A Living Magazine - Day 324 - Homecoming - Torrington to Canton

The night before had been a blur. Here I was in this terrific room and all I did was sleep. Yes, I needed the sleep, but I could have done that in the woods for free. I consoled myself with the fact that I also got to take a shower. It would have been crazy to wash my clothes only to wear them without showering. I would have dearly liked to stay another night, but the cost was prohibitive. What I needed to do was find another place up the road in a few days that would be a cheap motel, one where I could spend two nights...

Anyone know what kind of clouds these are?

See what I mean? Nice room.

But my time in the room would not last. I needed to move on. I dropped off the key with the Hindu zombie to check out, then took off...

Ha!

This is the kind of sight I would see more often as I moved up

through Connecticut and Massachusetts; the common use

of solar panels on private residences.

Never seen this before.

Talk about good neighbors.

Right at this point, while walking along a chain link fence by the reservoir, a car pulled up in front of me (remember that I walk against traffic). It was a nice Mercedes. An older man rolled down the window on his passenger's side and asked me if I was walking by choice or not. I told him briefly about the project, and gave him a card. I introduced myself, and asked his name. "Peter," he said.

He looked at my card for a moment and told me it was interesting that my name was Alex, since he taught "the Alexander Method," and asked me if I knew what it was. I didn't, but didn't really have time to discuss it. I was frankly, but unduly, suspicious of the man.

It was a busy rush hour, and I asked him why he offered to give me a ride if he was going in the opposite direction. He said he'd passed me, going in the same direction, then turned around. It all sounded very odd. Eventually it became evident to him that I needed to keep walking. So, I said goodbye, and he drove off slowly. Then, when I had gotten about 100 feet farther, I saw he'd turned around, and he pulled up ahead of me, now driving in the same direction but on the other side of the road. He rolled down the driver's side window and yelled out, asking what my plans were for dinner.

Now, a different type of person - one whom I described hypothetically in a recent post as a "Type A" "people person" - would have looked at this as an obvious opportunity to get to know a new friend who was suddenly cast in front of me by the Universe. But I am not that kind of person. I needed to stick to my plan. I lied. I told him that I was meeting someone in Canton for dinner at 6:00 (which would be just around the time I would be there). He nodded, and again we waved and I continued on.

I can't tell you folks why I don't jump on these "opportunities." I'm not antisocial, or I wouldn't have met some many people around the country. I don't have the old social anxiety that I once suffered from. For godsake, I'm out in public 16 hours a day, seven days a week. There was just a feeling--a sense. I didn't feel comfortable with the situation. For better or worse he never did contact me again.

I have since looked up the Alexander Method (aka Alexander Technique)...

The Alexander Technique (AT), named after Frederick Matthias Alexander, is an educational process that develops the ability to realign posture and to avoid unnecessary muscular and mental tension. Alexander believed the individual's self-awareness could be inaccurate, resulting in unnecessary muscular tension such as when standing or sitting with body weight unevenly distributed, holding one's head incorrectly, walking or running inefficiently, and responding to stressful stimuli in an exaggerated way. Alexander said that those who habitually "misused" their muscles could not trust their feelings (sensory appreciation) when carrying out activities or responding to situations emotionally.

 Interesting. I suspect that he saw me walking awkwardly. I do have an awkward kind of walk, slouching a bit (even without the pack), and have never really known what to do with my arms. I've been teased about this in the past. It is what it is. However, since reading the article from which the above excerpt was found, I wonder? Perhaps he could have taught me how to carry myself more naturally. According to the article it is more for folks who are actually in pain from misusing their muscles. Well, I guess we'll never know...

As soon I got into Canton, I looked for a place to have dinner. There was a McDonald's, but I simply couldn't stand the idea of a McDonald's meal. I tried to only use them for Wi-Fi, with a drink. Naturally, if you aren't going to do fast food, you plan on spending $12-$20 at a place with actual food. I found a little new strip mall area with all the places a Nomad could possibly want. And, there was a place called Mikado Asian Bistro. Good enough. I went in and ordered the "Happy Family," a mixture of chicken, pork, shrimp, beef and vegetables in a "tasty brown seafood sauce."

In short? It was excellent, and came with sticky steamed white rice. As my one meal for the day it was really perfect. And, unlike most Asian buffets I've been to, it didn't give me the "Asian hangover" of cheap food--where you need to use the bathroom the minute dinner is over.  

Instead, when dinner was over, if was time for finding a sleep spot. I stopped into McDonald's and checked the Google Earth green areas nearby. It was just hard to tell. So I figured I would just wing it. I left and walked along 202 until I saw land for sale.

This is usually a possibility. Yet, this spot was open and fairly exposed. What I did see was a place between it and a Land Rover dealership. The spot was down a hill and at the bottom of a small ravine. It was dry, thankfully. But best of all, it had something that I often look for but rarely find: a large spruce tree that had lower branches touching the ground in a ten foot diameter. Between the outer branch tips and the trunk was a large space. I got in there and excavated an area large enough for the tent...

It was good, safe, dry, unable to be seen from any direction. It would allow me to sleep-in in the morning. It was later than I liked to go to bed, about 9:30 p.m. But hey, I was happy to have found it. Sleep came easily within about 10 minutes.