![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Zone 9
We just returned from a very long drive from Temperate Zone 6 to Subtropical Zone 9 and back again.
Road Trip™!
Ahhh, Zone Nine, I have missed thee. The Sun. The beautiful Sun. And the Salt Water... And the Ghosts... And the tiny ocean exoskeletons (sand)!
We usually like to travel overnight, since there are fewer people around. Oddly, I can see better when it's mostly dark (with starlight and moonlight). I had always thought I was night blind, but that isn't the case. Actually, I can see fine if there are no lights at all. When it was raining, windshield wipers weren't necessary as long as there were no artificial lights shining on the rain and creating reflections. As soon as we would pass a city with halogens, though, the night blindness would set in. I was glad to find that out, since I hated being "night blind". This makes it difficult but isn't quite as obnoxious (I love the night). So.. I chose to drive between 1:00 and 3:00 am when we were far away from the city and there were fewer people on the road (thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rialian who drives in all conditions, any distance...).
We mainly went to visit with friends. I didn't go swimming this time (there were rip tides). It was great to see the ocean nonetheless. Of course, our camera hid the entire time until we were already on the way back, so no pictures. :( Suffice it to say that I saw the sand, sun, and salt water, which is important, in that if I do not, I start to feel a bit dead. I did bring back a few treasures from where we were staying - a few shells that look like brains, a little kaleidoscope, and a leather sculpture that needs a photograph rather than a description. Thank you for a wonderful time to everyone who put us up for the weekend!
There was some daytime driving on the way back, so I got a chance to observe some of the terrain. Suddenly I was jolted out of a reverie of admiring the passing forests when I noticed something disturbing: A forested area had been planted with the same kind of pine tree, over and over, and the trees were all in perfectly straight rows, one after the other. If they'd been healthy it would have still been bad, but not horrible. They weren't. All the lower branches were removed from every tree, so these trees looked like toothpicks with christmas tree hats. They made me feel 'captured' and the clouds in front of the moon suddenly took the form of bars in my mind. I think it was owned by a paper mill. When it ended and the normal forest took over the scenery again, it was a palpable relief (as in, absense of pain).
We got back at around 5 this morning, so I called in to work - they were very understanding, so I'm taking the day off - should have scheduled it to begin with, but I'm always afraid that if I do, what we would do is stay an extra day (and the situation would repeat itself only later).
I really do need to plan to stay away longer when I go across country...
Road Trip™!
Ahhh, Zone Nine, I have missed thee. The Sun. The beautiful Sun. And the Salt Water... And the Ghosts... And the tiny ocean exoskeletons (sand)!
We usually like to travel overnight, since there are fewer people around. Oddly, I can see better when it's mostly dark (with starlight and moonlight). I had always thought I was night blind, but that isn't the case. Actually, I can see fine if there are no lights at all. When it was raining, windshield wipers weren't necessary as long as there were no artificial lights shining on the rain and creating reflections. As soon as we would pass a city with halogens, though, the night blindness would set in. I was glad to find that out, since I hated being "night blind". This makes it difficult but isn't quite as obnoxious (I love the night). So.. I chose to drive between 1:00 and 3:00 am when we were far away from the city and there were fewer people on the road (thanks to
rialian who drives in all conditions, any distance...). We mainly went to visit with friends. I didn't go swimming this time (there were rip tides). It was great to see the ocean nonetheless. Of course, our camera hid the entire time until we were already on the way back, so no pictures. :( Suffice it to say that I saw the sand, sun, and salt water, which is important, in that if I do not, I start to feel a bit dead. I did bring back a few treasures from where we were staying - a few shells that look like brains, a little kaleidoscope, and a leather sculpture that needs a photograph rather than a description. Thank you for a wonderful time to everyone who put us up for the weekend!
There was some daytime driving on the way back, so I got a chance to observe some of the terrain. Suddenly I was jolted out of a reverie of admiring the passing forests when I noticed something disturbing: A forested area had been planted with the same kind of pine tree, over and over, and the trees were all in perfectly straight rows, one after the other. If they'd been healthy it would have still been bad, but not horrible. They weren't. All the lower branches were removed from every tree, so these trees looked like toothpicks with christmas tree hats. They made me feel 'captured' and the clouds in front of the moon suddenly took the form of bars in my mind. I think it was owned by a paper mill. When it ended and the normal forest took over the scenery again, it was a palpable relief (as in, absense of pain).
We got back at around 5 this morning, so I called in to work - they were very understanding, so I'm taking the day off - should have scheduled it to begin with, but I'm always afraid that if I do, what we would do is stay an extra day (and the situation would repeat itself only later).
I really do need to plan to stay away longer when I go across country...