[at-l] Joy and grief

[lpatton at mailer.fsu.edu (Linda Patton)]

Joy:  Last week I backpacked through the St. Marks National Wildlife
Refuge on the 45-mile segment of the Florida Trail which passes
through the refuge.  It was "interesting," as Jim O. likes to say.
Trip report sometime next week, I hope.

Grief:  Going through my email, I found Lyme disease, upcoming spine
surgery, illness in the Owen family, and worst of all, Walkin' Jim's
kidney surgery.  I felt sort of overwhelmed with so many bad things
happening to such good people.  My prayers go out to each and every
one of you and I hope for good resolutions to all these problems.

Joy:  Just before going backpacking I finished Walkin' Jim's book,
"Walking with the Wild" and can say without reservation that all of
you should read it.  Jim is every bit as good a prose writer as he
is a song writer.  It's a wonderful book.  Here's a quote; you can
probably identify with what he writes:

	"I want you to understand something about walking, something
about long-distance walking.  It's not a physical kind of thing.  Oh,
there's the rhythm, the sweat, the power of your legs chugging away...
The physical part of the trek is real and demanding, but more
important, I think, is the will.  When it comes right down to it,
walking is often a state of mind...As in anything, one must be intent
upon the path.  When you're unhappy about The Way, that's when The Way
becomes difficult...
	When does walking, the motion, become thought?  This is what I
want you to understand.  There is a point where the action goes
unrecognized and is replaced by an emptiness that is based totally in
the present.  It is a knowledge, gained in each step, flooded with
each turn, and brought into being for each second of the day.  It is a
holy state.  This is when I wish I could tap myself, pouring my
essence into a bottle.  When someone asks me, "Why do you walk?" I'd
just pull out the brew and say, "Drink this."  Some days I can feel
the miles building up under me, piling up and spilling over.  But then
there are days, like this one, when I float in a blessed euphoria.
Steps cease to be merely feet gained.  Rather each action is a journey
of its own.  Each step holds it own wonders.  And joy floods me at
every turn."
	God bless and heal you, Walkin' Jim.
 
Linda L. Patton, Reference Librarian, Strozier Library, Florida State Univ.
      Tallahassee, FL 32306-2047 (850)644-5019 lpatton@mailer.fsu.edu
          "A world without wilderness is a cage." -- David Brower