IWALLK: A Living Magazine - Day 206 - Homecoming

After waking, disassembling the tent, and packing up, I took a picture of the spot...

I felt so primeval.

I always feel energized and excited on these early morning walks. There is something about knowing that I will be outdoors as the sun rises that motivates me to keep moving forward. There is also less traffic and the temperature is chilly, but perfect...

Reflection of steer.

Like I said, "Chilly."

And, there it is: one trillion one megaton hydrogen bombs exploding every second,

but far enough away to safely warm my face on a chilly morning.

The sun wears its Sol on the outside.

Not bad, like new, $17,000.

Chevy: Like a cross.

It was about seven miles or two and a half hours to the edge of Williamston...

The town seemed to love its ability to direct water. It's stone-lined channels looked idyllic, and I thought this was something I would keep in mind for my own property someday...

Then, after the picture of the crescent moon from the night before, came my opportunity to photograph a palmetto...

A morning sidewalk. No joggers in this town.

I wouldn't be spending much more than a couple hours in Williamston before the trek to Piedmont. But this little park (Mineral Springs Park) really impressed me. It must be very beautiful in the summertime. Instead of individual tables, It had groups of them under shelters, with gazebos, and mini-amphitheater-like seating areas, with wide, clean walkways, short grass, and of course, stone-lined channels...

Apparently, people over 6.5 feet must wear a helmet when walking here.

In my continuing effort to bring you South Carolina real estate deals...

A taste of antebellum, with a serious need for a facade lift on the right.

McDonald's was located right along the way, so I was able to touch base with my Facebook peeps and upload pictures from the day before. This was a good way to do long distances; seven miles at a time. When I'd slurped down my coffee and rested the left heel a bit (it was getting quite sore), I gathered up Saggy and headed back out again, toward Piedmont...

A look back at the town I had passed through. Goodbye, Williamston.

Loved this! I wondered if I could purchase a handful.

Perhaps I have a controversial view about the role of social and institutional religions. I've mentioned it before, but I guess I'll climb back out on that limb and say that I would love to see nearly all of the money they receive from tithing, donations, patrons, and tax breaks, go to feeding those who are hungry, clothing those who are naked, giving shelter to those who are exposed... Yes, it's a cliche-wish, born of their own Good Book.

I have seen the most ostentatiously huge churches, designed by top architects, able to fit hundreds of people into one service, surrounded by landscaped lawns, flawless flower gardens, benches that no one sits in (perhaps reserved for "The Lord"?). Their lavish rectory houses, the focus-figures, the gravity-holders, the men (more often than women), ready to dress in flowing robes, and cross the street or churchyard to their accustomed places in front of their awe-inspired flocks...and followers. All of that takes money--lots of money. Crystal cathedrals require huge budgets and master accountants.

I wonder if anyone has ever added it all up? I mean all of it, nationwide. I might try sometime. Well, here in the South, what I've seen is dirt poor churches doing the most True Service. This might be an overgeneralization. But at that risk, I have concluded for myself that most of the feeding, clothing and sheltering being done for the "unfortunate," is an indication that those who have "been there" are most willing to Serve those who are still "there"...

Why bottle and can return laws work and why the lack of them doesn't.

The more I see bamboo, the more uses I can imagine for it on my future property.

IF it can be grown in Maine, I will try.

The last few miles before reaching Piedmont were tough on my left heel. The hills increased and I always dread the descents more than the ascents. I stopped at the bottom of one of them, sat on a guardrail and removed each shoe to sweep out the bits of sand that had worked their way in from the road. I discovered that the left shoe had a hole developing in the "memory foam" right at the heel of the insole. It was losing its memory. I was also dismayed to see that the treads of both shoes were already wearing down, with holes developing in them. I'd bought them in Athens less than a month before. I am an erosive force on my clothes and equipment. It was something I was getting used to, but that didn't prevent my frustration. I put the shoes back on and made the rest of the hike into town.

I had decided to take a left at the intersection of 20 and 86, in order to visit the county library branch there and go to the McDonald's slightly farther on for the day's meal, before heading back to 20 and, once there, finding a sleep spot for the night; walking the rest of the way to Greenville the next morning...

Twelve miles to Greenville didn't seem so bad after the fourteen I'd just walked.

From the bridge over the Saluda River. Another area probably best seen in the summer.

Another fallen beauty, veiled by years of overgrowth, with it's own barn across the street.

No real estate sign available.

When I reached the library, I was nearly horrified to see that I'd struggled these extra miles for no reason. Although it was open, it was located in a tiny business space at a little mini mall, wedged between a local sub shop and a T-Mobile store. I walked up to the window and saw about a dozen shelves, one (occupied) desk, and a lonely, bored librarian tapping away on her iPhone. I sighed.

Plan B for work would be at McDonald's. The restaurant is reliable for Wi-Fi, but the information transfer speeds vary from slow to glacial. Just viewing Google Earth (a real necessity for me) can be a painstaking ordeal, watching as each tree comes into focus every five seconds. And, Street View is even worse. Turning the view works okay, but if I click on the arrow to move the view down the street, the whole image dissolves slowly, then there is black, then it reappears with a ten foot advance.

I'd walked this far, and McDonald's was only another half mile, so on I went. Upon seeing the golden arches, a sign for Pilot Travel Centers (a kind of convenience store for interstate travelers--in this case I-85) also came into view just below it. Big trucks drove in and out of the parking lot in an endless procession.

Shit! This was one of those combo stops. Usually, the restaurant itself will be a window in the wall, with a token table available to the first lucky customer. I steeled myself for more disappointment...

Upon approaching, I noticed that these two companies had teamed up with a Cinnabon store. Hey, the more the merrier...

I entered and was happy to see a few empty tables in the McDonald's section. One even had an AC outlet. I got a burger, fries and small drink, then sat to do as much work as I could before sundown. The Wi-Fi speed was exactly as I described above, so while Google Earth and Street View did their hokey, but very-pokey thing, I transferred more photos to the computer. Uploading them to the blog was out of the question.

As the sun seemed to race toward the horizon, I was able to locate a sleep spot, but saw these two characters--a bit of a turn off...

Two stray dogs. The image was from 2012, so it was unlikely that these particular pups

would still be roaming the area. But, if they could then, their descendants could now.

Just another thing to keep in mind. I was pretty bummed out that I'd walked all of this way, even past the city limits, now to walk all the way back to Route 20; only to then walk a mile and a half north of town for the sleep spot; possibly hound-hunted once I got there. It was a total of ten extra miles added on to the fourteen that had taken me from Belton that morning.

I did another sigh, stretched, looked at Saggy, who didn't seem to mind the extra walk at all. It had the easy job--holding stuff and riding along.

Walking back by the library, I took a shot just to show you how small it was...

I swear a library sits in there somewhere.

Walking at night - besides the constant need to make sure cars knew I was there, and police didn't - is always faster for some reason. By that, I mean the time doesn't drag. The roughly five miles went by quickly and the rest at McDonald's had helped with the heel issue.

The sleep spot I'd located on Google turned out to be quite nice. It's security signature (the perimeter) was ideal, as it was a triangle surrounded by three streets. Animals would be turned off from going into it. And any curious cars who might see me, would have to turn around on the busy road, then go back to investigate--which would be a pain in the butt. Also, the ground was unusually grassy, with patches of moss all around (meaning, little chance of ants)...

The green blob to the left was a mound of moss.

The night was quite cold, but the moss-covered ground was insulating and dry. There was no need for the new tarp to be laid down. I fell asleep quickly.