I walked away from the neighborhood where I stay. The drone of the expressway numbs from over the concrete wall three houses over. As the morning light defined the bare trees, all with some sort of animal nest, I settled into the quiet and wobbled the World past the darkened homes then out to the busy morning traffic. Knowing the streets in my hometown I took advantage of a few shortcuts out of town. I had it in mind to stop and give my son one last hug as I passed by his grandmothers home where he lives but he was at orientation for school. My missing him in that manner made me happier than an embrace. My brother and sister have been home for the holidays, possibly the last time in years we would all be here at the same time. My brother called as he was waiting to go to the plane. My sister appeared with her car full of memories to take with her and as we kissed and talked about the good in our life Bobby McFerron's " Don't worry be happy" came on the radio. We smiled at the timing and coincidence. I weaved through one last quiet neighborhood before the main road south out of the county where at the end of the day I was able to stay in the parking lot of Bootleg B-B-Q next to the bar. A friend helped me get the support van and I settled in for the night with a light snow falling. When I arose as it became light the world was covered in a coat of fresh snow, someone had etched a Peace symbol in the snow-cap. Peace on Earth...a good idea to wake up to. I put on my bright yellow rubber snow boots, slipped booties on Nice (the dog) and we began the first day ever in snow. The booties disappeared one by one as Nice frolicked in the snow. He doesn't like the boots so his playfulness increased as he lost them. From the B-B-Q we walked to Mt.Washington. To my surprise many people stopped to talk even with the slush. A woman came out from her house wearing flip-flops and a t shirt. She worked at a local hospital and knew well the ravages of diabetes. We shared stories concerning diabetes , good and bad, concluding some get it that diabetics need to do more than take their medications without changing bad habits that may have contributed to their condition and thrive by keeping and living healthy. Others stubbornly do not and suffer from their choice, so do their families left with memories. Their choice... After walking up a long hill pushing the waterlogged canvas world I was wet , I had to keep moving to stay warm.As I made my way to the south end of town I was pondering if I should press on and commit to another fifteen miles to the city of Bardstown which meant walking into the night on the narrow highway when a carload of women stopped. They had looked us up on the "net" and came for a picture. After a few questions and answers they offered to take us to the van. I was able to roll across to Walgreens and leave the world tied to a pole returning a few minutes later and get permission to stay on the property from the manager who coincidently had seen us "all over social media". Thanks to the grace of good people I was saved from my stubborn tendencies and can wait for the weather front to pass in the relative comfort of my support van. Fifteen miles is more realistic with a fresh start in tomorrows clearing skies.
All in all it was a good time to begin, despite the speed bumps.
Enjoy!
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