road manifesto.
When I’m on the road—I’m hauling.
I used to haul ass, but lately I’m hauling precious cargo; a dog or an artwork or a loved one.
I like the big, open roads. I like the unofficial “meals” at truck stops. The myriad travelers I will forget as soon as we part ways from the Buc-ee’s. The variety in Rest Area bathroom architecture. The darling motel sign out the window boasting of a Vacancy that all the locals know is permanent.
The road was, itself, a sort-of rest stop along the road of MY life. Holed away during COVID and working my ass off on book covers and putting out fires in personal life and staring at the same walls day after day and rarely seeing the light of day. The road was a reprieve. And, with Sugar in tow, I couldn’t haul ass.
I had to stop every hour on account of her bladder or my bladder and that might have annoyed me, but Sugar needed me and the sun was warm and the colors were lush.
The rest stop, a place for a piss, became a reminder of the importance of a pause. Not only for the legs but for the mind—Lord knows those wheels have been spinning for a while…
Our show is a reflection on where we went recently, where we’ve been in the past, how we got where we were going, and that, yes, those wildflowers on the side of the road are worth pulling over for a picture. This is not some Pro-America Prop-Art. This is Pro-Open Your Freaking Eyes and see the beauty in the everyday. Be that the concrete in the foundation of the Ruston, LA Rest Area you love so much. The beauty in the Lucky Liquor’s signage. The cardinal flittering away from the bird feeder lingering only long enough to leave a suggestion of it’s form onto your retina.
We want to share the beauty we found in our everyday. Circumstances, hardships, and celebrations brought us together this year. All those miles in-between could be a chore—and I’m not saying they weren’t—but when I finally listened to the adage and stopped to smell the roses along the way, I saw real beauty, right here! In our own backyards, believe it or not.
REMEMBER: it’s important to exit at the rest stop. Your legs will thank you and you can thank me and when you get back on that road you’ll be a little more charged up to chip away at this great, long, seemingly never-ending road of life. Traffic fucking sucks but the Swedish Fish milkshake at Sheetz will change your tune. And that’s what I’m trying to say. Sometimes you have to pull over and appreciate just how far you’ve come and how much you’ve been through to get here.
