Currently, St. Louis is being showered by enormous drops of rain! The gutters are overflowing and swimming pools are being created in my own backyard (parking lot)! It's a gorgeous rainy day and, now that I'm seated in my room, I'm so thankful I ran most of my outdoor errands before the real weather party began.
Okay so here's the funny thing... my birthday was March 27 (Tuesday). Last weekend my sister, Sydney, flew in from Kentucky for a visit. She came bearing gifts-one I have still yet to see (ahem) and one in which was a super-light, hardcore, stylish, green raincoat. Since receiving the jacket, I have been carrying it everywhere in my little hand-bag. THE ONE DAY I run out of my room without my coat...oh yes...St. Louis weather laughs in my face and decides to send...not just sprinkles, but giant (as big as my fist) raindrops. All I have to say is thank goodness for my wonderful boss, Jen, who lent me her umbrella. Instead of getting completely drenched, only my flip-flop wearing feet enjoyed the pleasure of becoming wrinkled raisin skin.
So...I may be exaggerating a little about the weather today, simply because I regret not having my raincoat on hand at the perfect moment. I know I'll have plenty of time in the very near future to test out my coats abilities. In fact, I cannot wait to test it out! I love rain. Morning sprinkles, summer thunderstorms, splashing puddles, spring showers, frosty winter sleet...I heart it all. Today has become one of those thunderstorm days, which has kept me from taking a walk around the neighborhood, but it is lovely to watch and listen to. Of course when the four of us are out on our big journey we'll have to stop for storms and it's actually something I'm looking forward to. With all the running around at school and work right now, I imagine watching the sunset every evening, the sunrise most days and listening the the rain fall will not be a bother, but an uplifting experience to put up with for six months. I only pray that all will go well, because after all, we are at the mercy of the weather for this trip. Thank God for raincoats eh?
On the Oregon Trail
Lauren, Katelyn, Matt and Jonathan
Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Difference of Seven Years
It's definitely been a long time since I've done any serious hiking.
I figured, it's only been seven years since Scouts, how hard can it be? I was only 14 then, when my troop and I spent two weeks backpacking through the mountains of New Mexico. I'm 21 now. Surely I can handle it.
Let me tell you something. Seven years can make all the difference in the world.
Perhaps I was a bit overzealous in putting weight on my back. I loaded my pack up with a copy of The Iliad and the Oddyssey, a few of my mother's heavy Bible commentaries, towels, clothes, a sleeping bag, water, and so on. I never actually weighed how much I was carrying, but by the time we were walking home from church, a lot of other options of what we should call ourselves flashed across my mind: 8 Tired Feet, 8 Aching Feet, 8 Blistering Feet. 8 Sore Calves. 4 Really Really Thirsty and Tired People.
This is definitely going to be a much larger physcial challenge than I originally anticipated. But I suppose nothing worth having in life ever comes easy, right?
The one thing keeping me going right now is the overwhelming support we've been getting from...everywhere. Not too long ago we were contacted by a couple, Rick and Jane McKinney, from Our Heart ministries in Harrison, Ohio. The McKinneys walked across America last year as part of their ministry. Already they have offered us invaluable advice and support, not the least of which is offering to pray for us each day, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them more as our walk continues. Abby Heft, a Webster PR student, is writing us a press release for the local St. Louis media and for the media in our hometowns. Our school newspaper has caught wind of our project and is running a story on us. A teen theater organization in Springfield is thinking of hosting a fundraiser for us.
But the best part of all is we met with our film professor and it seems like we're going to be able to work everything out with our school credits. He told us that our Film II project has come along very nicely, and we're almost done with it. All that's left is to finish up some sound work.
I guess all that's left for me worry about is money. I know that we're going to need money, and a lot of it. Where it's going to come from, how we're going to get it, is still to be determined. All I know is that if the rate of support we've already gotten continues to grow like I expect it will, we will have nothing to worry about at any step of the way.
I just need to learn to pack lighter, that's all.
I figured, it's only been seven years since Scouts, how hard can it be? I was only 14 then, when my troop and I spent two weeks backpacking through the mountains of New Mexico. I'm 21 now. Surely I can handle it.
Let me tell you something. Seven years can make all the difference in the world.
