Moving Toward the Pilgrimage Three Hours at a Time

Today, I had three hours of relatively unstructured time and I'm ending it feeling more convinced than ever that the N2N-TCP is calling. Three hours isn't really enough time to escape the urban area I'm in, and the options for doing something seem relatively limited.

One thing that's available in spades is the opportunity to pay homage at the temples of materialism. They're ubiquitous, but with minimalism on the mind they don't have the draw for me that they once held in the past. Going to the mall to look at things I don't need feels like a big waste of time. I'd rather be out alone on the trail, encountering vistas like this one.

Day's End - Fairhope, AL

On the surface, watching the sunset isn't any more or less valuable than walking the mall, but for some reason it feels closer to whatever it is that I'm seeking in the journey.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, but it's clear that I have to focus my efforts on making the Transcontinental Pilgrimage a priority.

Sunset Finale - Fairhope, AL

Tonight will likely be the last evening I spend in southern Alabama for a week or two, and the sunset in Fairhope, AL seems a fitting nightcap on the way out of the area.

Heading into the Sunset - Fairhope, AL

Chasing the sunset is proving to be quite a rewarding past time and source of awe as I progress on my pilgrimage.

Sunset Finale - Fairhope, AL

Truly nature's canvas, and I can't wait to see what she unveils tomorrow.

Changes in Attitudes

Today after my day job wrapped up, I spent some time chasing a sunset. A little bit of map recon would have gone a long way because I ended up in a less than optimal viewing location. On top of the initial geographical mistake, I got to the spot just in time to watch Sol slip below the horizon, and I was left with the dregs as the light faded into night. Don't get me wrong, it was much better than any number of evening pastimes (like watching the "news"), but there's some improvement to be achieved.

That said, Google Photos salvaged a photo or two automatically, so the walk wasn't a total loss in terms of scenery.

Dregs of the Sunset as Interpreted by Google - Fairhope, AL

After the walk, I found myself in a Target looking for bottled iced tea. That's a whole story in and of itself, but suffice it to say that I'm battling my way through breaking a Diet Coke habit and I needed some non-artificially sweetened caffeine.

As I walked through the store, my thoughts brought me back to one of the great Jimmy Buffet songs, "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes."  While Jimmy sings about a geographic changes driving a shift in outlook. Walking is doing something like that to my outlook. It's getting more and more difficult to stomach the complexity that I find inundates almost every moment of my conscious existence. Material wealth, choices, distractions, entertainment, and agendas froth around my senses begging for attention and often getting far to much of it.

All this after I've curtailed many of the purchases I used to make and essentially have ejected television from the list of activities I find fulfilling.

The road is calling. I sense a building of circumstances surrounding what amounts to the crazy idea that a pedestrian trek of some distance will allow me to reset and reconnect with something whole and spiritual that even now I can't really define. Today, the draw was greater than it's felt in the past, and every day that passes without moving out seems to make the pull a little stronger...the whispers of my thoughts and feelings a little louder...my resolve to step out and complete this fantastical journey a little more steely.

Rory Conlan has said in the past that "sometimes it's good to step out of line just to see if the line is leading you anywhere you'd like to be going." Maybe it's time to take a step to the right and forge off in a different direction.

We'll see what the morning brings. It'll be different, and I'm looking forward to that possibility.

Routine Through the Changes

The front end of the eviction move is complete.  Our material possessions have been moved from the large house and deposited rather haphazardly in the small apartment. One good thing about transitioning from a six bedroom five bath house with a basement and two car garage and into a three bedroom one bath apartment with a one car garage is that it focuses the mind (and the eye) on the amount of stuff that one's managed to accumulate. I don't like it one bit, but in the end, I believe that being faced with this stark reality is going to lead to some positive changes in the way I and my roommates collect hard good.  I hope so anyway.

The move has also presented the opportunity to practice some unplanned digital minimalism.  That experience has been good for me as well. I still don't have internet service in the apartment.  Let's face it...it's difficult to set that kind of thing up when all the wall area is hemmed in by boxes.  Every now and then, when I can get access, I'll post an update to let my readers (the Chinese and Russians mostly) know "Vas es Los" until more routine access can be squeezed out of the moving boxes that have invaded my current abode.

About the only thing that hasn't gone through tectonic magnitude events over the last several weeks has been the daily practice.  Walking, calisthenics, the twenty six list, photography, and minimalism have proceeded apace.  I even added introducing myself to at least one new person a day and taking a cold shower every day to the mix.

The rest of the world has continued it's practice of moving forward as well, so if you find yourself fretting about the outcome of the upcoming election, which I believe is a comical farce no matter how the results bear out, by the way, pick up the remote, turn off the fear mongers, and join me outside for a stroll. You won't be alone. There are plenty of sane people out here doing the same thing.

Sunset Paddle Boarder - Fairhope, AL

Regardless of how ridiculous some of our fetishes become down here on earth, the universe has provided that the sun will rise and set every day. On evenings when the wind lays down, and the water beckons the more reasonable of our species to glide on it's surface, the peace and serenity flow through everything that the waning rays of Sol caress.

Sunset - Fairhope Pier - Fairhope, AL

Fairhope municipal pier is still standing, and the martins are still chasing down the last of the season's mosquitos in preparation for the upcoming winter. The cool fall air promises football and rain and a tempering of the summer heat and humidity. The gentle breeze speaks to the goodness that is all around us in the midst of the naysayers proclaiming doom of one political stripe or another.

North Beach Park Fountain - Fairhope, AL

Just when you think the light show is over and it's time to head back to wherever you started your journey from, you might glance over your shoulder and see something like this display as the day comes to a close.

I'm grateful for the changes that have come my way via circumstances beyond my control or influence. I'm grateful that the daily practice I've been building over the last year has been resilient enough to provide routine in the midst of external chaos.  I'm grateful for the sunsets, sunrises, storms, clouds, and people who have graced these last several weeks during my unintended sabbatical from writing. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the morning, but I sure am looking forward to finding out what waits around the next bend of the trail.