No Photos, No Walking, Writing

I didn't make the time to get out and capture any photos today.  I'll make a deliberate effort tomorrow.  The résumé  that I've been dreading for the last several weeks has made some significant progress over the last several days.  I should be able to wrap up the large version of it tomorrow or the next day.

After that, the hard work of editing it down to two or three pages will begin.  It's tough to gist a little less than 20 years of experience down into just a few pages of less than 2000 words. I believe I'm getting the hang of things, but the editing bit is going to be somewhat challenging.  I really do enjoy the challenge of bringing it all together, and I can definitely sense the value of writing just a little bit every day for the last five months coming to bear.

Yet another situation where doing just a little bit every day can lead to quite a bit of incremental progress if applied consistently.  I'm looking forward to what tomorrow may hold.

The Benefits of Air Travel

I found myself on the road again for work. More accurately, I took to the air and in a surprisingly short period of time covered over 1800 miles on my way to lower latitudes. Although a bit on the pricey side, airports are one of those places where you are easily able to access anything that your heart might desire.  They really have become highly functional as well as artistic facilities. Those features are all on the public facing side of an incredibly complex and effective logistics enterprise that moves thousands of people and thousands of tons of cargo across the country (and the world) quickly and efficiently everyday.

Sunrise at Charlotte International Airport

Part way to my final destination, I found myself back in the land of what one of my friends calls the "Panther Plane" for obvious reasons.

Vertical Stabilizer of the "Panther Plane"

I also stumbled across this blast from what I assumed was the long forgotten past of a different sort of air travel.

Piedmont Airlines Offices

I always assumed that Piedmont Airlines was one of those regional carriers that had vanished into the mists of time.  There were some major changes after they merged with US Air in 1989, and here is some of Piedmont's earlier history. It turns out that they are still operating under the American Airlines group, and their headquarters is still in Salisbury, MD.  Charlotte International Airport is one of their principle hubs.  I do like their logo.

Arriving in my final destination for the day, I slowed down my pace quite a bit, and I put in just over eleven miles on the ground. As sometimes happens, I really wasn't too very thrilled about the prospect of that kind of distance after a day of travel, but when I got to about the halfway point, my outlook had shifted, and I was glad to be out on the trial.

Statue of the goddess Daphne in front
of the Daphne, AL City Hall

This statue is one of my favorite vistas along the thirty two mile long Eastern Shore Trail that runs from Spanish Fort, AL to south of Fairhope, AL. It is especially striking at sunset, and I caught it at just the right hour this evening. That was a fortunate piece of good luck and entirely spontaneous. It's a lesson for me that good things will happen if I'm willing to put in the work.

US Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Office in Daphne, AL

This was my turnaround point this evening about 5.7 miles into the walk. Overall, it was a productive and fulfilling day in the air and out on the trail.

WTF is Going On?

Today was an unsettled day for me.  It's not surprising given the fact that I've been on the road since last Thursday, and tomorrow will be a solid week of relatively nomadic existence.  Nevertheless, it's a bit disconcerting falling back into old habits that I had thought I gotten under wraps.

One of the reasons that I found the pastime of walking so compelling is that I felt it would force me to take life a little slower.  The very nature of the activity would make living in the moment or the surrounding one meter of space easier to accomplish.  One of the characteristics of my mental activity before commencing the practice of walking was to imagine what was going to happen far too far into the future.  In order to deal with that level of delusion and really fantasy, I was hatching schemes upon schemes in a futile attempt to manage the outcomes of whatever damn fool thing my imagination could invent.  That got pretty tiring.

Today, I found myself at various times during the day falling back into that habit of getting to far ahead of myself.  On my evening walk, which I really didn't want to do in the first place, I discovered that I did not have my identification on me.  I felt pretty certain that I'd had it when I struck out on my nocturnal pedestrianism, but halfway through I knew for sure I didn't have it.

For the next three miles I both retraced my steps and let my imagination roam relatively free about what had happened to my ID, what I was going to have to do next to get a new one, what personal financial risks had been incurred.  At the same time, I was searching the ground pretty diligently and imagining that I might know where I'd dropped it.  Of course that was about two miles from where I thought I'd discovered it missing.  This led to a level of impatience and imagination about how I'd feel if I found it in the location or how I'd cope with the mile remaining back to my rooms if I did not find it.  All the while, I was trying to keep my eyes and my mind in the present one meter to make sure I didn't miss the ID just in case I'd dropped it someplace else.

Turns out that it was in my work pants.

All of that anxiety meant nothing except it basically consumed three miles and almost 50 minutes of an activity designed to provide a relief from imagined future anxiety.  Crazy really.

It wasn't all undisciplined worrying.  I did notice that the Eastern Shore Trail sign that had been knocked over by a car several months ago at the intersection near my hotel had been restored to an upright and repaired position.

Restored Eastern Shore Trail Kiosk

This was the very first location that I'd encountered a sign (and the concept) of the Eastern Shore Trail which runs down the eastern shore of Mobile Bay.  This sign, or at least one like it in this location, is what prompted me to search for documentation on the trail and has led to some truly rewarding time in this little narrow section of Alabama.

Seeing this sign restored was like getting one of my guideposts or navigation markers back.  It was a waypoint that I'd not appreciated enough until it was damaged and then subsequently brought back into my consciousness by its renewal.

I've had an amazing last year, and this trail because of this sign has played a major role in bringing the fulfillment of the year to fruition.  

I should probably take my own advice, heed the rhythm of the walk, meet life as it unfolds and not a moment sooner, and stop fretting over just WTF is going on.