Guilty pleasure

July 6th

I don’t like driving much when it has a defined purpose — to get from point A to point B in the quickest possible time. When I am NOT in a hurry, like when I am on a road trip, driving can and is fun and a pleasure. After an hour on the expressway in driving rain and gusting wind and surrounded by idiots overtaking me going WELL over the speed limit, I finally took smaller roads and the rain stopped, and the sun came up. Roads were mostly empty as I was going to my first destination — there were still speed traps, photo radar cameras, randomly changing speed limits, and organ donors flying by on their crotch rockets, but I didn’t care. Driving was a great experience again. I felt so good driving through the forests and golden-yellow fields of rye and wheat and small villages and small provincial towns. And of course, there was the music, good and honest American driving music on the radio (thank God for the internet radio and 4 and 5G coverage everywhere along the way) to help past the time and make driving even more enjoyable. I listened mostly to alt-country and some classic rock, with occasional new wave and folk songs for a good measure. Along the way, I found this old church and abandoned mansion behind it in a nondescript village (Karnkowo). One glance from behind the wheel was enough for me to stop and explore the surroundings. The church was open, and I just sat in a pew for a while, thinking. That church would be a treasure in many different places, but here is just a roadside sight-by. There was no information posted anywhere about its history, so I guess it is not a tourist destination. It is still used by local people and visited by an occasional traveler like me. Well, maybe it is for the better — that not everything is commercialized and on the “must-see” list.