"You will see. It is difficult for brothers to travel together on such a voyage. The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an understanding of them at all. Listen to the corridos of the country. They will tell you. Then you will see in your own life what is the cost of things. Perhaps it is true that nothing is hidden. Yet many do not wish to see what lies before them in plain sight. You will see. The shape of the road is the road. There is not some other road that wears the shape but only one. And every voyage begun upon it will be completed. Whether horses are found or not. "
Cormac McCarthy "The Crossing"
It made me contemplate again the hitch-hike trips in the early 80's with my friend Neville. In the book the missing horses had been stolen by Mexican road agents, along with murdering the hero's parents. The two brothers in the story set out on a journey to recover the horses, and discover much more.
What did the two of us set out on our journey for? I imagine, as in the quote above our understanding of the journey may have been much different from each other. I can guess Neville's reasons, but it would only be a poor guess. And the reasons we may have had back then may not match our understandings now, 35 years later.
Our memories, when we have compared notes, are even different. Not different realities, but just different items of emphasis. Our memories supplement each other. Our vantage points allowed us to have different views of the same events, and sometimes different views all together. Our 'corridos', are like a harmony, each of us singing different parts.
So too, our growth and development, our 'take away' from our journeys too may have affected us differently. What changed me from our journeys may well not be what changed in my companion.
"The shape of the road is the road".
Yes, the road was all things. The road was the challenge, the obstacle to overcome. The road was the vantage point, it was upon the road that our adventure was settled. Upon the road we experienced Alaska, Canada, and much of the United States. The road was the table we set upon to break bread with strangers. The road was the gift. The road was the vision. The road was common to our understanding, our voice, our shared ideal, perhaps again not common at all. The road changed us both, and yet we did not change the road at all, it continues on now unblemished from our passing.
I am truly grateful to have shared this journey with my friend Neville. I don't yet look back at those times as my pinnacle, my zenith. Not all journeys since then have gone down hill to demise. But for those great memories, I toast Neville, I toast the road, and I toast what roads we travel on in the future.
Cheers, nca
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