2021: THE CHURCH OF THE OPEN ROAD’S YEAR IN REVIEW

  

In the beginning it was all black and white.

~ Maureen O’Hara

 

 

Click on any picture to expand 'em all.  (Some might be deemed worth the effort.)

Mid-winter ride on the beloved Enrico, the Yamaha, little knowing his days would be numbered.

 

Nothing like an old barn and a good cloudscape…

 

…even a cloudscape close to home, to capture some emotion.

 

Springtime and mustard cover crop in the vineyards of the Napa Valley.

 

This bell seemed a little Hitchcockian…

 

…as did this tilting silo.  I don’t know why.  Perhaps it's because this is near Bodega...

 

 

I read that prior to the advent of color TV, 

most people dreamed in black and white.

~ Damian Loeb

 

Revisited some long-ago haunts…

 

… and some places we’d like to haunt again.

 

Perfunctory derelict tractor image.

 

Perfunctory wildflower image.

 

Perfunctory love note from Dad to Mom circa 1948.

 

Edward visits the trestle…

 

…on one of our many coastal sojourns where we see…

 

…breakers…

 

…beach bums…

 

…light houses…

 

…and smoke-choked sunsets.

 

Enrico’s replacement is an Italian varietal I’ve named Mariolanza, the Moto Guzzi.

 

 

A melancholy trip to Simpson Camp…

 

…scorched by the year-ago’s Mendocino Complex…

 

…leaving little but memories.

 

I wanted to be Amish when I was a kid. 

You just wear black and white - what could be better? 

One less thing to worry about. 

~ Anderson Cooper

 

Autumn leaves…

 

…a tune from Tony Bennett…

 

…a watchful guardian…

 

…a perfunctory old truck picture…

 

…and snow dusts the nearby Mayacamas for Christmas.

 

 

Shots of the year (as judged by me):  Third runner up ~ steel bridge over Butte Creek.

 

Second runner up: Damn! That’s a beautiful bike!

 

First runner up: Reflections in a walking path puddle.

 

Shot of the Year:  Live steam!

 

If everything isn’t black and white, I say, “Why the hell not?”

~ John Wayne

 

© 2021

Church of the Open Road Press

 

THE CHURCH OF THE OPEN ROAD’S WINTER SOLSTICE WISH

1942

 

Consider this early encounter at Rick’s Café Americain…

 

Ilsa            I wasn’t sure you were the same. Let’s see, the last time we met…

Rick          It was “La Belle Aurore.”

Ilsa           How nice. You remembered. But of course, that was the day the Germans marched into town.

Rick          Not an easy day to forget.

Ilsa           No.

 

Rick          I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.

Ilsa           Yes. I put that dress away. When the Germans march out, I’ll wear it. again.

 

2021

 

A long-held view of the Church of the Open Road is simply this: Many things in life can be related to one scene or another from the film Casablanca.  

 

In keeping with this belief, the “church” not offering a misty-eyed holiday tale or recapitulation of the family year in review.  Rather, this year, we submit simply the hope that in our country, one day soon, the seeds of representative democracy will again be nourished to grow and bear their luscious fruit; that our great experiment in self-governance will revive itself and again flourish; and that Ilsa Lund will feel compelled, once again, to wear that blue dress. 

 

Only together can we ensure that this will indeed happen as time goes by…

 

© 2021

Church of the Open Road Press