Day Two-Hundred-Six, Manifesto

I am not Kwai Chang Caine.  Far too few of us are.  He was a walker, just like me.  I don't know how he passed the time.  He'd blow on his flute.  He'd meditate.  He'd be at one with the Whole.  I can't do that.  Different backgrounds.  I walk a different way.

I don't meditate.  I don't know how.  I'll zone once in a while.  Just kind of fade out, get lost in my thoughts.  Sometimes I hear good rock and roll.  Sometimes I sing.  I do little dances when there are no cars around.  I see beauty in nature.  That's nothing new.  It has been there all along.

I might walk to discover America, but I've always known it was there.  I've met some new states, but few surprises.  America is not exotic.  Not to me.  I was born and raised here.  I've seen most of it on TV.

I might walk to encounter Interesting People.  There have been one or two.  But I don't have much time to bond with them.  I'm the one Just Passing Through. 

Kwai Chang Caine helped people in need.  Kwai Chang Caine stuck around.  Just long enough to see justice done.  He kicked people in the head.  And then he moved on.  Humbly.  The world a better place.

I like that idea.  Helping people.  Moving from town to town.  Leaving a trail of broken hearts.  Justice my one true love.  But it hasn't come up.  No one's asked me for help.  Mostly people help me.  And I don't know kung-fu.  I'm not a fighter.  I don't know what use I would be.

And I haven't broken any hearts.  I have left something of a trail.  With bits and pieces of my own heart.  Just like Hansel and Gretel.  To find my way home.  Or somewhere as good.  I suspect they've been eaten by crows.

Kwai Chang Caine too dispensed wisdom.  I think I've done some of that.  And I've got plenty more if you'd care to hear it.  One hates to overdo that sort of thing.  There a danger of appearing pompous.  My humility is strong but it's thin.

I've had no real epiphanies.  I have discovered very few truths.  But I did not start this walk wholly ignorant.  I have lived on this planet before.  I've seen mountains and prairies.  I have seen the sun set.  I know what the sea smells like.  I have been across the Rockies dozens of times.  I have lived in Iowa.

None of this is new to me.  All that has changed is the walking.  It's a different perspective but not vastly so.  Your old life in super slow motion.  I've had time to reflect.  I've learned a few things.  I've decided to be more cheerful.  I've had blisters and I've had to poop.  That's all part of the ride.

I've had problems with my Samsung computer.  Which, by the way, sucks.  They have me in a post-modernist hell, where I blog about my means of blogging.  What if Shakespeare had stopped every few lines to bemoan the state of his quill.

Now I ain't Shakespeare.  Not even close.  I've got to be at least a head taller.  With more rugged features and a much better build.  I have luxuriant hair.  And he was a bit more prolific; he just churned it out.  We have one or two things in common.  But nothing that would reflect well on either of us.  It's best to let sleeping dogs lie.

There've been others before me.  Garfunkel walked.  He is something of a poet.  Gandhi walked for Social Justice.  This walk might make you think of God.  Or greatness.  Or goodness.  Or something profound.  I think about sandwiches.

But I do not do it artlessly.  I'm entertaining if nothing else.  I might see the world from a low angle but I see it clearly enough. 

I am Walking Across America.  It's easier than you think.  You could do it if you wanted to.  Don't worry about the specifics.  They work themselves out, sooner or later.  Invest in some very nice socks.

Are you in good physical condition?  Do you always see the bright side?  Do you adapt well to new situations?  Are you good at making new friends?  Are you determined, organised?  Do you work and play well with others?  Can you find poetry in a pile of dung?  Are you at one with the universe?  Do you like sleeping in a tent?

Then you don't need to Walk Across America.  You'd be silly to waste the time.  And the money.  And your deep sense of self.  I have no doubt that it was hard won.  Save the walking for those of us that do not have the first clue.  And are prepared to admit it.  And will never pretend to have discovered anything new.

Day One-Hundred-Ninety-Eight, Atheism

I spent all day Sunday in church.  God knows what you were up to.  No good, no doubt.   You are not without hope, but the time has come to repent.

Repent.

Church happens in the Knighten's livingroom.  It wasn't a very long walk.  From my soft bed.  I had to go there.  It was between me and the kitchen.  Which was full of all kinds of good.  Temptation, you may want to call it.  And a little churching ain't going to kill me.  It was more interesting than you'd guess.

