October 2007Mon Oct 1: Am back in D.C. and sitting in a small park area amidst the large building listening to a man play the trumpet, he is sitting on the corner with a bag to collect money-it is neat how as I sit I see how people stop to sit on a bench for a couple minutes or stop and chat to him, what a gift he has given to people, to bring a pause filled with enjoyment. Well, he is packing up-he is taking his circle of foam he sat on, puts it in the 5 gallon bucket seat-puts that in the army sack and neatly puts it on his back walking to another corner. Walked thru Rock Creek Park and then went onto roads. I called Joe and Mary at a crossroads. Joe is an extremely active man when it comes to outdoor education. I have only met Mary and Joe one time. It was 3 or 4 years ago and I was on a day hike in the Smokies when I met Joe on the trail, he had asked me if I could help him with his shoe, the sole was flopping and all he had was a shoelace to tie around it. I used my duct tape and wrapped it for him. We exchanged information and here we are. Joe stopped by the headquarters of American Hiking Society and shared what I was doing.
Tues Oct 2: Went to the library and to the Rotary meeting in Silver Spring I just called a Rotarian this AM to see if I could have a couple minutes at the meeting. When I got to the meeting I had a nice surprise because the guest speaker didn’t show up, so I was able to have the whole meeting to speak. I was trying to find a place to camp that would be safe-it is still very urban and not very safe to sleep in the parks, I came across the St. Ann’s home for children and inquired if I could camp on the grounds-they told me sister was in a meeting and I needed her approval. I waited for an hour and then sister came out and walked with me outside to see if there was a suitable area to sleep, it was bright and would be noisy. Because I’d be able to be watched by the watchman and cameras she decided to let me sleep on the couch in the front room.
Wed Oct 3: Continued walking to Park Dale H.S. where I met George who had emailed me earlier this summer to invite me to speak to his students. I went home with Joy, one of the teachers of students I will be speaking to.
Thurs Oct 4: I spoke to 7 classes-all ESOL (English Speakers of other languages) what a diverse school! In the activity of the day I lost my hip belt buckle so later Joy took me to REI where I was able to buy another one. Two of the classes I had a student interpreter translate everything I said.
Fri Oct 5: I’m taking the day off, I had caught a cold and it feels good to sleep in.
Sat Oct 6: Walked from Greenbelt to Bowie where I met the Maryland Trail coordinators, Harry and his wife Joan spent the night.
Sun Oct 7: Went to church and then continued walking passing thru some pretty countryside.
Mon Oct 8: I have been given a name of a couple that has invited me to stay with them while in Annapolis. Annapolis has one of the best set-ups of Internet signup/use that I’ve seen at a library.
Tues Oct 9: Julia brought out her dads bike, I pumped up the tires last night & will be able to ride it around town to get myself around very convenient! Woke early to get to the Rotary-after the Rotary I met a lady who was in the hall, she wasn’t in Rotary & asked what I was doing. After telling her, she took my mission letter and told me she’d share it with her reading club-that was a purposeful bathroom visit.
Wed Oct 10: Spoke to Kiwan’s club this afternoon and spent afternoon tooling around on the bike. There is a boat show going on, it’s the most boats I’ve seen before! Julia teaches Hula. I went to her class and was able to participate what a beautiful style of dance! The language has layers of meaning, the music is peaceful to listen to, and it makes me miss dancing regularly.
Thurs Oct 11: Woke early to ride the bike to speak to a Kiwanis breakfast club. It’s finally chilly out J. Rode back to the house and said bye to Julia and Jeff then walked back downtown to speak to the Rotary lunch club. Continued walking after the meeting to the Bay Bridge. When I got to the tollbooth I put my pack down to get my phone. Pedestrians are not allowed to cross the 4+-mile bridge. Before I could call a police car pulled over next to me asking if my car was broken down. I think its funny when people ask me this-isn’t the backpack an obvious sign I’m walking? Well, I got a ride across and didn’t even have to pay the $2.50 toll. When I got to the other side the officer was uncertain where the trail was, he let me out and I meandered around till I came across it. It was almost dark but I kept walking to get past a soccer field where they had a crowd blowing air horns and a loud announcer-walked past school grounds and went till it was quiet and had some brush to hide me well. Put my tent up where I wouldn’t be seen and slept great-I love this cooler weather! It rained but my tent had no leaks J the seam seal did the job.
Fri Oct 12: Walked to the library, spent a couple hrs and then continued to Queenstown. Stopped at a café and was invited to stay and listen to music-I asked if there was a park close by I could camp in because I didn’t want to try and find a place after dark in town. They invited me to stay upstairs-it is a B&B and they have a room they used to rent but is not being used-the reason is because the room next to it contains loud birds-thru the night they were quiet because there was a radio on. A funny sign on the wall says “no making the bed or you will have to hand wash the sheets in the Chesapeake Bay, banging them on the rocks, for hours and hours…”
Sat Oct 13: Since Bowie I’ve been putting rail markers up. Well, I’m back from an awesome time on the water with Captain Bill-sailing is a powerful feeling-Bill let me steer and wow! It feels so neat when the sails catch the wind and you tilt, it is such a solidly smooth sailing feeling. I am so grateful for all these fun experiences. A Bible verse that was going thru my mind yesterday is “Be good stewards of Gods varied graces.” It really applies to my desire to encourage people to apply their talents to the needs around them. I realize what a faulty person I can be at times, but trust that God does not give up on us-if we are willing to please Him, He’ll use us. Bill & Toni invited me to stay at their house tonight. I walked to church a couple miles out of town.
