Counting down - again!

This feels familiar -- one week out from 'lift-off', scurrying around to finish whatever must be done, or else put off for the next several months.  And indulging in a little nostalgia in the form of a line from a poem, leftover from the days when I aspired to write such things!

'The faces of arrival and departure are winking at me
from between the lines of my oral history...'

...written during a 'creative period' spent at Tassajara Zen monastery, during which every rock and twig seemed laden with inspirational potential.  The 'oral history' was a talk every new student was asked to present, called a 'way-seeking mind' talk.  Now here I am again, sharing my way-seeking mind with whomever may be inclined to tune in(!)

In the San Francisco Bay Area it is spring in spades - after a drenching winter local flora is greening up, leafing out and, as it continues to rain, celebrating the season in a riot of new growth (much of it needing to be trimmed!).  I have connected with several generous Chicago and Indiana  hosts to send me off as I begin the last 1000+ mile leg of this walking venture.  It will be interesting to see if politics/national mood plays a part in my encounters with people this season; it has not done so very often in the past.  News media falls so far short of reflecting the great diversity of opinion and concern across this country.  Though I am very grateful for the presence of our '4th Estate', in most of its many forms!

Will post again from the trail - the American Discovery Trail!

What luck to have a walking trail accessible right from my neighborhood!