Perhaps I was a bit overzealous in putting weight on my back. I loaded my pack up with a copy of The Iliad and the Oddyssey, a few of my mother's heavy Bible commentaries, towels, clothes, a sleeping bag, water, and so on. I never actually weighed how much I was carrying, but by the time we were walking home from church, a lot of other options of what we should call ourselves flashed across my mind: 8 Tired Feet, 8 Aching Feet, 8 Blistering Feet. 8 Sore Calves. 4 Really Really Thirsty and Tired People.
This is definitely going to be a much larger physcial challenge than I originally anticipated. But I suppose nothing worth having in life ever comes easy, right?
The one thing keeping me going right now is the overwhelming support we've been getting from...everywhere. Not too long ago we were contacted by a couple, Rick and Jane McKinney, from Our Heart ministries in Harrison, Ohio. The McKinneys walked across America last year as part of their ministry. Already they have offered us invaluable advice and support, not the least of which is offering to pray for us each day, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them more as our walk continues. Abby Heft, a Webster PR student, is writing us a press release for the local St. Louis media and for the media in our hometowns. Our school newspaper has caught wind of our project and is running a story on us. A teen theater organization in Springfield is thinking of hosting a fundraiser for us.
But the best part of all is we met with our film professor and it seems like we're going to be able to work everything out with our school credits. He told us that our Film II project has come along very nicely, and we're almost done with it. All that's left is to finish up some sound work.
I guess all that's left for me worry about is money. I know that we're going to need money, and a lot of it. Where it's going to come from, how we're going to get it, is still to be determined. All I know is that if the rate of support we've already gotten continues to grow like I expect it will, we will have nothing to worry about at any step of the way.
I just need to learn to pack lighter, that's all.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
the burn
For me, it starts in my shins.
Old shin splints flare up whenever I press them too hard. Suprisingly, never when I am dancing, only when the pounding of my feet on the pavement becomes soothing in its rhythm.
Then it's in my calves.
We learned in anatomy today all of the muscles in the calve. Mostly I feel it in my soleus and my gastrocnemius.
The tingling pushes me farther.
Depending on if I stretched or not I feel it behind the knee. A tightness and pulling as my knee bends and extends, each step advancing me.
My hamstrings start to itch from the friction of contracting and releasing. The heat warms me as I walk in the cool evening.
And if it makes it up into my stomach, deep into my stomach, I know I've made it.
We've been walking places, getting up our stamina, testing the water. Seeing what problems we encounter and what we need. We haven't yet walked all together, I've been out of town and our school schedules are a little complicated.
But each of us still walks when we can (see jonathan's previous entry). Walking feels good on my body. To be moving all the time. Sometimes I don't walk with a destination in mind, just where my heart leads me. I like to look around and see how the world changes, and how this moment in time is completely special. Never again the same people, the same clouds, the same flowers, the same air being in that same place at the same time. I'm romanced with the world around me.
Old shin splints flare up whenever I press them too hard. Suprisingly, never when I am dancing, only when the pounding of my feet on the pavement becomes soothing in its rhythm.
Then it's in my calves.
We learned in anatomy today all of the muscles in the calve. Mostly I feel it in my soleus and my gastrocnemius.
The tingling pushes me farther.
Depending on if I stretched or not I feel it behind the knee. A tightness and pulling as my knee bends and extends, each step advancing me.
My hamstrings start to itch from the friction of contracting and releasing. The heat warms me as I walk in the cool evening.
And if it makes it up into my stomach, deep into my stomach, I know I've made it.
We've been walking places, getting up our stamina, testing the water. Seeing what problems we encounter and what we need. We haven't yet walked all together, I've been out of town and our school schedules are a little complicated.
But each of us still walks when we can (see jonathan's previous entry). Walking feels good on my body. To be moving all the time. Sometimes I don't walk with a destination in mind, just where my heart leads me. I like to look around and see how the world changes, and how this moment in time is completely special. Never again the same people, the same clouds, the same flowers, the same air being in that same place at the same time. I'm romanced with the world around me.
We walk...
So we've been back to school now. I for one have no desire to continue studying at the present moment and if I had a ticket in my hand or had gotten around to changing the oil in my car over break, I would be on my way to Oregon getting this thing underway. Matt found out over break that the two of us still need to get a tent, other wise we will be making lean-tos across America. While that sounds really exciting I'd much rather enjoy the comfort of a regular tent. So I've been jumping around on-line to figure out our best options. I think I'm going to call Lauren's mother to see what she has learnt in her endevours.
