At about 5:00 a.m. I heard thump, thump, thump, raugh, raugh... Deer; two or three. My impulse was to get up and take some pictures of them. I sat up and opened the flaps to look out. Unfortunately, they were down in a gully and it was still very dark out. They knew I was there (animals always do). I just lay back down and listened to them walk around. Even for their size and weight, their hooves are designed by evolution to make the smallest possible sound. You'd think leaves would be noisy, and they are. Yet, while humans can't help making our walking presence known with our relatively flat feet and poor eyesight, deer are usually only heard when they want to be.
Another thing I'd like to mention about deer. We see them as afraid of everything, as kind of dumb (being caught in headlights, etc.), but such is not the case. First of all they stomp on the ground very aggressively to announce that they are there. If they have to, they will literally kick your ass all over the woods. Their role in nature as a "prey" animal is somewhat misunderstood. Even wolves will not usually go after a big buck unless they are pretty sure nothing else is around to eat, or the deer is sick and/or injured. Deer can be intimidating.
I remember once when I was sleeping at a forgotten cemetery in Crafton, Pennsylvania on the Manifest Destiny Journey (a suburb of Pittsburgh), I had my first close up run-in with a deer. This was before I had the tent and I just slept out on my old tarp in the sleeping bag. Early in the morning on that day, I heard the stomping right next to me. I rolled over to see a six point buck. He started barking at me. I couldn't believe how loud it was. Scared the shit out me. I looked around and noticed something I hadn't seen when bedding down. I was sleeping right in the middle of a deer trail. I was afraid he'd attract people to the area, so tried to shoo him off, thinking he'd just run away. Not a chance.
He stepped closer, calling my bluff. I was like, "Okay, big boy, maybe we can talk this over..." He was having none of it, and lowered his head. I stood up slowly and grabbed all my stuff (the pack was much bigger then, with all kinds of junk strapped on), crumpled up the tarp and slunk away backwards a little way into the woods. Wasn't good enough. He stomped and stepped forward again. That was it, Man. With my pack half on, and the tarp under my arm, I slowly retreated out to the roadside, where I got my shit together and continued on my walk. Looking back, I noticed that he was sniffing the ground where I had been. Lesson from that day: Respect the strength and resolve of deer.
I really feel that I understand them now. I have not yet been confronted with a wild animal that I didn't see as noble in their own way. They just do what they do. That's the thing about animals. There are no "good" or "bad" ones. Those are human projections of character. We demonize certain creatures and make fun of others. But ultimately, we are only talking about ourselves. It can be our way of collectively feeling more comfortable with the fact that we are now so separated from nature as to be alien to the very earth upon which we evolved beside all of these other critters. It makes us feel better to discount and even persecute and kill innocent creatures for no other reason than to hold on to the illusion that we rule the world--we need to show it who's boss. We may have the power to destroy the world, but we don't rule it.
I packed up quickly, not being able to get back to sleep. Then I stood around for about a half hour hoping to catch a glimpse of the deer, but they had gone back deeper into the woods. I walked back out onto Serenity Drive, then Route 105 and down to McDonald's...
Outside McDonald's. And, I thought that I let my last boots get bad!
I bought the coffee and started up Route 18 which connected with Route 29, my main highway lately...
Here's a distant relative of some kind. There is also a
Wall Street--but I guess that's not saying much.
It was another interminably grey day, chilled and damp.
This vineyard - such as it was - was for sale. I had a fleeting vision
of the vineyards I passed every day when I lived for four months in Livermore, California.
But they didn't look like this.
But they didn't look like this.
Some of you will remember this story from Facebook. About five miles south of Blacksburg, I had a slightly traumatic experience involving a dog. I hear dogs barking at me all the time. It is a constant and - after a while - irritating thing. Only three times on this last Journey have unleashed dogs run up to me.
One time it was a very angry dog (German Shepherd) and I did not react at all. This confused him and he never got close. The next time it was a white pitbull-mix, with blue eyes, that came bounding down a hill on the same side of the road on which I was walked. She didn't look angry, so I said, "Hi pup!" Her tail went up and she waddled up to me to be petted and scratched. It was very busy on the road. And, her owner, who was in the driveway fixing his car, didn't even call her back, though he knew she was there. I found this disturbing. I had to keep pulling her back from running out in front of cars. I decided to just keep walking and she kept up behind me for about 100 feet then ran home.
Yesterday was the third time. I was doing my road shoulder thing and I heard two tiny dogs on the other side of the street go bananas. They were up on a hill and ran as fast as they could (all I saw were two little tails above the grass) across the yard and then toward the driveway. I wouldn't have even looked, but I heard them getting closer and closer as they ran down the driveway. Cars were flying by at 60 mph.
Finally, I stopped and watched as the two (both miniature dachshunds) run right into the lane of traffic across from me. The black one was the leader and the brown one followed him, but was unsure what they were getting themselves into, and held back a bit.
I was horrified. The last thing I needed was to watch yet another dog get killed, especially trying to get to me!
There was no time to do anything. A white SUV came charging up the lane the dogs were in and the brown one ran back to the edge of the road. The black one stood and yipped at me. I yelled, "No, you're gonna hit!"
