00:02.33 – First Draft

Something wasn’t quite right. There he sat with those all around. Those very familiar, and in this case, very close. Yet somehow, they all felt so far away. An eternity away, in fact. The room included himself as well as several dozen of them, but that made no difference now. The world seemed to fade around him. With every long exhale, the darkness swelled around his field of vision; suffocating it, slowly and almost unnoticeably until all that was visible was the small point of light in front of him.

His heart beat with such intensity within him that he found it odd that he managed to somehow hold on to consciousness at all. He clutched the wood within his hand before him, fighting back the dread of what was to come. This experience was difficult enough to cope with, even though he wasn’t quite sure why. Something important was lost, but he felt that it may have been years before. Again, a moment of clarity, minus the racing thoughts, and the feeling of immediate dread once again overcomes. Only he knows the agonizing sorry about to be forced upon those around him. Like a full glass tipped to it’s side, he feels his soul has been poured into this. More appropriately, at this point anyway, like a full glass tipped over into a vast sea. Slight disruption, but instantly, the larger body absorbs the flow. As if it never occurred. Such is the way of the world, and indeed the way of life.

Again, the apprehension. Utter joy and remembrance, coupled with the reality before them. He fears the reaction of them, but more importantly, he is concerned of his own. How will that affect them? Why has he done this? It seemed so appropriate just days before, but now? He wonders. And worries. He worries of this creation and the result. The reality is that it was the only way for him to cope, yet he has yet to understand this.

His heart is nearly leaping out of his chest by now. And it begins.

This creation of his.

Illinois Route 116 runs about 180 miles; from near Gladstone in the west, to near Ashkum in the east. Somewhere near the middle, it intersects Peoria. This made it a perfect road for me to explore.

Like many times before on my Sunday adventures, the weather decided to work against me. It’s difficult for me to take photos in the rain, and they usually end up looking washed out. I don’t have the appropriate hardware for these conditions.

I started near the Cedar Street Bridge in Peoria, which is where 116 crosses the Illinois River. No photos of this, sorry. From there, onward to 116’s terminus, of which I did not get a photo of the “END” sign, either. All in all, not a terribly successful day. Nonetheless, I figured I was close enough that I continued the remaining 10 miles (on US 34?) to Burlington, Iowa.

The weather cleared a bit on the way back. I took a few interesting snaps, including Burlington itself, Media, Roseville (the only gas-station between Burlington and Farmington – thank goodness! I was out), St. Augustine, a small detour south on Illinois Route 41 to Avon and back, where their where camel’s grazing in a field (?!), London Mills, Middle Grove, Farmington, Trivoli, Hanna City, then a shortcut home on Interstate 474.

Oddly, I saw not just one, but TWO replicas of the Statue of Liberty. One in London Mills, and one on the Burlington river front. Didn’t expect that.

Good times in Illinois.

13 AUG 2009

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While in Long Beach, CA, I walked within 15′ of a piece of history, and didn’t even know it. Something especially interesting to me.

On November 2, 1947, Howard Hughes, one of my personal heroes for his tenacity and enigmatic methods of design and implementation, took the H-4 Hercules (the “Spruce Goose”) for it’s maiden, and only, flight. This was the largest plane of it’s time; only matched recently by Boeing and Airbus. It was truly one of the greatest technological feats of all history. Hughes flew the mammoth just off the shore from where I was standing.

And I didn’t even know it.

Years later, a strange partnership between an aeronautics enthusiasts club and Walt Disney, built an enormous dome to showcase the plane. I walked within 15′ of the dome. I even took a photo of the thing. In fact, I had to walk around it to get to the car, with no idea of what was inside.

At least what used to be inside. The H-4 was moved to an Oregon museum in 1993.

Still would have been interesting to go inside to see where the plane had been stored for decades. Would have been also nice to know that this is where history was made.

18 JUL 2009