It has been one year since I last penned a blog post. Since then I’ve been asked on occasion why did I stop writing about my walking journeys, and if I have stopped walking?
I have not stopped walking, but I did develop blogging fatigue or just plain fatigue writing about my walks. I’m always happy to talk about my walking journeys since I enjoy expressing my thoughts out loud. Writing out my thoughts sometime requires more energy and solitude then I am used to making time for.
My last blog post entry was on January 25, 2020 titled Paul Robeson Remembered and featured a lovely picture and quote by the late bass baritone concert artist, on the meaning of being free “to walk the good American earth as equal citizens.”
This quote by Robeson came to me as reflection on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad trail in Delaware. As I wrote at the time “one of the main reasons why I enjoy walking is “To be free! To feel the sun and see the stars above me, to live without fear, to reflect upon our ancestor’s spirit that still roam the land we once toiled, and to rejuvenate my spirit’s desire for wholesome, nutritious, movement.”
Frequently after a 10, 12, or 18-mile segmented walks, I’d get in my car and drive 1-1.5 hours home with enough strength to eat and go to bed a short while later. The mental exercise of writing about my journey sadly got pushed aside in post exertion malaise between walks.
Excuses aside, I’m planning to begin writing again about my recent walks and some of the wonderful people I have met while hiking the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway before and after the start of the pandemic in March 2020. As I approach Perth Amboy, New Jersey tomorrow I am celebrating my arrival at this important crossing.