July 4th: Gambo, NL to Jack’s Pond, NL: 160+km
Today just would never end. It began well with George making us breakfast… then we started riding.
Hilly, hot and wind in our faces. We stopped 30k short of Clarenville for some snacks. In Clarenville, we got Chinese food. Delicious! Then we got groceries and ate yogurt, and were off. It got cold, more hills, and more wind. Very beautiful though.
Finally stopped in Jack’s Pond, a weird/shitty RV park. Listened to The Microphones a lot at the end. I’m interested in Phil Elverum‘s time alone in the woods (in Norway?). See lyrics for Great Ghosts:
I have my hopes of how I would be after living in exile
after closing your eyes to me
I even wrote scenes where I re-emerged boldly, bearded alive
with Eskimo eyes
new baby on my back
but I didn’t count the fact that I have ghosts in my mind, stored away
great ghosts of my life
great ghosts of old wives
and their howling
so I spend my wilderness time, rolling on the ground
pulling my hair and wrestling them off
yelling at none, punching snow
I gathered ghosts and gave them my lecture, bid them away, I pleaded and cried
there’s no room in my life for you or your howling
let me undo these ropes and go on living without you
not just change where I live
go on get, I said
I had my hopes of how I would be after sending them of
after getting set free
but there’s no such thing as living without their prowling
as you can see, having descended the hill
I still look like me, I still wallow as Phil
and forever will
I’m teaming with ghosts and I still whining for wives, unkniting my brow
but now I’ve surrendered
In fact I’ve joined in
You can hear us howling
