A very nice woman named Betsy stopped to give me some food today, including this watermelon. Given the tools at hand (pocketknife, spoon, ground), I decided this would be the tidiest way to eat it. The hole grew in size, but the first cut made for the best picture.
And one last wonderful family to share it with. Dennis whipped up a terrific dinner, and then we sat around the fire talking and drinking various hot beverages (coffee and tea for the "adults", hot chocolate for the rest of us). Madelyn sat at my feet most of the night snorting in (what I'm sure was) admiration. And then we ended on a sweet note: Tillamook ice cream!
Fun fact: 30 years ago, Dennis proposed to Jan underneath the World's Largest Buffalo, which you may remember from back in Jamestown, ND!
From left to right: Harrison, Leah, Jan, Dennis, Madelyn
This one could double as a stickball dugout.
You can always tell how old a piece of rail is: it's written right on the side!
I'll need months of contemplation and reflection before I can fully and coherently discuss everything I've learned on this walk, but I think the two most obvious lessons are these:
1) Have some faith in this world. Things aren't as bad as they tell us. We may all have different political opinions and different religious beliefs and different cultural norms (I'm a liberal atheist Jew. Did you know that? Does it matter?), and many of us probably couldn't stand to be around each other on a regular basis, but most of us would, it turns out, extend a helping hand (or sandwich, or beer, or couch, or shower) to a stranger in need. I walked 3100 miles across this country and didn't encounter a single person who tried to hurt me, or steal from me, or damage my possessions. This isn't a place that needs to be feared. It's a place that needs to be explored, and appreciated, and celebrated.
2) There's beauty everywhere. Keep your eyes open, and keep your mind open, and you'll be amazed what's out there, right under your nose, just waiting to be discovered. You don't need to go to the Best This or the Most Spectacular That; just take a stroll around the neighborhood. I blindly followed directions from Google on my walk, making no effort to see anything special, and look at everything I found that I thought needed to be shared with the world!
But enough with the blabbing. Let me just send out a sincere "Thank you!" to everyone who helped me on my trip. Your generosity astounded me, and I'm extremely grateful for every bit of kindness I received. And thanks to everyone who followed along online and offered words of encouragement. It's always heartening to know other people are interested in what you're doing. Thanks for making me feel special!
Okey dokey. Stay strong, people!
Day 517
Thoughts on the Red Line: The Extended Edition
August 25th, 2011Howdy, folks! It's been a year now since I plunged into the Pacific at Rockaway Beach, but I still find myself thinking about and learning from my journey on an almost daily basis. I've spent a good chunk of the past year working through everything that happened to me on my walk, and I think the major lessons remain unchanged since I briefly summed them up last August. But I have a lot more to say about them now that they've been simmering in my brain for a full twelve months. So if you like lengthy, detailed elaborations, then you're going to love... (more…)
Day -1
By the way…
December 30th, 2011
You may have missed the final post I wrote about my walk across the US. These are my thoughts one year after the completion of that trip. You know, just to keep you occupied before I start my New York walk.
4300 Amboy Road in Staten Island. Randomly selected starting point! Thanks to two friends with a car, I didn't know where I was until I took the blindfold off. This will also be the ending point of my walk in two years or however long it takes me.
And as a bonus, "New Dorp" is one of my favorite place names in all of NYC (although this address is not actually in New Dorp).
