Walking to the end

Throughout our 9 days of walking, Lisa & I wrote together almost every night. We discovered that writing the blog entries together enabled us to put into the words the real essence of our walking experiences. And what we write this way; leaning into each others psyche's a bit, feels to us like a lovely gestalt; the sum being greater than its parts. This is surprising for us. We didn't know this would happen. We are happy it did.




We want to do more writing this way. But right this moment, I'm in my small house in Portland writing this entry by myself and feeling a little odd, missing the side of the road, missing Lisa-hearing her thoughts, and telling her mine.


Tonight after doing our Presentation/Discussion at Performance Works NW, Lisa, Jay (her husband), and I went out to dinner at Maya Satay (on Se 82nd). Then I was driven home, got help hauling my things into the house, kissed Lisa and Jay goodbye (for now), and walked up onto my porch. I unpacked & sorted through my bags. I filled the laundry basket, doctored my now Healing feet (I AM WALKING AGAIN), looked through my small package of walking remnants one more time, and then sat down at the computer.


I want to write more about walking into Lake Oswego. About looking for a restaurant in downtown L.O. & having dinner. I want to write about walking into and right back out of a New Seasons because there were just too many choices to consider. I felt like one of the sparrows that accidentally flies into my house from time to time; eek, where are the trees, bees, blue sky & the simple grass? I want to write about walking on my own two feet again without pain, about a nagging feeling of uncertainty I have mingled into the love of place I usually feel being back home in Portland. I want to write about the Presentation/Discussion/slide show we did tonight at Performance Works NW and the genius audience that showed up for it.


But I'm very tired. So for tonight, letting you know I'm home, we're both home, each at our own separate ends of the Body Habitat walking project valley; the Corvallis to Portland valley, is enough. We'll keep writing about the walking project, and we'll let you know what we're up to next.

May you sleep & dream tonight as if you've walked 100 miles, Lily


Lily and Lisa are Body Habitat and so are you.

Are we back yet?

Crossed the Williamette by the Canby ferry. Crossed I 205 on Stafford Road. Two streams with narrow crossings. Followed other streams, defined by pavement: our stream threaded along Grant St, to Holly St, to SW Mountain Rd, to Stafford Rd, to McVey Rd. Mostly a stream of cars, some motorcycles, a few bicycles, and us.




The roads are 'cleaner' now. Someone has been sweeping up the remains in the kill zone. The cars on Stafford road were very fast and we returned to hypervigilant walking mind. Twinges of irritation return. A new born sense of uncertainty from all the busyness around us We cannot watch the world around us when we are so busy watching out for our lives. We were able to relax again when the sidewalks returned, at least the walker was. The scooter relaxed in the hotel parking lot.






We arrive having molted many layers. Our packs have lightened again and then again. Last night Jay took away our camping gear and the last of the extraneous stuff. (We intend to reincarnate it on the floor of performance works northwest monday night.). But it is not only our physical belongings that we have shed. We have shed some of the trappings of the civilized mind. We find ourselves embraced by tizzy town, the plowed field, the eyes of a deer, an amusing sign in a passing yard. Everywhere we look with these animal eyes of ours, we see the art of our kind.






Nature reclaims every inch that it can in the liminal space between development and native habitat. We see a deer in the trees just past a large lot offered for sale on the golf course fairway. The sign offers us one of three lots to build our dream estate. We ask ourselves a question we've been asking all along our route: success or failure? This time the deer is our answer.





As we walk back into town we feel as if we are walking into the pages of a magazine. Everything is tidy and ordered. Nothing smells except us, and exhaust from the concentration of cars. We think we smell best. They did let us eat our lunch in the nice church coffee shop on Stafford Road at I 205.





As we are approaching the end of our walk we are asking the question one more time: success or failure?

From Lily and Lisa, we are Body Habitat and so are you.

See you tomorrow night at Performance Works NW, 6:30pm.

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