Sun Oct 14: On my way out of town had a runner stop and ask if I was hiking the ADT-then he asked if he could walk a little with me. Mitch is the caretaker for the one and only shelter on the ADT, it is about 15 miles away in Tuckahoe (SP?) After Mitch turned around Harry and Joan pulled over, they were on their way back from dropping John Fazel off at the DE/MD border. A couple hours later John and I met up-we haven’t seen each other since California! John is the CA coordinator and helped Rich (Leprechaun) and I thru some of the trail out there. John is bicycling to the meeting that I’ll attend the day after. I completed my walk. I found a children’s book belonging to a school library on the side of the road, I put it in my pack and will take it to the next library. When I reached Tuckahoe and found the shelter and was surprised to find in the hiker log a note from Jakob and Tama as well as Mike and Crystal (Westbound ADT hikers I’ve met). I went down to the lake to wash myself up and as I was sitting down drying off my feet an Indian man approached me asking if I had been swimming. I explained what I was doing and had a really neat conversation. Almost every day there is a person who stops me, we talk and they hand me a donation. This man is Hindu and he gave me a beautiful way to visualize faith-he said the Hindus believe faith is like a pearl on a necklace, each different faith is a separate pearl, yet they are all connected together by our belief in the same God.
Mon Oct 15: Walked to Denton, the librarian there accepted the book I found and will give it to the school. After getting groceries I walked out of town and camped in some woods.
Tues Oct 16: This morning after I took down my tent and was packing up, a truck stopped alongside the road. It took about 15 minutes before I was packed and the truck was still there. I heard a guy coming thru the woods and realized it was a survey marking guy-I said hello and I think I startled him as I walked by him to go to the road. I doubt if that has happened to him much. I stopped by a house to ask if I could sit under their tree as I ate lunch they invited me in- Pearl and Earl married 61 years! About 2 hours before sunset a man riding a bike asked me what I was doing and then asked if he could walk a while with me. Gary invited me back to his home to meet his family and spend the night. They have sheep and I never knew before that the males sound different than the females-the males have a gurgling burping sound. I’m in Delaware today!
Wed Oct 17: The trail used some nice country roads going past Redder State Forest-the trees are charging and the fields of beans are the color of pumpkin pie. Gary met me at the crossroad of where his pastor lives and drove me to meet him. Then I got to go to a Chamber of Commerce mixer-many of the business people of Georgetown were there-I got to explain what I’m doing and met quite a few people before going to the Bible study at Gary’s church. After church we went to dinner at the most diverse pizza restaurant I’ve ever been to-they had pork chops, pasta, seafood, pizza, vegetables, hamburgers, teriyaki chicken…crazy. Went home with a lady from church after talking a good two hours.
Thurs Oct 18: Walked to a sandwich shop and waited for mom to call me. From where mom picked me up we have just 7 more miles to walk to the ocean! It’s great to see mom again.
Fri Oct 19: We walked around town looking at the houses and even stopped at a museum copied after a building in Holland. The Dutch settled this area. We drove to where I stopped yesterday and Jim Sharer (prayer walker) and mom and I began our last 7 miles. It rained on and off, it poured so hard that the road had a good amount of water and when cars went by, it sent up a wave nearly as tall as us. Well my emotions are many, I’m thankful for all the good people I’ve met along the journey with oodles of gratitude to God for all the blessings He has surrounded me with. I also feel sad about the end of the walk-I love getting to walk all day-the adventure of each day, yet I also feel excited and happy about having completed my walk knowing that the library will be able to be built because of all the energy, enthusiasm, commitment and passion I’ve displayed. I eagerly anticipate being home this winter and for my return to Kenya. When we got to the beach it had stopped raining and we got to see dolphins! Gary, the bike rider whom I met the other day came to the beach and joined us awhile, and then we met David Bartoo, the Delaware coordinator.
Sat Oct 20: Woke early this morning and drove an hour to Leesburg to attend the annual American Discovery Trail board meeting. I was welcomed in and invited to share my insight/advice about the trail. I have read books about these people-the original trail team members I met when I came thru the state they coordinated for.
I am home organizing myself and am contemplating how each person’s journey in life is not alone-God is with us always and people need one another-we are interconnected to help encourage one another. I like to envision life’s journey as a hike. When we fully trust God and give our will to Him daily, then the Lord helps carry our load and our burden is light. We are able to walk eagerly and lightly by Him. But when we hold back with certain aspects of our lives from relinquishing it over to the Lord, then we have added baggage that causes our pace to slow and may cause us to stumble and feel distressed. There is so much we don’t understand, but we must have faith that God is concerned about our life, every aspect of our life. God can use each of us to serve Him and minister to others, but we must trust that He sees the whole BIG picture and we can only see our limited view-we must place our trust in God!
As I am organizing my things I’ve been going thru my mail and catching up on reading. A wonderful organization called Living Waters International sends me newsletters on their progress. I’ve been reading them and its spurred me to write more in my journal.
The passion of my mission is to encourage people to apply their talents to the needs around them. That happens when we open our hearts. My favorite beatitude is:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” -Mt 5:6
This feeds my soul-after all the time and energy I’ve used and will continue to give to try and allow God to use me to touch peoples hearts… if I found out at the end of my life that was the end, nothing more, I’d still live the way I am. I have no doubt that God exists, I’d rather live as if He existed and find out I’m wrong than live as if He didn’t and find Him asking me what I’ve done with life.
The greater our awareness is of the needs throughout the world the more we see that God has given us opportunities to make a difference. We must employ our gifts as “good neighbors” not just as problem solvers-we must base actions on love.
