It’s been over a year since I posted in this space. I had to look it up myself, and I’m a little surprised it hasn’t been longer. Be that as it may, consider this my homecoming post. First the developments over the last year.
- The Newport to Newport Transcontinental Pilgrimage is still planned for spring and summer of 2019. When I last left you, Rory Conlan (my pilgrimage partner) was working on healing a foot injury, and I had just taken on a new two year assignment at work. I’m happy to report that Rory’s toe has healed nicely, and he’s recently discovered the magic of an aloe ointment that’s continuing the process. I’m a little more than halfway through the two year assignment, and I’m still looking forward to the trek across the United States.
- Back in February of this year, I was plagued with another stress fracture on both the fourth and fifth metatarsals of my left foot. This appears to be an ongoing condition that is healing nicely but will have to monitored on the walk.
- Rory and I have had a couple of logos for the Newport to Newport effort made, and I’m happy to share them here now. The first shows the Newport, RI lighthouse and two characters heading west from that location. Here it is:
The second is a little more abstract, but I’ve come to think of it as our trademark:
I really like this one. The stones that make up the feet and the TCP of the logo represent the pebble beach at the back of the Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, RI as well as the cobble beach on Yaquina Head leading out to the lighthouse in Newport, OR. Both of these beaches make a rattling noise when brushed by the waves and the tide. I’ve only personally heard this “magic rocks” sound in Newport, RI, but I’m looking forward to experiencing it on both ends of our cross country journey. It seems a little trivial writing it, but this sound speaks to my soul, and I think it’s worth making the trip to experience it for yourself.
4. Both Rory and I have started to practice yoga. I’m only speaking for myself, but I wish I had started this practice about twenty years ago. I picked this up in February when the stress fractures in my foot reappeared as a way to stay active and work on my upper body strength and my overall flexibility. Even in this short time, it’s been a journey of discovery where I’ve made both physical and spiritual improvements. I’ve been challenged in ways that I would not have imagined, and made progress on certain poses that I would not have dreamed possible. It took a few months, but here’s a picture of me finally conquering the Crow Pose. Crow is a relatively straightforward arm balance that requires a bit of shoulder and wrist strength, but mostly some flexibility and balance.
I was pretty excited to make make this progress. While I’m not sure how it will help with the pilgrimage, I keep telling myself that it can’t hurt.
That’s probably enough discussion of past developments for this particular homecoming post. Suffice it to say that I’m back, and I plan on being a little more regular in my posting here as we really start to ramp up the preparations for the N2N-TCP.
