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| LA HWY 15 SOUTH [C] DOUG DUFFEY |
i
woke & wrote in my journal a while ; w/the obligatory coffee
& chicory, & Samson cigarettes fueling my thoughts. writing in my journal is a habit i started in the
early 1970s and have continued. it's a ritual which helps me process my thoughts; helps me to
ease into the day; calms me; and like my work, is therapeutic. i woke thinking about and writing about TIME. Thinking about TIME is something i do a lot; something
i have been contemplating seriously all year long ... along with
the meaning of life, and a few other things
i saw on the news last night that the 165 "4 lane" from the Arkansas border [above and through Bastrop] to Lake Charles is now open- they said it would help "economic development"- but i fear it will kill off whatever struggling towns/villages fall by the wayside, are by-passed, and/or are bulldozed to make room- and there are 11 such projects proposed- or in the works- there go the neighborhoods [Remember Riverton!]
they also discussed how it would now take 4 hours instead of 6 to GET from Bonita to Lake Charles. what they don't say is that you have to slow down to a snail's pace going through every small town, from here to Alexandria [and probably from the arkansas border to monroe]. if speed was the purpose of these new 4 lanes, they should have added bridges/overpasses over, or by passed, the towns completely. i thought, whats the point? the old roads were good enough; and a hell of a lot more scenic.
i have had my mishaps with the I-49! Coming back from New Orleans, because there were NO signs for 165N or Monroe [in Alexandria] my mama and i ended up 1/2 way to Natchitoches before i chose to 'hang a right' and head east [said the compass thingie on my rear view mirror] to Boyce[?]. we drove for what seemed like hours through Kisatchie Nat'l Forest in the pitch black night- finally stopping in Colfax to ask directions @ a convenience store. the woman working there had no idea how to get to 165/or Monroe- but luckily some cowboy heard me ask, and told me how to get to Pollock.
years before i had gone to Alexandria [when they were building the NEW highway] to perform at GG Shinn's club there; and another time, when i was inducted into the Gumbo Brothers, there- and it took forever! not because of the old 2 lane highway but because they had torn every damned thing up between Monroe and there.
AND driving to Eunice, recently; to perform a concert at LSUE, i took 49 south- had the cruise control on BUT had "to slow down to a snail's pace going through every small town." and again thought, what was the point? but in this frantic paced society we live in,
everybody is just so busy being busy; everyone seems to be scurrying around
like rats in mazes; hamsters on treadmills; dogs chasing their tails, driving "like a bat out of hell" ... and for
what? even driving the speed limit, people were flying past me @ 80 or 90 MPH like the hounds of hell were on their tails.
the next morning, after the concert: i had asked for a wake up call that didn't come. so i WOKE and checked out of my hotel LATE. At the front desk, i filled my travel mug with some GOOD south Louisiana coffee, and asked the girl at the desk how to get to the old road north. i did not feel like rushing anywhere. so, coming home, i decided i was boycotting 49 and all interstates from now on [unless i just absolutely HAVE to get somewhere immediately]- and was really glad i did. i put in 2 of my new unfinished synth- meditiation/spiritual- cds- to mentally critique- and "set the controls for the heart of the" state...
i decided to take the old highways, the ones we used to take way back in the day, in the 60s, when i would go to play- and hang- in Church Point- passing through the small towns like Turkey Creek, Mamou, Ville Platte- etc. i remembered how, back in the day, we'd stop in some of those towns to get fresh Boudin and beer, then drive on. BUT, what i thought were the old roads we used to take, were not the original old roads as i'd remembered them; they almost all by-passed the towns; or had loops around the towns built. when we used to go to church point we took 167, so i didn't go through ville platte this trip- but certainly will if and when i head back down south on photo safari... and i will!
you never see ANYTHING of the people, the culture, the heritage, when you drive the interstate- all you see is gas stations and fast food alleys, malls and crap- the same stuff you see anywhere in America- w/different scenery in the distance. i wanted to see Louisiana up close and more personally!
so i got on Hwy 13, cranked up all my 'dreamscape' ethereal synth improvisations, and drove through, huge blue skies filled with big cotton boll clouds, past crawfish/rice fields, through all the beauty and the funk, drinking in all the imagery of the real Louisiana... driving slowly through the soul of the state...
Hwy 13 eventually connected to 167 N. Instead of getting on I-49, i stayed on 167 on to Meeker, and on up through Alexandria and Pineville. i was amazed at the beauty of both. Alexandria? i never even knew there WAS an old down town on the river; all i had ever seen was a 'risk your life' traffic circle [kreisverkehr] we used to go around, to avoid Alexandria and go south. Seeing all the old red brick buildings and some incredible mansions on hills, and dogwoods and azaleas in bloom; i was astonished... and told myself "i am gonna come back here and spend some time looking around" [meaning photograph] All i had remembered of Pineville was driving 165 S around a bend where the state mental institution was on the left- a big red brick building, as i recalled; but i must have missed it coming back. i was on 167 north- got off in Ball and onto the dreaded I-49 and northward homeward, where everyone was racing like maniacs to get 'where'? to do what?
i was too kaput [due to various factors] to stop and make any photos coming home; although, i had taken REAL cameras with me and had planned, after Eunice, to drive around the region, and make photos; but the spirit was not upon me.
Many years ago i read BLUE HIGHWAYS by William Least Heat-Moon and loved it; always wishing i could do basically the same thing he did: just get in a vehicle and take off, with my journals, cameras, recording equipment, etc. [now it would be the digital update of all those, plus laptops & cell phones etc] of course, it was a less expensive and gentler era then, when he did his travels; life in America was safer; not as dangerous as it is now. old daddy bush did not make it "a kinder and gentler nation." [nor did his idiot spawn] i've never been one for 'camping' out-or being out in nature for too long - [my idea of camping is a 5 star hotel with 24 hour room service and a big tub]- i certainly would not be sleeping in a van parked somewhere anywhere [unless i had to] for fear of being mugged or worse.
BUT i have been nursing an idea/desire for years, and think it is time for it to come to fruition: to load up my gear in and get in my car and leisurely drive around the state making photographs; capturing whats soon to be gone. spending whole days doing so until i am tired; then, sleep/eat in nice but affordable motels/cafes, repeating the process, ad infinitum, possibly "camping out" in one town for a few days at a time, as a base camp, and do it until i have either covered the whole state OR am ready to come home. with the onslaught of 11 new 'corridors', or them already in "progress", i need to get busy ASAP.
i recall once seeing a button or a tee shirt that said "DO NOT POSTPONE JOY" and that seems to be what i have been doing for too long [for legitimate reasons this year]- concerning this idea. but, if i have learned/know anything it is that life is short, extremely fragile, unpredictable, passes too quickly, and is not guaranteed. this is the real performance; not the dress rehearsal. the future is now. carpe diem!
maybe i'll see you on the blue highways...
[C]2012 DOUG DUFFEY
