Beginnings can be both exciting and daunting. I just need to start, but Boston feels rather far away today. Nevertheless, I walk out the front door like a big boy—there goes step number 1. A cool sunny day bids me welcome. I turn the GPS on, check the phone, close all the flaps on the backpack, tug on tangling strings and straps, zip the pockets close, say goodbye to Judy and Carrie, and then take several more steps forward. Now I’m officially off. It feels somewhat like Spain, but where are the yellow Camino arrows pointing out the path? I just see the Mack trucks barreling down Creek Road to greet me in their own special way. Inwardly, I hear my brother Robert’s warning words, “Be safe!” My friend Alan and I navigate the twists and turns of this country road brilliantly, enjoying Nature in all of its wonders, except for the one turn we overlook, a mistake that takes us to Media by Route 1 (yes, the very one from Maine to Florida). Ugh! What’s an extra mile when you’ve got 8 to go before lunch? Carrie catches up with us effortlessly on her morning jog, joins us for awhile, and then leaves us in the dust. Definitely not a pace I can do! But I’m adjusting. Beginnings are all about taking these first steps with courage and getting used to a new reality. And I slowly am. So when Day 1 ends, I can proudly say that the mileage from Cheyney to Boston has just gone down by 12.
4 Responses to April 24, 2012 Day 1 — Cheyney to Springfield, PA