For that we have to credit Dennis.  Deacon Dennis, if you prefer.  I have spoken for "Friar Dennis" but it has yet to catch on.  I have mentioned that the man is a lunatic.  I mean that in the nicest way.  He has got to be the most irreverent preacher I have ever seen at work.

It works.  He knows who he's talking to.  A lot of them he met in jail.  None of them are too awfully rich.  There are some problems there.  The odd zombie reference in the middle of a sermon keeps us all paying attention.

More or less.

I didn't much care for the singing part.  To know me is to know that I'm shy.  Unless you pour some liquor in me.  That did not seem the right way to go.  Dennis says we should forget ourselves.  He says it should be about God.  Nice theory.  Still I ain't going to sing.  I only hope God understands.

After church we ate some more.  Than I went out and played with the kids.  Who kicked and clawed and chewed on me.  What little treasures they are.  I got their ball stuck up in a tree.  As far as I know it's still there.

Eventually everyone went home.  That left me to talk with the Knightens.  Which I rather enjoy.  They are talkers too.  I've learned all about the Air Force and God. And criminal justice and ghetto life.  We do find plenty to say.  Fellowship, they may want to call it.  For me it was a pretty good day.

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Days 189, 190, 191 and 192, Kidnapped!

Kidnapped, yes.  Abducted, if you will.  Plucked right off the street.  Bundled into a late model car and driven across state lines.  In broad daylight, no less.  Mobile, Alabama can be a pretty rough town.

It amounted to a four-day holiday.  I had a very nice time.  As a guest of Ronné and Dennis Knighten.  They drove all the way from Florida.  And carted me all the way with them.  God knows what they had in mind.  I think they were trying to see how much I can eat.  I hope I did not let them down.

Friday morning I woke up cold, as cold as I've ever been.  In a briar patch, you may just recall.  Eight miles north of Mobile.  My tent was iced over inside and out.  I couldn't feel my toes.  My fingers were brittle and actively hurt.  It was an awful morning.

That improved somewhat when I got back on the road.  I had a good walk into town.  Up and down some steep narrow roads, carved through thick rows of trees.  To a Waffle House for luck.  Then to a Verizon shop.  And then to another.  I like to visit them all.  I think I owe it to them.

The second was a corporate store.  The other was a mere franchise.  I left with their promise to mail me a brand-new Samsung computer.  Or "like new," I think they call it.  Professionally refurbished.  Which is awfully nice of them.  We'll see how it all works out.

Then it was off to Florida.  I'd not met the Knightens before.  But was not too awfully frightened of them.  We've maintained a long correspondence.  Dennis has his own vague ideas about Walking Across America. 

And turned to me for friendly advice.  I regret that I've been useless to him.  But I am living proof that Anyone Can Do It.  Dennis is focused and energetic.  It should be a lot easier for him. 

I was more nervous about meeting his wife.  I know Dennis is a nut.  But for all I knew she might be stable.  I paid someone to trim my beard.  It was but a thin gesture but it did seem to work.  We got along just fine.  And now I have at least two new friends in Crestview, Florida.

They took me on the grand tour.  We drove slow past the prison.  And walked the white sands on the Air Force base.  We knocked on doors in the projects.  The Knightens are running a ministry.  They go where they're most needed. 

On Sundays they conduct a Bible study.  This week was the Sermon on the Mount.  I was up half the night studying.  I did not want to look like a fool.  But not so much was demanded of me.  We were all encouraged to sing.  I did not.  Self-consciousness is a burden, but it will serve the common good.

Most of the flock is fresh out of prison.  Or jail, as the case may be.  It is Dennis' ambition to keep them that way.  He works there as a guard.  And plays Barry White at strip search time.  He likes to make everything fun.

It does not handicap him as a preacher, though he can be hard on himself.  He is tireless and offers much clearer thinking than you hear in your typical church.  But he stiil loses me on divinity.  I don't think I'll too soon be saved.

But there was no pressure.  There was lots of food.  I met a man with gold teeth.  And a number of good-hearted little kids.  And when it was all over they drove me all the way back to Mobile, Alabama.

To pick up my walk where I left off.  I've been in a motel ever since.  Having failed to sleep or type my reports.  Call it another vacation.  I'll do my best to do better tomorrow.  I couldn't do very much worse.

THANK YOU, Good Knightens.  I had fun.  See you in another week.

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