriching in many respects, does take its toll on the health and mental fortitude of the traveler. Mindful of the pleasure of hearing their music, and eager for the company, I proposed to myself that I should travel to see them. Finding no quarrel within myself on this matter, I resolved that it should be so.

It is as always my habit to confer with friends about the seemliness of my journey, though I find more often that not I expand on my weary state with this, as I am often upbraided for traveling unaccompanied or in the dark, as if instead of being a score and more than half again as much in years, I was just from the womb, and as if I was traveling in the nether reaches of civilization, rather than up a turnpike, so well traveled they collect fees for its upkeep. But such was my habit, and my friends, though in the past critical of my plans to go see this group on the road, agreed all round, that this might be a fine remedy for the foul mood that had been my bedfellow these many weeks.

So I set out on my journey, eager for whatever adventure might unfold.

Next: Musicology. A study of that particular obsession and profession.