So Many Questions Grasshopper
DAY 180 / 1118 MILES
I was at a dentist appointment the other day and when the Walk Around Lowndes topic came up, Dr. Robinson asked what I had learned? I mumbled a meaningless filling, having not formed any pearls of wisdom at this incomplete stage of the journey. (More painful than the drill was that I thought my bumbled response confirmed my father’s oft repeated opinion that I really was an ignoramus). But I’m glad the question was asked, as the scope of the exploration does indeed warrant comment on impressions and lessons learned. What I learn won’t likely be an impression, but impressions. Wishing not to repeat another silent Tar Baby response if asked, it spurred me to draft a few questions to which I should seek and provide the answers to, when the last foot of the last street has been walked. (I’d welcome questions from any curious followers too). Now, I’ll be a miner for nuggets of local gold. A few facets to examine under the loop include:
- What aspects of Lowndes County was I most impressed with?
- What conditions or things caused the most disappointment?
- What was the most interesting area/s in which to walk? The most boring?
- Did I ever feel threatened or unsafe?
- Did I experience any weight change or health challenges over the course of the entire walk?
- Did I find anything valuable along my way?
- What was the most interesting or peculiar object found?
- If I could do it all over, would I repeat the fund raiser attempt? Web site? etc.
- Would I encourage others to take on the quest? Any advice I’d give?
- Will there be a follow-up quest?
- Were the 9 books I read on walking helpful?
- What are the best walking shoes?
- What is the most significant thing I learned about Valdosta?
- Was I surprised by any thing associated with the project?
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Also, I wanted to mention a couple of experiential truffles this blind hog found this week. On two occasions, and by complete chance, I encountered long time dear friends whom I had not seen for decades. They are Brian Strickland, and Gary & Jane Chanove. Both encounters triggered a gush of endorphins released by catching up, reminiscing, and laughing. Who knows how much longer it would’ve taken to see them had I not gone for a walk. As I’ve mentioned, discovering the unexpected is the greatest joy of this whole project.
Coming to a neighborhood near you, let’s go for a walk!
This week’s quote:
“The most perverse of all devices in the gym is the treadmill. Perverse, because I can understand simulating farm labor, since the activities of rural life are not often available —but simulating walking suggests that space itself has disappeared. It eliminates the unpredictable and unforeseeable from the routine—no encounters with acquaintances or strangers, no sudden revelatory sights around a bend. On the treadmill, walking is no longer contemplating, courting, or exploring, it just becomes alternate movement of the lower limbs.” Rebecca Solnit.