Day 151: On the road

Day 151: On the road, originally uploaded by susanvg.

A lot of driving over the last few days - a quick trip to Toronto and back - 500 km (about 300 mi.) each way. The 401 has to be one of the most boring highways around. Every so often there is something interesting so I decided to try "drive by shooting" while I was the passenger. One thing I love is when the scenery opens up and I catch glimpses of Lake Ontario. There is something amazing about the immense size of the Great Lakes - with water stretching to the horizon. The field, not yet planted, stretches to the water. Once vegetation grows it will obscure the tiny strip of water.
I am reminded of Jane Urquhart's book, Away, much of which takes place not far from here. I try to imagine the wilderness the characters in the book encountered and contrast it with what exists now. Reading the landscape I see farmland, cleared and settled, crisscrossed by roads and highways, a far cry from the dense forest in the early 19th century. The highway, straight, flat, cuts through it all, a twentieth century improvement for the cars and trucks to bypass the nooks and crannies of small town Ontario.