We walked home from church Sunday. 3.79 miles from church to school and we did it in an hour and a half. Matt had walked to church that morning and Lauren and I joined him on the way back. Funny enough I had to get a ride back to pick up my car but it was good practice none the less. We plan on making a regular thing of it, since Katelyn was out of town last week. We are loading up our packs to get used to carrying the load. Poor Matt went overboard I think and was in pain the following day.
I'm signing off. Hope all are well. We are looking into getting a bank account and then a PayPal account so people can donate money via PayPal or check. Ok I'm done. Love, peace
We walked home from church Sunday. 3.79 miles from church to school and we did it in an hour and a half. Matt had walked to church that morning and Lauren and I joined him on the way back. Funny enough I had to get a ride back to pick up my car but it was good practice none the less. We plan on making a regular thing of it, since Katelyn was out of town last week. We are loading up our packs to get used to carrying the load. Poor Matt went overboard I think and was in pain the following day.
I'm signing off. Hope all are well. We are looking into getting a bank account and then a PayPal account so people can donate money via PayPal or check. Ok I'm done. Love, peace
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Springtime for Webster
Well, Spring Break has come and gone, and of course for us the word "break" was a relative term.
The greatest thing so far has been the change in the weather. Last week, for the first time in a really long time, I was able to wear shorts and a T-shirt outside. I really love warm weather. Winter I don't handle as well - I can tell you I'm not particularly looking forward to the latter half of our trek, when things will turn colder.
We all had things we worked to accomplish over break, and besides my personal stuff (finish reading Catch-22, start some comic books, catch up on some writing, clean my room, etc.) I spent the greater part of the week at school continuing to edit my and Lauren's Film II project. It's a short, 5-minute flick we both wrote and shot together last semester (with the amazing Jonathan on sound), and this semester we're editing it as part of a post-production class.
Working on our Film II has been both a blessing and a curse. It has definitely been a learning process, and like all learning processes, you learn both things you got right and things you wish to heck you had done a lot differently. I think it's safe to say that we are finally getting our film to a place that we both like, but the hardest part has been trying to maintain focus on this smaller project while also trying to get everything together for our next, much larger project.
It's been a good exercise in patience and taking things one step at a time. Our film teachers have repeatedly told us to focus on our Film II before we worry too much about our senior overview, and at first it was frustrating because I didn't understand why. Now I see that there's a certain order to the way things have been set before us, and certain tasks that need attention here and now before we can let our minds be completely in the walk, in the future.
Impatience; it's one of my worst struggles. It's not easy to not be worried about the walk all the time. It's a constant battle every day for me to focus on other things, like being a good RA and doing homework, things that I know are important and things I don't want to wish away too fast because I'm so impatient for the future to get here. Because then I worry, when it does come, am I only going to be worrying about what's going to come after that?
It's like that guy in that Sunscreen song says: "Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum." I've never been very good at algebra, and I'm not a big gum chewer, but I understand the point he's making. It reminds me of the part of the Bible where Jesus tells us to calm down and let tomorrow worry about itself, because today has enough trouble of its own.
Ahhh, how true that is. Tomorrow (or later today rather) Lauren and I are screening the cut of our film before the entire class, and it's the last one we get before we unveil our finished product at the end of semester. Hopefully, it'll be good enough that our teachers will see how much work we've done on it and they'll be ready to help us get going on pre-production for our documentary, which we need to start soon.
As of now, the semester ends in eight weeks. The walk begins two weeks after that. One day at a time, everyone, one day at a time...
The greatest thing so far has been the change in the weather. Last week, for the first time in a really long time, I was able to wear shorts and a T-shirt outside. I really love warm weather. Winter I don't handle as well - I can tell you I'm not particularly looking forward to the latter half of our trek, when things will turn colder.
We all had things we worked to accomplish over break, and besides my personal stuff (finish reading Catch-22, start some comic books, catch up on some writing, clean my room, etc.) I spent the greater part of the week at school continuing to edit my and Lauren's Film II project. It's a short, 5-minute flick we both wrote and shot together last semester (with the amazing Jonathan on sound), and this semester we're editing it as part of a post-production class.
