I found an orb so I guess humanity is saved
On day 84 of crossing America barefoot I travelled from Greenville FL to Monticello FL...
Please donate: youcaring.com/barefoot
A large truck was parked next to the piece of cement where I slept. I was awake, sitting in a metal chair, eating some canned potatoes when someone climbed in the truck, started it, and drove off.
Some mornings I wish someone else besides myself would climb in me, turn a key, and drive me down the road.
On the way out of Greenville I passed a sign that said, “hometown of Ray Charles.”
Hopefully human civilization lasts long enough that every town can claim to be something a famous person ince lived in.
A lot of large trucks dragging logs passed me. Up the road I would find a dirt road owned by a paper corporation.
A world where the only thing that ever gets killed is the belief we need to kill to survive.
My left calf was very stiff. It made it difficult to walk. At around noon I sat down under a pine tree because it hurt too much to continue.
I doubt there will ever be a day on this trip where some part of my body does not hurt.
After meditating for twenty minutes my leg felt a little better. I began walking again. I saw a sign up the road. As I got closer I saw it said, “drive thru prayer line.”
I thought about wqlking through the prayer line but the road leading to the prayer line just sort of wandered into the woods and disappeared.
At around three I stopped at a store called “kwiky food mart,” and bought four bananas. I sat outside listening to the news about how the former CEO of an energy company got 180 million dollar retirement gift for basically denying climate change and killing the earth.
Shouldn’t the people who discovered climate change be getting all the money?
There seemed to be more swamps. I didn’t feel good. My body ached. I could feel my nose doing that thing where it gets sick and the rest of my body has survive without a nose for a few days.
I tried to take a breath so deep I passed out and when I woke up my body was completely healed and I was in California.
As the sun was burning out I found an orb and tried to use it to keep the sun alive.
I asked the orb for career advice and it said, “Don’t kill earth.”
When it got dark I began looking for a place to sleep. The roadside was still slightly boarded by swamps. I hoped to find an abandoned dirt road or church.
I only found darkness and more pavement.
For the next five miles I walked in the dark unable to find somewhere to rest. I was tempted to lie down in the grass of the roadside but I kept pushing forward.
My body kept saying, “I don’t know how to continue,” as it continued.
Eventually I arrived in Monticello. My left calf felt like a piece of wood. I stopped at a gas station and bought some bananas and garbanzo beans.
I was tempted to ask if I could lie down next to his potato chips.
As I was looking for a place to sleep I noticed the same cop pass me three times. When the roads were empty I ducked behind some bushes and removed my sleeping arrangements from my bag.
Please donate. I am raising awareness about climate change with this walk. All the money raised goes to a great environmental organization called the FANG Collective: youcaring.com/barefoot
What I ate on day 84: Pineapple, flaxseed powder, canned potatoes, bananas, canned corn, cashews, sunflower seeds, and garbanzo beans.
A poem
Maybe / I can / remove / my leg / for a few days / and / replace it / with an old tire / imagine / a black circle / rolling along / whispering / “doing legs” / while / I wonder / is it okay / to ask a stranger / for love / in exchange / for / leg / I guess / I’ll keep / dragging it / up the road / it could / really use / a good song / I wish / I knew / the words / to the song / about / wild glory / the one / where / a thousand fields / with / a thousand horses / all chant / “leg” / over / and / over / until / everyone / with a leg / goes out / in the streets / and / does / legs
If you're interested in my previous journey across America check out the book: I am a road.