As the car (which didn't slow down before or after this) reached the driveway, I tried to turn away. I didn't want the image to loop in my mind for the next month. But, I couldn't help turning back, and saw the car pass right over the little black dog who, by the grace of Something, had stayed in the middle of the lane. It yipped as the muffler touched its back on the way by; the dog being straddled by the car's tires on each side. Good thing it was a small dog!
Then, just before another car reached him, he turned and ran back to his friend on the side of the road, and they both continued to bark as they sprinted back up the driveway and over to the house, looking over their shoulders occasionally at me.
It was just TOO close a call. Even though the dog wasn't hurt, it affected me for the rest of the hike. The owners of those dogs were out in the driveway as I walked away. They never said anything. They saw what happened. And, as I said, the white SUV never slowed down. And, he knew what he had done. He had no idea that he hadn't killed the dog, but he absolutely knew that he had driven over it.
I really do think sometimes that the majority of people - though well intentioned - are cowardly and irresponsible with their lives and the lives of others (including animals) when driving. They would rather turn away, keep driving, pretend nothing happened, etc., than correct themselves or face the situations they let happen. All the while, they will go onto Facebook and click "like" on any heartwarming animal stories that same night.
I see a lot out here. I see just how terribly some people drive (not just with the texting, but in general). Only about 10% of the cars that pass me (I walk on the left hand side of the road, against the flow of traffic--it is illegal and insane to do otherwise), will move over at all. That is with no breakdown lane and a steep, badly maintained shoulder. One in ten cars will move far out of the way, or at least enough to give me a good five feet. I always give the peace sign to any driver whose driver's side wheels pass fully over the middle line to avoid me.
I honestly believe that over 80% of the people who pass by me would keep driving if they hit me. They would pretend they didn't know, or they would figure I'm just another vagrant, useless, homeless man and that no one would care anyway. Okay, maybe not, but I can only judge by what I observe.
In person, people are very kind and respectful to me. But get them in their cars - or, shit, even in their driveways next to their cars - and many of them become unfeeling robots who could not care less about people who walk, and apparently even their own pets near the road.
I know I sound jaded and cynical. But you really can't judge yourself from behind the wheel. Much more is revealed about you from the walker's perspective. PLEASE, keep these things in mind. When it really boils down to it, I know that drivers are good people who don't want to hurt anybody or anything. They must simply keep in mind that being in their cars is not an excuse for them to become stupid or careless. Just because the occupants of a car are relatively safe, the rest of the world is not safe from them. And, in many ways, the world is a less safe place because of them.
There is something about the interior of a car (I know, I've had a dozen cars and love to drive) that makes the outside world seem more like a movie; something that is not really happening. But it is happening, and some of us who don't drive are depending on drivers checking their reality meters every now and then. Animals would appreciate it too. I was shaken up but continued on...
Muddy river 606.
A larger, muddy river.
Blacksburg finally came into sight after eight miles of mostly walking on the grass shoulder. I'd given up on the back and forth from road to grass, because it had become maddening. The cars didn't care anyway. It took a toll on my calves and ankles, but the heel didn't hurt as badly. Like a reoccurring dream, I walked by yet another cemetery, and the obligatory plastic flower...
Blacksburg was much smaller than Gaffney. Its downtown area wasn't even a mile in length. I found the library and settled in to write my post, keeping an eye on the time. I was absolutely determined to cross the border into North Carolina. I left around 3:00 p.m. for the six mile walk to Grover, North Carolina...
The iconic magnolia cone. I'd shown so many in architecture lately,
I thought this might be a good chance to show the real thing.
Once a railway.
Once a cabin.
Once filled with junk.
Again, I only got the welcome sign as I left. Ha!
Imagine walking all day on this shoulder.
What number are we on now?
The more hours of the day go by, the more painful and slow the walk becomes. Eventually, the buildings went by with greater frequency, and the trash increased...
I knew I was at the border!
I'd reached Grover. South Carolina is the only state that I've walked through entirely. In all other states I have taken some form of transit to some destination. In fact, since walking out of Athens, Georgia on this Homecoming Journey, I have had taken no transport from town to town. I felt proud of this. And, I hope to continue it as long as I can. I have a feeling that as I get near Washington D.C. I will have to take a bus in and out of it--maybe some other cities too. The other situation that might require such a thing is an injury.
Intellicast had shown that the next day would be sunny, for once. I was treated to a beautiful sunset. Sailor's delight. I didn't really even know it was there until the backs of the signs in front of me began to turn pink and then orange...
A look back.
I'd made damn sure to find a pretty reliable sleep spot on Google Earth before leaving Blacksburg, and it took no time at all to walk through Grover and get to it. It was across from some kind of trucking company. I saw no signs discouraging a night's sleep, so I crossed the highway and went straight up into the woods. The place was very good--or so it seemed; clean and somewhat grassy. I wedged in between several small pine trees, and set up the tent...
The security profile was excellent. Except for a couple ATV trails and a big open woods behind me, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be bothered. The only other thing was that I had unwittingly positioned myself across from the driveway of the trucking business. There were headlights on my position periodically throughout the night. But I relied on what I've called "light blindness": the phenomenon at night whereby the illuminated trees and other objects are all that is seen, even when I'm right behind them and would be visible in the daytime. Light can obscure things just as well as shadows. I fell asleep, but it was not very restful as I will describe in the next post.
Grover Sleep Spot.
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