And So Concludes One Orbit Around the Sun

One year.  Three hundred and sixty five days.  When I started walking regularly (i.e. every day) back on 04 October 2014, I really did not set out to walk or jog every day for a year.  I actually started daily walking to remove the idea of walking across the country from my thoughts.  I should probably tell the whole build-up to where we are today, but it's late, and I have some additional miles to put under my feet pretty early in the morning.

The short version of the story is that about four years ago, I came up with an escape fantasy that revolved around pulling a Johnny Paycheck and heading out across the country on foot.

I talked to Rory Conlan because I knew he was a level headed chap and would convince me that my wild scheme was actually quite crazy.  His initial reaction was promising, but about a week later he seemed to be coming around to the idea that the adventure of a transcontinental pilgrimage might actually be a reasonably good idea.

There was nothing really left to do but start walking and let the physical challenge and monotony of it all solve the problem for me and drive the idea out of my head.  That led me to 04 October 2014 when I walked 11.17 miles from the South Severn Pool in Annapolis, MD to just past College Parkway on the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail and back.

The intent was to walk every day for a month to see if I had the discipline to keep it up day after day.  I set a monthly average target of 10 miles per day to keep things challenging. When I started, I really had no idea if I could even keep things going for a month.  I had shin splints and blisters.  I was at times bored and cold and uncomfortable.  At the end of October of 2014, I had done what I set out to do.  Rory recommended that I rest for a day or two.  I'd been pushing pretty hard, and the physical adjustment was taking a toll.  I was still experiencing shin splints, but they were on the verge of disappearing.  At the time, I had no way of knowing this was the case.

On 01 November 2014, I decided that a month was good enough to keep on going and not upset the streak.  I have not missed a day for a year, and I intend to keep trudging along.  The shortest daily distance that I covered for exercise last year was a 1.5 mile run in mid-November associated with a physical test for work.

Tecumseh decorated for the Navy vs. Air Force football game

Now I find myself at the end of a year with 4050.73 miles and no desire to truncate this adventure at all.  I've seen and experienced things that I never imagined even existed.  I did slow down my life and force myself to experience the moment and the area around me out to about a meter of radius.  The boredom subsided.  I learned quite a bit about walking kit through experimentation.

Submarine Service Memorial Sculpture, USNA, Annapolis, MD

I've worn out nine pairs of shoes during this adventure so far, and I've walked in at least five states and the District of Columbia.  I started out with a pretty short term goal in mind, and now walking has become part and parcel to my daily practice.  I've had a great run of it, and as long as the universe conspires to help me, I plan on keeping this up for quite some time.

We shall see, of course, what the future holds as it unfolds before us, but as for tomorrow, I have no intention of stopping the meditative plodding that I've come to appreciate as a pace of seeing the world that I can comprehend and really do love to experience.

There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather

I am acquaintances with a British man who is overseeing shipbuilding in the deep south of the United States, and he articulated to me one day that, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." Given his heritage from England and his current situation in Alabama, I was inclined to believe his observation.

Today, I must have had an abundance of inappropriate clothing because the eleven miles that I covered in a steady rain with a fifty three degree topping of the thermometer and a brisk north north westerly breeze.  I went out today unprepared.  What is doubly annoying about this situation is that I have about $300 worth of Under Armour Cold Gear hanging in my closet.  Be that as it may, since this was the first day of truly autumn-like weather this season things went pretty well under the circumstances.

Cannons or Bollards?

I ran across these interesting pieces of kit down along the Anacostia River Walk this morning in the vicinity of the Washington Navy Yard.  Clearly they've been placed along the waterfront to be used as bollards.  Given their shape, and the fact that each and every one of them have a large calibre hole coming up through the top, I'm beginning to wonder if they might not be cannons that have been repurposed at some point as bollards.

The Washington Navy Yard was a hub of industrial activity up through World War II.  There was a sizable forge, and the gun factory produced 16" naval rifles used on the battleships during the war.  It is not too hard to imagine that through the history of the yard that excess cannons were recycled into the bollards along the Anacostia.

Now that I have the pictures, I'll just have to make a trip over the museum on the post and inquire to the hereditary of there innocent posts for tying up ships in the river.

Change

The first trip I made to Southeast Washington, DC happened in the late summer of 1992.  It was a bit of tumultuous time in my life, so I'm not sure my impressions were entirely warranted, but the overall feel was one of rowdy desperation.  The storefronts seemed to be a repeating pattern of strip club, liquor store, gas station, pawn shop, liquor store, pawn shop, strip club, etc.

That is not the environment that is prevalent in the area today.  Southeast has changed.  It has been a bit of a hard slog, but the grittiness and crime in the area has been replaced with high end office buildings, a town center like atmosphere, some wonderful parks, and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.  The Nationals have built a new stadium, and trendy restaurants abound.  There's even a wading pool and an ice rink during the winter.

Department of Transportation Ocean and Air Transportation sculpture

Several major government activities moved into the area including the Department of Transportation and an increase in presence of the United States Navy at the Washington Navy Yard.

Closer view of the Ocean and Air Transportation Sculpture

The transformation this area of the city has undergone over the last twenty years of so is truly amazing.  That change involved vision and tenacity and hard work.  It also involved investment, planning, and hard headed dedication.

Seeing the results of all that effort is a great reminder that although change is hard, it is often worth the work required to see it through.  Change is also inevitable, so more often than not it's just better to get on with it.

Reflecting on Baseball

There I am...the guy on the street in a neon yellow shirt...reflected in the surface of an oversized baseball decorating Nationals Park, Southeast Washington, DC.