Working on our Film II has been both a blessing and a curse. It has definitely been a learning process, and like all learning processes, you learn both things you got right and things you wish to heck you had done a lot differently. I think it's safe to say that we are finally getting our film to a place that we both like, but the hardest part has been trying to maintain focus on this smaller project while also trying to get everything together for our next, much larger project.
It's been a good exercise in patience and taking things one step at a time. Our film teachers have repeatedly told us to focus on our Film II before we worry too much about our senior overview, and at first it was frustrating because I didn't understand why. Now I see that there's a certain order to the way things have been set before us, and certain tasks that need attention here and now before we can let our minds be completely in the walk, in the future.
Impatience; it's one of my worst struggles. It's not easy to not be worried about the walk all the time. It's a constant battle every day for me to focus on other things, like being a good RA and doing homework, things that I know are important and things I don't want to wish away too fast because I'm so impatient for the future to get here. Because then I worry, when it does come, am I only going to be worrying about what's going to come after that?
It's like that guy in that Sunscreen song says: "Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum." I've never been very good at algebra, and I'm not a big gum chewer, but I understand the point he's making. It reminds me of the part of the Bible where Jesus tells us to calm down and let tomorrow worry about itself, because today has enough trouble of its own.
Ahhh, how true that is. Tomorrow (or later today rather) Lauren and I are screening the cut of our film before the entire class, and it's the last one we get before we unveil our finished product at the end of semester. Hopefully, it'll be good enough that our teachers will see how much work we've done on it and they'll be ready to help us get going on pre-production for our documentary, which we need to start soon.
As of now, the semester ends in eight weeks. The walk begins two weeks after that. One day at a time, everyone, one day at a time...
Monday, March 12, 2007
Nashville is my Narnia
I drove over 300 miles home today. I made it in 4 1/2 hours because I didn't stop to eat or use the bathroom or anything. I just drove, staring at the seemingly endless miles and miles of road. I had a lot on my mind. It's been a long eight weeks of being in school. We're working to get everything ready for the walk. I got a giftcard to Dick's Sporting Goods and one to REI for my birthday. We've been trying to track down maps from AAA to plan a more specific route. Lauren's writing a proposal and a grant. We're all still in school. It's overwhelming.
These thoughts crowded my head as I drove. About 3 hours into the drive I realized I hadn't seen anything along the way. It was all a blur in my mind. I could remember the near-accident I had getting out of St. Louis and the semi-truck that caused it. I could remember looking at the exit to make sure I was driving the right way. I couldn't remember the color of the trees, or even if the trees had any color. Things just flew by.
I started thinking about opportunity cost. Going back to my micro-economic class in high school. It was a concept that people always had trouble with. The opportunity cost being the next best thing you'd lose for the choice you were making. What was my opportunity cost for this walk? Studying abroad. I knew it instantly. That was what I would be giving up. Sure, there are other things I'm giving up, but this is the first one. It's my opportunity cost.
There is something so exciting to me about the unknown. The beauty of something being new and different that I expect to find when I travel outside the United States.
And then, as I was driving, I hit my favorite part of the journey. This one little section, right inside the Davidson County limits. It's Joelton. There are winding roads down and inside the hills. The trees loom and protect, offering comfort and wisdom as they stand tall. It all went by so quickly. The more the roads wound and deepened, the more mystery and excitement I felt. It was new, it was fresh. I felt as Lucy did, falling through the back of the cupboard. The furher in she went, the wider her eyes grew. At her fingertips was a world she never knew was there.
Nashville is my Narnia. Behind the roads and streets I know so well from living here 21 years is a world I have yet to experience. And if Nasvhille can be my Narnia, why not the United States. Why not that newness and freshness and beauty in the world right around me?
There's so much to do, and to be quite honest I'm nervous about getting it all done. Jonathan's setting up an account for people to be able to donate money. We're hoping it can be accessible this week. I'm trying to find maps between my travelling from St. Louis to Nashville and back and St. Louis to Ohio later this week. Matt's finishing up a current project at school that has to be gotten out of the way. Lauren's writing a grant.
Life is full.
Sigh.
