Providence Zen Center, Cumberland RI

Today will be my last day here in this peaceful oasis.  Thank you all at the Providence Zen Center for this bit of respite  :)

As I prepare to hit the road again, I find I am once more getting ahead of myself, already yearning to be in Connecticut where there seems to be long stretches of hiking trails to traverse.  I have finished more than half this journey now, and while every step has been engrossing, I now know I prefer to walk in wilderness punctuated from time to time with civilization :)  At least this will be true until the ECG gets off more roads.

One of the great suprises and delightful gifts this walk has brought me has been the return of an experiential memory of being a child in an urban setting, exploring and finding hidden spots no one else knew about, or at least that was the fantasy of my adventuring mind back then :)  Early on in this trip, looking for, and needing, hidden spots in towns and cities to relieve myself or just rest away from the hubbub, brought back the physical/visceral/emotional memory of hiding under bushes or in deep grass by sidewalks and alleys where people bustled past never suspecting I was there.  I can remember holding my hands over my mouth as I giggled at the thought of them not knowing I was there like some little hidden mouse.  On this trip I  re-experienced this childish delight and realize this is a memory/state which would never have been stimulated in wilderness or without many people being around :)

I truly love not knowing whats around the next corner  How about you?