If journey is the movement from here to there, start to stop, begin to end, then place is the moment/moments between. We are the chroniclers of journey’s moments.
We note and remember Place because Place is in the dominion
of consciousness: we are, at every instant, located/situated in some
“place” – in the particular. And that location, and we, are in
constant flux.
Each place is defined by its stories.
Every story is embedded in a place.
There is no place, I repeat, there is no place that is
insignificant or unworthy. Everyplace is filled with stories. We are their
chronicler.
Missoula, our first night just on our own. Our first
huckleberry shake. Watching a virtuoso fifth-wheeler navigating a tight gas
station. The loveliest RV park we’ve stayed at.
And so it goes for every day that has followed.
Every morning, as we start to some new place, I answer –
unasked – “it’s just down the road.” Well, it is…
And there is a story worth telling.
Bill Stalder
Sophiasongs 