These thoughts crowded my head as I drove. About 3 hours into the drive I realized I hadn't seen anything along the way. It was all a blur in my mind. I could remember the near-accident I had getting out of St. Louis and the semi-truck that caused it. I could remember looking at the exit to make sure I was driving the right way. I couldn't remember the color of the trees, or even if the trees had any color. Things just flew by.
I started thinking about opportunity cost. Going back to my micro-economic class in high school. It was a concept that people always had trouble with. The opportunity cost being the next best thing you'd lose for the choice you were making. What was my opportunity cost for this walk? Studying abroad. I knew it instantly. That was what I would be giving up. Sure, there are other things I'm giving up, but this is the first one. It's my opportunity cost.
There is something so exciting to me about the unknown. The beauty of something being new and different that I expect to find when I travel outside the United States.
And then, as I was driving, I hit my favorite part of the journey. This one little section, right inside the Davidson County limits. It's Joelton. There are winding roads down and inside the hills. The trees loom and protect, offering comfort and wisdom as they stand tall. It all went by so quickly. The more the roads wound and deepened, the more mystery and excitement I felt. It was new, it was fresh. I felt as Lucy did, falling through the back of the cupboard. The furher in she went, the wider her eyes grew. At her fingertips was a world she never knew was there.
Nashville is my Narnia. Behind the roads and streets I know so well from living here 21 years is a world I have yet to experience. And if Nasvhille can be my Narnia, why not the United States. Why not that newness and freshness and beauty in the world right around me?
There's so much to do, and to be quite honest I'm nervous about getting it all done. Jonathan's setting up an account for people to be able to donate money. We're hoping it can be accessible this week. I'm trying to find maps between my travelling from St. Louis to Nashville and back and St. Louis to Ohio later this week. Matt's finishing up a current project at school that has to be gotten out of the way. Lauren's writing a grant.
Life is full.
Sigh.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Talkin' 'bout Gas
Here's a few interesting articles I read in the BBC news about President Bush's trip to South America and the world's fuel situation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6430951.stm
AND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6430563.stm
They're both very interesting, especially to me. It's kind of ironic because I don't own a car, don't drive at all and am walking across the US. I'm very curious about what the United States and the world is going to do about fuel in our future. I am hoping that, in the time I do not own a car or drive, I might be able to decide whether or not I want to in the future. Right now...it's tough for a variety of reasons that would take entirely too long to explain.
Anyway, it's important to keep up with world news, so I thought I would share some favorite articles. I'm sure I'll post more in the future... relating to my various interests.
Thanks, Lauren
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6430951.stm
AND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6430563.stm
They're both very interesting, especially to me. It's kind of ironic because I don't own a car, don't drive at all and am walking across the US. I'm very curious about what the United States and the world is going to do about fuel in our future. I am hoping that, in the time I do not own a car or drive, I might be able to decide whether or not I want to in the future. Right now...it's tough for a variety of reasons that would take entirely too long to explain.
Anyway, it's important to keep up with world news, so I thought I would share some favorite articles. I'm sure I'll post more in the future... relating to my various interests.
Thanks, Lauren
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Baby's Birthday
I had a thought flying around in my mind this morning. Instead of writing it down, I had to take my astronomy midterm which over time allowed the thought to evaporate from my head.
I'll share what I had been thinking about as soon as it returns, but for now I want to take a little moment to remind myself that I am going to be 21 in just under three weeks. I'm growing up! Woohoo.
Happy Birthday to the baby of this walk. I'm the oldest of eight kids so being the baby of a group is a new special thing for me.
Well, I'm off to work. I'll get back to you on my thought from this morning the next time I write.
Take care, Lauren
I'll share what I had been thinking about as soon as it returns, but for now I want to take a little moment to remind myself that I am going to be 21 in just under three weeks. I'm growing up! Woohoo.
Happy Birthday to the baby of this walk. I'm the oldest of eight kids so being the baby of a group is a new special thing for me.
Well, I'm off to work. I'll get back to you on my thought from this morning the next time I write.
Take care, Lauren
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Disney Channel Addiction
"In the average home, the set (television) is on seven hours a day, with individual household members averaging three to four hours which means that someone living to age 80 would have spent a decade watching television." (Myer, 289)
"By the end of elementary school, the average child views some 8,000 TV murders and 100,000 other violent acts". (Myer, 289)
I was studying for my social psychology class, and found this information in my textbook, Exploring Social Psychology.
