Chapter 24

A Road in Oklahoma

For All Those Places I Went, Did I Go Anywhere?

It seems like a good time to return to those places from whence I came. I have seen many things and gone to great lengths to describe them as I saw them. I have seen many more things, but perhaps it is not time to examine them.

There is so much more to explore that I did not. And there is still so much farther that I could go. Yet I find myself on a highway amidst the slowly rolling farms and fields of Oklahoma, crossing the nation once more on a bare ribbon of asphalt that stretches back toward home.

These eyes that once took in the wonders the natural world are now primarily concerned with roads, traffic and, most of all, trucks. Trucks that regularly ply the miles from one end of the country to the other in exactly the manner that I currently find so daunting. Mostly because they tend to get in my way as I try to get down the road as quickly as possible.

So now, as I begin my return to the place that I left, I ask, "Did I go anywhere?"

I could say that it is obvious that I went somewhere. After all, I took a great drive around the country, clearly I went somewhere. I went to the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and all manner of places before, after and between. The endless miles I have put onto my car are proof enough of the fact that I went somewhere, even if I did not have the memories and images I have collected in my travels to remind me of all the places that I have gone.

But I could just as easily say that I did not, in fact, go anywhere. When I began my journey, I left my home. When I end my journey, I will return home. So, in the final result, I will end up exactly where I started, meaning that I have not actually gone anywhere. The sum total distance between my place of departure and my place of arrival will be exactly zero miles. So again, I ask, "Did I go anywhere?"

Some people will say that I went a great many places. I saw many new things and learned much about the lands of the American West. I stretched my mind to take in new wonders and absorb new knowledge that I can use to deepen my own understanding of those the world I inhabit.

But to some others, it might be said that I did not go anywhere or do anything. I drove in one giant circle, wasting gas on a pointless exercise in pollution, waste and the further destruction of natural habitats. My feet wore down rock that should not be trodden upon, my tired rolled over roads that should not be there, and I walked through beautiful landscapes that should not be spoiled by human visitation.

Along the same lines, I ask whether this journey through the world of ideas really accomplished anything. The very fact that I have completed these pages indicates that I attach some worth to them. And the very fact that they were produced in book form and purchased indicates that someone somewhere considered them worthy of the time, effort and materials required to produce this.

On the other hand, it is not as though the words contained herein are going to change anything in the world. These words are not food that can be eaten, or medicine that will cure illness. They do not clothe or shelter anyone. All they do is consider some old ideas and, all too frequently, come to no conclusions. Maybe I have accomplished nothing and done nothing.

But these trucks do. While I was flitting about from one site to another, they were hard at work, making a difference in this world. They carry all those necessaries from one coast to the other, bringing sustenance and life to a nation. They are the ones who ply the endless miles, providing all that is needed for work, life and pleasure. They carry our needs and carry us our wants. And these behemoths of the road are clearly getting something done in exactly the way that I did not.

When I eat, I will eat food that these trucks carried. When I get dressed, I will put on clothes that they have brought to me. When I sleep at night, I sleep under a roof that was constructed using materials carried to the site by one of their ilk. By comparison, what will this book do for you?

It is hard to say what, if anything, I have accomplished. Perhaps it is not really up to me to decide that. Because the answer really depends on what each person values, and what they consider an accomplishment. And with that, the final judgment is left to you.