Local Exploration

This is something I wrote back on May 27...

What a great day for a long walk!

The sun was sparkling bright, the wind was cool and the air was clear and bright. I've been settling in well here at my good friends' house in Casco. Buddy took no time at all getting adjusted. He is also reluctantly growing to know the little dog, Max.

Buddy is old, deliberate and stuck in his ways. He only has three legs, so moving slowly is his preference. Max - on the other hand - is young, hyper and will do anything at any time. And though Max could run circles around Buddy the two of them seem to have worked out an arrangement. Max came a little too close a couple times, and Buddy batted him, without using claws, though Max squealed as if Buddy had ripped him open in a bloody tirade!

I've been letting Buddy stay outside on the sunny days while I walk. And today was perfect. Buddy is a sun follower. As soon as he ventured outside, he began luxuriating in the sand driveway soaking up the sun, just like this (from a few years ago)...

Buddy Rubbing in the Dirt

I made an exploratory walk last Thursday to check out some of the surrounding roads. The closest store is in Naples. And I am in Casco Village (which is actually at the northwestern edge of the town of Casco). Naples is famous for its Causeway--a small strip of land between Long Lake running to the north and Brandy Point running to the south. There is a marina and a pier where the Songo River Queen II docks...

Songo River Queen II

First, was the walk into Casco Village, past the post office and the library, until I reached Leach Hill Rd (about 1/2 mile from the house). Immediately that road climbs up a relatively steep mountain for about 1,000 ft, to an elevation about 500 ft above the village. At the top are several beautiful barns and a couple old horse farms with northern views. Viewed on Google Maps one can see how Leach Hill Rd runs southwest for about mile, then sharply turns northwest for another half mile, then plummets down to the southwest for a mile until it intersects with Poland Springs Rd (Route 11).

Essentially, that first thousand feet on Leach Hill Rd is the only uphill part. The rest of the nearly two and a half miles is a slow, enjoyable downhill walk; which is nice until you realize that it will be a two and a half mile slog back.

Where Leach reaches Poland Springs Rd, it is a further two and a half miles southwest until Roosevelt Trail (Route 302) is reached, along with a Big Apple convenience store, with another, bigger store about 2,000 ft further southeast, which I also visited.

It is about one and a half miles back west, past Poland Springs Rd, and onto the Causeway. When I got there I sat on a bench looking out across Long Lake for about 15 minutes. 

I haven't been sleeping well for the last couple of nights and it was starting to catch up with me. I had just walked nearly seven miles and it was another six and a half back.

The walk home was characteristic of many return  journeys. I fell easily into a second wind, which for me, means a meditative state. That uphill slog I dreaded went by easily. Sometimes going uphill is actually easier.

I am having a resurgence of feelings about society as Iwallk through it this year, similar to how I felt two years ago, but more so. I view all of the social activities that I no longer participate in as even more primitive than I found it back then, and the reluctance of the majority of people to even contemplate changing the way they think about what is "normal." For this reason, as has been the watchword of this blog, "simplification" will continue to be my focus, and ways of achieving it my goal. So, I will be delving back into these and other subjects in coming posts.