A hundred days. A hundred incredible days. If I hadn’t been so lazy for the last three months, I could have been there by now… walk to the park in a hundred days, kinda catchy. Instead, it’s going to take me a hundred and six days; I should have hurried a bit. What I really should have done is slowed down, making it two hundred and six, or something, for I have been very happy since I started. There have been some moments I could have done without, but others I wouldn’t trade for anything. There were several awesome times where my happy was just that. It didn’t have anything to do with any one thing or any one person - I was just happy being. And now that I know what it feels like, I’ll be doing everything to try to keep it.
I did some math… if I live to be the 92 years my witch predicted, a hundred days is less than one percent of my time (specifically, time as a human being on planet Earth- the rest I don’t know). In fact, it’s only about 0.3% of all the days I’ll live, though my witch may be off. I may live to 96 or 97 in which case the math is a little off as well. Regardless, it’s a tiny little slice of my lifetime. Yet it’s been one of the most meaningful, in many ways. In the grand scheme of things, these last days were just like the hundreds that preceded them; the earth rotated, bringing the sun up, rotated some more, made the sun get really hot, then some more to end what we call a day. And it rained a bit, and it got cold when Canada kindly sent some fresh air, just like it has thousands of times before. Nothing special, in that respect.
However, this particular hundred-day block has been exceedingly special for some reasons that might be obvious, and others that I suspect will emerge once I have to opportunity to digest all that has happened, for I really haven’t had time, or given myself the time, to stop and think about all this. I’m looking forward to it and hope I can express properly in the post-walk dissertation.
Being outdoors all day, every day, has been wonderful. There is something about being outside that raised my awareness of my surroundings. I have been conscious of so many things I’ve never noticed before… noises, birds, colors. The skies have been beautiful. I’ve seen some pristine forests, and lots of nature now being used by us humans, but for the most part, very-well tended. In fairness to truth, I’ve also seen some pretty awful places, but prefer to focus on the former. I’ve been very lucky with the weather (now that the heat is in the past). I’ve only had to walk two day in the rain. But most importantly, being outside has been a great platform to just let thoughts and ideas flow. Walking outside is good stuff.
Being mostly alone for most of the time has also been wonderful. When you’ve got only yourself to keep company, you can decide what kind of guy you want to hang out with. I’ve spent most of the time with the positive one, as you may surmise. I’ve always been comfortable with myself, but I’ve become really comfortable by now. I talk to myself some of the time, sing out loud when there’s no one within earshot (about 99% of the trip), for my singing sucks. And when I wasn’t alone, that too was wonderful. I’ve met some very cool people along the way and have had dozens of great conversations. I love talking with people and would have loved to have had more time to meet and talk to more of them. I’ve loved reconnecting with some old friends. It’s all been good.
And all this combined has been a perfect stage to just allow life to be lived. There has been constant uncertainly, which before now I would have regarded as a negative, but there is something about it that has totally raised my awareness, of time, of space, of life. And being uncertain, everything that has happened has been like a new experience. I’ve mentioned this before, but once you’ve done something more than a couple of times, it starts to become automatic, and the outcome becomes predictable. It’s inevitable, but one of the cool things has been the newness of every step, every time I turned my head, every new little town. My challenge now is to keep the newness going when I resume a more conventional life. I think there are many things we can easily do to keep it going.
My last couple of days have been really nice. I left my funny rural hotel, but only after having a very long cup of coffee with my new friend. Randy was the guy that checked me in, and kindly took my dinner order. I went down and Randy had set a table in front of the fireplace, and then a great dinner, prepared by none other than, Randy. The next morning he had set out everything for breakfast, and we had a great conversation. I loved hearing his take on everything from medicine to music to the simplicity of life. A very wise 25 year old. We even talked politics (gasp!). Thankfully we agreed and it was a long 60 second conversation.
And off I went on a drizzly cold morning, took a right at the cornfield and walked down the hill. Something must have distracted me at just the right moment, but about 20 minutes later, I realized I wasn’t where I should have been. I had no sun to guide me and was a mile off course, so, I had to find a driveway, pull in, back out in opposite direction and head the other way, retracing my steps. Actually, didn’t need the driveway - that’s for you vehicle-driving people. Anyhow, back on course, I had a great walk along the Delaware River, which I crossed into New Jersey at around noon. Just as I got on the bridge, very cool, over my headphones a very nice female computer voice said, “Welcome to New Jersey”. Surprised the x out of me, and I have no idea what app or where it came from, but to New Jersey I say thank you, and to all you preceding states, I say take note. It’s nice to be welcomed. All were lovely country roads into Hope, NJ. Given my little detour, I arrived just at dusk, to one of the coolest places I’ve stayed. There was something about my little room that just felt right - it’s hard to describe, but it was very comfortable. The Inn at Millrace Pond was been there since 1769. It’s really old but really well kept and honors its past. I arrived late, so my key was in the mailbox. I didn’t see anyone until this morning but felt very much at home. And this morning, had a nice, albeit short, chat with Laura before she headed her way and down the road I went. But not before thanking her for the very generous break. Thank you again.
Today brought me about 14 miles closer to the city, but I am truly amazed at how rural this country remains, even though we’re so close, It’s nice to see, makes the walking very pleasant and gives me a nice chance to figure out all that has made these 100 days incredible… and taking it forward with me.
