A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Days 13 to 15 - Still Wallking

This week I would walk into town and back each day. I definitely enjoyed each trip to town and dreaded each trip back, because of the constant uphill effort. I did discover that taking Middle Road made life much easier for the return walk.

The architecture of Farmington (I think) is quite unique. It is a clean and prosperous little town. A large percentage of the houses are historic. Not only do they have that look of distinct and lasting quality, but they're also well appointed with interesting plants and gardens. Flowers are well represented in nearly every yard. I will do a whole post about Farmington's houses and building at some point. For now, I think this house gives a good idea...

I love how understated and comfortable this place looks.

Perfect example of Victorian sensibility.

As I mentioned in a past post there are many apples trees along the way to town. There are also a lot of wild and Concord grape vines. The wild vines are simply invasive and don't produce grapes. In desperation, one could eat their leaves. Wild grape leaves are more palatable than the leaves of domesticated grape plants. I have been waiting for these Concords to ripen... 

Besides forgetting to fill the water containers I'd brought to the land, there were other things that I had not anticipated. The steep climb up the mountain road to my dirt road was one. I could imagine how hard that was going to be in the winter time. If I had a job by then, I could just see myself walking in the icy or slushy road conditions, in the darkening late afternoons, only to arrive at my unplowed dirt road for another 1/4 mile trek to the cabin. This was going to be a challenging life for sure.

I had a 3 year mortgage to pay off, but getting through just the first year looked to be the challenge of a lifetime. If I could really do it - survive and establish myself - then the rest of the time should become easier and less stressful.

As we have seen, walking and "wallking" (meaning intentionally using walking as a way to think and process information, among other things including simplifying life) is something I have been willing to do. Here in Farmington it really is no different than walking up the East Coast of America, except that I see the same things each day, and my "sleep spot" is a secured piece of my own land (a great triumph for me personally).

Will I be able to complete this greatest of all my wallks? It is a long distance Journey through experience, rather than through a changing landscape. Even if I have to somehow survive in the tent through the winter, if I don't die or become injured in some way, I will make it work somehow.

Each evening I solidified a set of habits upon returning home. The backpack got hung up on a railing, the fire was lit, the food was prepared and then consumed...

The local grocery store, Tranten's, has a good deal on mushrooms,

so I've been buying and stuffing them when I'm able. Instead of breadcrumbs,

I've found that bread itself works well. I smear in butter, then place a piece

of bread and top it with veggies and/or cheese. I'm becoming

a bit of an expert on cooking various things over an open flame.

The time after sundown is for rumination and planning, meditation and occasionally communion with the Spark...

As I've mentioned previously, probably the greatest blessing about living here is seeing these sunsets--every one is an exquisite natural painting of glory, lasting but a short time and never to be experienced again, except through the inadequacy of photographs like the one above. To think that I will be able to look forward to at least ten more years of sunsets makes me happy--yes, even me.

Interestingly, having a western view also gives me weather heads up. In Maine the wind usually blows from west to east. When I see dark clouds over those mountains, I know they will be over me within a short amount of time. On the other hand, when I see a bright patch lighting up sky in the west I know clearing is coming.

The wallk goes on. The figurative road never ends for me, as it never ends for any of us. sometimes I think that the only difference between my road and the roads of most folks is that I KNOW I'm wallking. I choose to do it. It is my Will-Choice. It took a long time - my whole life - for this moment, this last chapter to arrive. My will finally seems to have synced with the will of the Spark.

And when I lie down to sleep each night, I can truly appreciate just how much more healthy it is for me to be out in nature. Good sleep had become a fiction at my sister's place. Now I was able to be advantaged by the inclusion of a regained dream life and the physical rest it included.