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On the Big Lonely the ride vanishes . There is only expanse , space , silence . message : God is …. Enough time has passed since the church was abandoned that a full-grown tree obscures the second half of the message . The first time I saw this I spent miles trying to complete that thought . God is what ? God is dead ? God is alive ? God is ticked off ? When I stop to take a picture I make out more of the message : God is with …. With what ? God is with another patient ?
DAY FIVE : INTERSTATE 188 Mist obscures and mutes the farmland . The colors are green and gray . The speed limit drops state by state , from 75 mph in Utah , to 70 in Colorado , to a revenue-generating 65 in Illinois . I ’ ve put away my camera , convinced that there will be nothing worth recording . I almost pass a car on fire . The flicker effect gives me useful information . It is parked on the shoulder , the fire is not part of a collision , no one is hurt , a road crew watches from a safe distance .
A few miles from home I find a roadhouse with a motorcycle crafted from old logs . It captures the way I feel .