Bombay Beach, California
Dance Hall, Kerrville, Texas
May We Live In Interesting Times By Gordon Hight Well, that escalated quickly.
Fireworks stand in rural east Texas I-10 Arizona
US 98, Mississippi 34
April 2020
In my first installment for the February issue, I wrote that I’d chosen to document this time in history because 2020 seemed poised to be an interesting year. It has certainly delivered beyond my expectations, even giving us new terminology like social distancing and flattening the curve. So long as we’re in this challenging and scary place in time, let me take a moment to offer my sincere hope that these words find you doing well, staying safe, and sheltering in place. The irony of writing for a travel magazine at a time when most travel has slowed to all but a halt is not lost on me, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given and it’s important to keep doing what we can as we wait for the return of normalcy. Like our lives at the moment, my book project is on hold. The home-sale funds I’d set aside to finance this yearlong journey were not unaffected by the economic downturn. I wrote in February that I sensed a correction was coming, but I didn’t manage to get out of the way of the pandemic train. The future has grown increasingly uncertain and the present finds each of us being called to do our part by isolating the best we can. Together those realities pose obvious challenges to crosscountry photojournalism. The need to work to make a living during these shaky economic times isn’t lost on me, but the choice I’ve made is to hunker down for now and do what I can to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. But I’m healthy. I have my
