After doing some extensive exploring of Google Earth, I began to think about a few personal pilgrimages I have made in my life. One pilgrimage I have made yearly since the age of five is to Pawley’s Island, SC. I wanted to find a little shed I always look for on the way. I had to follow the road a bit, remember some landmarks, but I found it. As a little girl I wondered the story behind this building. I still love to think of it.

Another pilgrimage I will always remember: I saw the house my grandfather grew up in Frisco City, AL for the first and only time a few years ago. As I followed the road to the place I thought it might be and clicked on “street view,” my heart fluttered. There it was, on my screen. How beautiful this century old shack is to me.

I thought about another drive we used to make. I loved driving through the cornfields of Illinois to visit my husband’s grandfather while he was still alive. This terrain was so foreign to me, so flat. I found it utterly beautiful in its simplicity and patterns. Artistically, this has left a lasting mark on my aesthetic choices.

Lastly, I chose the Alabama sky. Nothing is as blue and clear. As simple and soulful. How I long to be under that sky.