belated return

my mind has turned to travel writing, although i have officially finished my travels and i am here in the city to stay, it would seem. well, i see no problem in posthumous travel writings. the travel is dead, that is, though it hopes to one day be revived.

Field


Historic train tracks run adjacent to the small town of Field. The houses are quaint, simple, livable. There is a small school, not many cars. Everything is walkable. The center of town is also the end of town – a small bakery and café, and a mid-sized inn make up the liveliest square in the area. A neon red light reads “INN” though the town is too far from the road for the drifting tourists to be readily attracted as they drive past the town of Field on their way to pre-packaged wonders of the world. Picnic tables and wood benches look out on the train tracks. At sunset, a long trans-continental train stops to refuel, or just to pause before its dark mountain journey, on through the endless prairie, on a distant Atlantic beach. Perhaps the crew steps out for a moment, pausing to admire the dying light on the mountain peak. Or perhaps to stop in for a quick bite at the inn, or the small bakery and café. A couple on the bench look down at the valley, and softly discus the old days of the Canadian railroad. Although the town is quiet, sleepy, as the train pauses in the valley, the town of Field reveals its subtle and unique qualities. A moment passes, you pause to recognize it, the train still does not move as the door slams and you drive on.


Carmona

White, light and shadow bring the town of Carmona to vibrant life in the heat of Andalucian summer. Names of the churches and squares are of less significance in the town of Carmona. We only say that the names of her churches and squares are of little importance because her unique qualities do not derive from these mundane sites. The drifting, careless tourist only seeks these named sites, searching with his head in a map from the small tourist office under the medieval wall, believing there are other Carmonas to see on brief trips through Spain and Europe. Carmona is singular in its beauty, as are all the towns this tourist washes together. It is easier that way, you see, to seek the monuments, and move on. We implore you, please avoid this tendency at all costs. The visitor to Carmona does not need a map - only a sense of light and shadow. The playfulness of these two forces reminds one of Henri-Cartier Bresson, and a girl running up the whitewashed steps of the Greek town.