Last year, for Lent, I gave up television. I didn't think it would be a big deal, giving up my typical Disney Channel addiction and Arthur on PBS.
It was horrible. I never realized how much time my television watching had taken up. I found myself at a loss for what to do. I sat in my room and stared at myself in the mirror. I had time to think, to relfect, to stare out the window at the sunset.
I think I lasted about two weeks before I couldn't take it anymore, and turned my TV back on. I needed something mind-numbing, something distracting, and another reality to take over where mine was either failing to amuse me or too much to face.
After reading about how much time we actually do commit to an inanimate object, I started thinking, along the lines Jonathan did, at how wonderful this walk will be. I do not watch nearly as much television now, for lack of time and lack of a tv in my room, but there are still those moments that I waste, turning into a lard of fat on my bed or couch. Where will TV be walking across america? It will be watching us, following us, and tracking us down. It will be behind the lens of the camera....
I'll have so much time...to enjoy life as it comes, and see it with my own eyes. To experience it. Feel it, smell it, witness it, hear it, love it, hate it, enjoy it.
Well, I have to run to class and take a test and then to tech rehearsal tonight for my dance performance later this week.
Thanks to those that have been reading these posts and commenting, your words warm our hearts and encourage us for this crazy adventure we're planning to take.
"By the end of elementary school, the average child views some 8,000 TV murders and 100,000 other violent acts". (Myer, 289)
I was studying for my social psychology class, and found this information in my textbook, Exploring Social Psychology.
Last year, for Lent, I gave up television. I didn't think it would be a big deal, giving up my typical Disney Channel addiction and Arthur on PBS.
It was horrible. I never realized how much time my television watching had taken up. I found myself at a loss for what to do. I sat in my room and stared at myself in the mirror. I had time to think, to relfect, to stare out the window at the sunset.
I think I lasted about two weeks before I couldn't take it anymore, and turned my TV back on. I needed something mind-numbing, something distracting, and another reality to take over where mine was either failing to amuse me or too much to face.
After reading about how much time we actually do commit to an inanimate object, I started thinking, along the lines Jonathan did, at how wonderful this walk will be. I do not watch nearly as much television now, for lack of time and lack of a tv in my room, but there are still those moments that I waste, turning into a lard of fat on my bed or couch. Where will TV be walking across america? It will be watching us, following us, and tracking us down. It will be behind the lens of the camera....
I'll have so much time...to enjoy life as it comes, and see it with my own eyes. To experience it. Feel it, smell it, witness it, hear it, love it, hate it, enjoy it.
Well, I have to run to class and take a test and then to tech rehearsal tonight for my dance performance later this week.
Thanks to those that have been reading these posts and commenting, your words warm our hearts and encourage us for this crazy adventure we're planning to take.
Monday, March 5, 2007
saving the environment three at a time
Lauren made a relieving realization today at lunch. We wont be buying gas/using it this year starting in May, meaning the air will be that much cleaner. Which makes me that much more excited. I love traveling, and now doing so in an environmentally friendly manner makes it that much more exciting. I am excedingly guilty of driving more than necessary, mainly because I like going places. I want to start weening my self off of nonrenewable propulsion, I believe this walk is going to give me the means, drive and determination to work towards an entirely renewable way of travel. So I challenge everyone this summer/year to find environmentally clean and renewable ways of getting your self from A to B. I know this is an enormous Country but since we normally just traveling down the road most of the time I think we can all take the time to plan an extra half hour into our schedule for travel time on say a bicycle or how about your own stinky feet. Just bring an extra jacket and mittens if it's cold.
P.S. the wheather is gorgeous today. take at least fifteen minutes to enjoy a cup of tea outside.
P.S. the wheather is gorgeous today. take at least fifteen minutes to enjoy a cup of tea outside.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
tip tap typing
At this moment in time there are 2.5 months 190 days and 3,238 miles between us and Little River South Carolina. For some reason or another that doesn't really bother me right now. Actually it gets me really anxious and ready to pack up my stuff, sell the rest and just get out of here. But alas we have 2.5 months of school and about 4 months of planning and work to cram into about a 2 month time span.
