Some days you plan your day.

Some days your day plans itself.

Today was one of those days.

The Prius is officially parked for a while.

On the way home yesterday it started misfiring badly, and the overheating became constant. I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn't stop the misfire. At some point you have to admit that the machine has won the argument.

So this morning Natalie drove me to work — with my bicycle.

After work, I got on the bicycle and pedaled home.

Not exactly the transportation arrangement I had planned when I woke up, but it worked. Sometimes the old-fashioned solution is still the best one: if the car doesn't go, use your legs.

And then there was the dryer.

It stopped working.

Fortunately, that mystery lasted about five minutes.

The belt had snapped.

Amazon had already delivered the replacement, so I put the new belt on, and the dryer was back in business.

One machine defeated.

One machine repaired.

One bicycle promoted to primary transportation.

Not a bad day, considering.

---

But tonight I want to take a little side trip.

A while ago I made this drawing.

Every drawing I make has a story behind it. Sometimes I know the story before I draw the first line. Sometimes the picture comes first and the story arrives later.

This time, I'm curious about something different.

I showed the drawing to ChatGPT without telling it what I had in mind.

I wanted to know:

What story does someone else see?

And its interpretation was surprisingly different from what I expected.

So instead of telling you the story, let's play a little game.

Look at the three travelers standing on the cliff.

Where are they going?

Why have they stopped?

What are they looking at?

Why does the river make those enormous loops through the valley?

Why is there no road?

No bridge?

No house?

No village?

Why does this enormous valley look as though nobody has ever lived there?

And perhaps the most important question:

What is waiting for them somewhere beyond that river?

Are they explorers?

A family?

Travelers who have been walking for days?

Did they come here deliberately...

or did they simply discover this place?

And if you were standing on that cliff with them, would you go down into the valley?

Or would you turn around?

There is one more question I won't answer yet:

Where does the river actually lead?

I'm going to leave the drawing here and let you decide.

Maybe you will see something I didn't.

Maybe you'll invent a better story than either of us.

And in my next post, I'll tell you what happens when these three travelers finally decide to leave the cliff.

Or perhaps...

I'll tell you what I think happens.

Because I'm beginning to suspect that the drawing may have more than one story in it.

Until then,

keep walking.

— Max