Many more years ago than I care to recall, there was a television commercial that asked rhetorically, “Is it possible for a man to love a machine?”
Needless to say it was an advert for an automobile. The premise being that a man could form an emotional attachment to a car. As an extension of male ego, much has been written, of course. Somewhere in that same time frame the television sitcom “My Mother The Car” appeared. Mercifully it had only a brief run before being cancelled; some premises were just too improbable even then. (I must confess I felt a little sad for Jerry Van Dyke. His brother, Dick, had an award-winning comedy running, and he had a lame vehicle (in more ways than one, obviously) which failed. But I digress.
By what stretch do we migrate to a man’s emotional attachment to a thoroughfare? Can we even make such a stretch? Good question; that’s been plaguing the back of my mind ever since this idea started tugging at my consciousness, demanding release.
By way of explanation, Highway 111 stretches a great deal of the length of California’s Coachella Valley, the most-traveled portion roughly between Indio on the east to North Palm Springs at the western end. Winding through Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and finally, Palm Springs, the highway roughly parallels Interstate 10.
Up to this point in time, I had intended for this post to be a paean to Highway 111. As it meanders through this portion of the Coachella Valley, it seems to me to be a living, throbbing vessel, an artery of both commerce and conviviality.
A regular part of my routine is to have a bagel and cup of coffee on the front patio of the New York Bagel Deli, adjacent to the intersection of San Luis Rey and Highway 111. As I sit there I can feel this tremendous energy and I am captivated, even enthralled.
For the past several weeks this post has gone unfinished. I’ve progressed to this point…for what? What is this focus? Where does this highway fit into the larger narrative?
Now, I believe I have at last found the answer. The focus.
That’s coming up in Part 2