I love this country for two reasons: there is always something new to discover in this land (there is usually a location or brief span of time somewhere that will remind you of a country you have either seen or been to), there is about 99% of the population that you really don't know anything about, regardless of the amount of television, radio or news you consume. And that is another thing, one of the most rewarding aspects of this trip will be, hopefully, the complete lack of direct contact with the mass media. As ironic as that is being a media major, I seriously need one enormous brake. I has been a dream of mine to live out of a backpack, ever since I watched "Alice's Restaraunt" with my dad in middle school. This is going to be fun and it's only just getting started.
I love this country for two reasons: there is always something new to discover in this land (there is usually a location or brief span of time somewhere that will remind you of a country you have either seen or been to), there is about 99% of the population that you really don't know anything about, regardless of the amount of television, radio or news you consume. And that is another thing, one of the most rewarding aspects of this trip will be, hopefully, the complete lack of direct contact with the mass media. As ironic as that is being a media major, I seriously need one enormous brake. I has been a dream of mine to live out of a backpack, ever since I watched "Alice's Restaraunt" with my dad in middle school. This is going to be fun and it's only just getting started.
Wanderlust
The history of walking is an unwritten, secret history whose fragments can be
found in a thousand unemphatic passages in books, as well as in songs, streets,
and almost everyone's
adventures. -Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust
If I were to be completely honest, I'd have to admit that when Lauren first said that she wanted our cross-country trek to be of a bipedal nature, I thought she was crazy. I mean, we were talking about travelling America, for goodness sake. Did she have any idea how big it was? How long walking it would take? How hard that would really be?
Besides, no one walks anywhere anymore!
This fact has been brought up to me time and time again as I tell people about what we're planning to do, whether it's a quizzical eyebrow being raised or a question like, "You're not taking a car?" The other day a friend whom I had just told about our idea good-naturedly quipped, "You know they have cars, buses, and airplanes now, right?"
Even as school began this year I wasn't completely sold on the idea of walking. That was until I was browsing around a used book store on the Delmar Loop and I came across a book that had to have been set out just for me. It was by a woman named Rebecca Solnit and the book was called Wanderlust: A History of Walking. "You've got to be kidding me," I thought. "A history of walking?!" Obviously, I couldn't resist. You should have seen the faces on the people with me when I explained to them what I had just spent my money on.
The book itself reads like a leisurely walk, at different paces and different speeds, stopping to linger on one point for a while before casually strolling along to the next. I am quite enjoying taking my time with it. Who knew that walking, like anything else, could have its own unique and varied history, from being the very first skill that separated human from animal, to marches for civil rights, to the modern-day walk-a-thons that raise money for worthy causes.
But walking is such a basic, common and for most people boring way of getting around it seems that these days we will do anything to avoid it. But if you look around, you'll see that as a species we are fixated with travelling. We're always inventing new and faster ways to get from one point to the other, and anymore, the actual act of taking the journey is just a slight inconvenience. If you think about it, travel and walking metaphor pervades our speech as well:
"Steering straight, moving toward the goal, going for the distance, getting ahead. Things get in our way, set us back, help us find our way, give us a head start or the go-ahead as we approach milestones. We move up in the world, reach a fork in the road, hit our stride, take steps. A person in trouble is a lost soul, out of step, has lost her sense of direction, is facing an uphill struggle or going downhill, through a difficult phase, in circles, even nowhere." (Wanderlust, p.73).
Wanderlust is defined as having a strong desire to travel, to get out and see the world. Based on what I have observed by how we think, talk, and behave, we all have it, in one form or another. It might be stronger in some people than others; more noticeable, more aggressive-but I haven't yet met a person who has not wanted to go somewhere or be someplace new, whether it was a new country, a position in a workplace, or a state of maturity.
We are constantly on the move. Rarely is it on foot anymore. It's too slow and too inconvenient. I don't like to walk anywhere if I know that it could save me time and energy to simply drive. I'm beginning to wonder now if that's why wanderlust seems to never be satiated. I neglect little moments each day when I am travelling, only because I'm too focused on getting where I need to be: to work, to class, to dinner, to a friend's house.
Now, I'm looking forward to walking across the country. I'm looking forward to being able to take my time with things, to slow down and really relish being in motion rather than always rushing to the next stopping point.
Perhaps by walking, by taking part in the one form of travel that I was made for so intrinsically, my wanderlust may finally be quenched.
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