Mileage

Curious people (people with curiosity, not odd....well, maybe they are the same after all) acquire mileage. Mileage in both a literal sense and philosophical. Wisdom is mileage of a sort; you could also call it experience. The curious are inspired to travel, see new sights, experience the realms beyond their doorstep. If you're curious you don't really have to travel far. Curious is a state of mind.

I've driven my current truck (well, actually an SUV) about 150,000 miles since I bought it. It's been to 7 states and all over one, but the odometer turned 200,000 less than a 1/2 mile from my house on the way home from photographing a bunch of family portraits at a reunion. Appropriate, I suppose, rather than on the way home from some common errand like mailing a letter or buying food.

But it's not just the miles driven, but the people met, the vistas viewed and scenery seen, the weather encountered, the hikes, bikes and boats, the shows and mundane travels to and fro the post office that have added some very nice highlights to my life. It's getting easier and easier to stay inside to watch television or a DVD, play video games or surf the web. A conscious decision needs to be made to go out and see, not necessarily to photograph, but to take it into your soul. It's those experiences that shape who we are.

While parked shooting my odometer, I also walked across the road and photographed some corn in the sunset.