Getting back on track
I'm committed to finishing this project, but have been temporarily distracted by things like buying a house, enrolling kids in new schools, reassembling my work history after a ten-year hiatus, and other important and necessary things.
Only three more walks to go, and they're written in pen on my calendar. It looks like I'll finish before Labor Day.
When I said before that I wasn't sure why I even doing this project, it was only because in the grand scheme of things it seems sort of self-indulgent. Then again, I may not be walking down the street like Lucky Larue, in the immortal words of John Prine, but I ain't hurtin' nobody. And I've felt a thousand times more connected to this strange place that is Catron County since I began. Every footfall confers a small sense of ownership and belonging, which is something that evaded me for many years when we first moved out here. This is something that is truly different about walking around your neighborhood rather than driving.
There's no question that you see more at 3 mph than you do at 60 mph, but there's more to it than that, and I hope you'll forgive me for belaboring the obvious while I figure out what I'm trying to say.
When you drive through a place, windows closed, radio and air-conditioning on, you see it. With the windows open and the radio off, you see it, smell it and hear it. But when you walk through a place, you not only see it better, smell it better, and hear it better, you also physically touch it and it physically touches you back.
Okay, I give up - I don't mean to be getting all touchy-feely here. Maybe I'm just starting to get a little sentimental about leaving.
Only three more walks to go, and they're written in pen on my calendar. It looks like I'll finish before Labor Day.
When I said before that I wasn't sure why I even doing this project, it was only because in the grand scheme of things it seems sort of self-indulgent. Then again, I may not be walking down the street like Lucky Larue, in the immortal words of John Prine, but I ain't hurtin' nobody. And I've felt a thousand times more connected to this strange place that is Catron County since I began. Every footfall confers a small sense of ownership and belonging, which is something that evaded me for many years when we first moved out here. This is something that is truly different about walking around your neighborhood rather than driving.
There's no question that you see more at 3 mph than you do at 60 mph, but there's more to it than that, and I hope you'll forgive me for belaboring the obvious while I figure out what I'm trying to say.
When you drive through a place, windows closed, radio and air-conditioning on, you see it. With the windows open and the radio off, you see it, smell it and hear it. But when you walk through a place, you not only see it better, smell it better, and hear it better, you also physically touch it and it physically touches you back.
Okay, I give up - I don't mean to be getting all touchy-feely here. Maybe I'm just starting to get a little sentimental about leaving.
posted by Suzanne44 @ 2:10 PM
3 Comments:
At 5:23 PM,
Ron Bloomquist said…
Take it with you!
The walking, I mean!
At 11:33 PM,
Spike said…
it seems sort of self-indulgent
Bollocks.
I've felt a thousand times more connected ... since I began.
I hear yer.
What Ron said.
At 1:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Omega affords access to former homestead neighborhoods to the north among valleys and draws of Mariano Mesa which evolved in the 1930's as arriving families established schools which were in turn used for community worship. Mountainview school, built from pine logs provided classes through the eighth year along with music instruction provided through the Federal Government programs. Descendents of those families have kept in contact over the years to share their memories of a passing era.
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