December 13 25 Newsletter | Take the Back Roads

 This newsletter was originally sent on December 13, 2025

Each month, I share new essays, books, and stories from the road.

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Welcome, Friends,  to News from the Back Roads! December has a way of softening the edges of things. The calendar insists we hurry, finish this, close that, prepare for what’s next, but the season itself seems to ask the opposite. To pause. To notice what’s still standing. To sit with what the year has quietly taught us before we rush into the next chapter. This week, I found myself thinking about attention, what we choose to look at, what we pass by, and what only reveals itself when we slow down enough to see it. Small towns altered by highways. A philosopher facing death without fear. A Marine whose service didn’t end when the uniform came off. A long story nearing its storm. Three wildflowers blooming without spectacle on a forest floor. None of these things shouts. But all of them matter. That thread connects the pieces I’m sharing this weekend: the cost of movement, the weight of memory, and the quiet dignity of lives, human and otherwise, lived with purpose. Rooted in real roads, real people, and real stories that deserve to be remembered. If this season has you feeling a little slower, a little more thoughtful, or a little resistant to the noise, you’re not alone. You’re exactly where this week’s writing lives. I’m glad you’re here. a.d. elliott Art and Other Odd Adventures

Stories Found Along the Way

The Cost of the Roads I’ve Traveled: How Interstates Changed Every Place I’ve Lived This week’s Take the Back Roads essay looks at the cost of the roads I’ve traveled, not just in miles, but in what was changed or lost along the way. From Utah to Denver, Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas, and Roanoke, I reflect on how the interstate system reshaped the places I’ve lived, sometimes offering lifelines and sometimes cutting communities apart.  It’s a look at progress, memory, and the personal toll of a life lived along America’s long, straight lines. → Read the full reflection on TakeTheBackRoads.com

Another Book in the Bucket

Bucket List Book Adventure #22  Plato’s Phaedo and the Soul’s True Luggage This week’s Bucket List Book Adventure took me to Plato’s Phaedo, a quiet, thoughtful dialogue set in the final hours of Socrates’ life.  What stayed with me most wasn’t the arguments about the afterlife, but the idea that the soul carries only its education and upbringing when the journey ends.  It made me pause and ask what I’m really packing along the way, and whether learning itself is the lightest, most lasting luggage of all. → Read the full review on RiteOfFancy.com

A Story of Service Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone, A Marine's Story  & A Legacy of Service This week’s Everyday Patriot honors Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone, a World War II Marine whose service stands firmly on its own. Lena enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in 1943 and served throughout the war, later continuing a lifetime of support for fellow veterans. She is often remembered as the wife of Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, the famed Marine who earned the Medal of Honor for heroism on Guadalcanal and was later killed in action at Iwo Jima. But Lena was already a Marine when she met him, and she remained one afterward. Her story reminds us that patriotism is not inherited, but chosen, and that quiet service, faithfully given, leaves its own lasting legacy. Read More

A Fun Read For the Road The Gathering Storm By Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson  The Last Battle Is About to Begin Book 12 of The Wheel of Time is complete, and The Gathering Storm feels like standing on the edge of something inevitable. As the Last Battle draws near, Rand and Egwene each face the weight of leadership, power, and sacrifice in different ways. There’s a quiet poignancy in reading this volume, knowing Robert Jordan did not live to finish the story, yet Brandon Sanderson carries the torch with care and momentum. This one marks a turning point, and the storm is no longer distant. And maybe, just maybe, this absurdly long story can come to an end. Read More

From the Studio Wall

AnemoneX3   a.d. elliott, Take the Back Roads Quiet things often stop us the longest. Anemone x3 captures a small, fleeting moment, three white woodland anemones rising from last season’s leaves, delicate but persistent. It’s the kind of scene you only notice when you slow down, when you’re walking without an agenda and let the forest speak first.  This photograph is about restraint and resilience. About beauty that doesn’t announce itself loudly, but rewards those who are paying attention. It’s a reminder that not every season blooms boldly, and that there is grace in subtlety. Photograph by  a.d. elliott  available at shop.takethebackroads.com

If any of these stories offered you a moment of reflection or a gentle breath this week, I hope you’ll share them with a fellow traveler, of roads, books, or life.