Advertisement
Published: August 10th 2007
Edit Blog Post
stuff
almost-a-bike and stuff I left Louisville Thursday, May 3, after much stressing over readiness. Sold my car, moved my (very much reduced) pile of stuff to my parents attic, loaded the car (friend Daniel's- i'm driving it to him in AZ) with bike and gear, and hit the road. sort of.
I poked around Louisville for a while, saying much needed good byes and of course dispensing multivitamins (essential!) to friends who are making their own journeys soon. Met best buddies Jessica and Deanna at Expressions of You, a neat lil' coffee shop on Muhammad Ali Blvd downtown. Then borrowed Jessica's computer to get this blog and my new email account set up. And then I was ready to go. mostly. Only six weeks behind schedule. But had I been on time I would never have met my now good friend Deanna, who is leaving friday for some farming in New York.
So I headed out of Louisville around 7:30 and decided today was not the day for a lot of driving with night coming soon, so I dropped in to Bowling Green to stay with my friend Jeremy who's a student at Western Kentucky U. Jeremy seemed in good spirits, as
me&jessica
me and my best buddy Jessica just before departure was the house generally-- people seemed to pour in unannounced right behind me. The result was a jovial conversational hodge-podge on the front porch with topics meandering between our respective romances, admiration for local auatic biodiversity, the decimation of world fisheries by overharvesting, and the grave situation of Appalachian communities threatened by mountain top removal.
Always with an eye out for like-minded folks, I couldn't help but notice Jeremy's neighbor's door with flyers announcing bike to work day and the Bowling Green farmer's market. Soon enough someone hollered from porch to porch and a wonderful encounter was initiated. Jeremy's neighbor came in and introduced herself as Bonfire, and was quickly attracted by the bookshelf. She found out that the books were mine (Jeremy is kindly taking care of them for me while I wander) and we struck up a conversation about some favorites. The first one Bonfire mentioned was "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K Leguin-- one of my true favorites, a book which recently deeply informed my social outlook and speaks for my philosophies on many fronts.
The conversation continued and then migrated to Bonfire's apartment where it quickly became musical. I sold my guitar to my good
books
my books at home in Jeremy's Living room for folks to read while I'm away. Minus Leaves of Grass and Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey- those are for road-readin'. friend Smith before leaving Louisville, so I am now feeling the itch to play every time a guitar is in arm's reach, knowing that it may be a rare opportunity. So I plucked and she played flute quite funkily while we jammed on the porch. Soon a violin and another couple flutes were brought into the mix, and later a Tibetan singing bowl and cymbals made for a nice resolution. Through Bonfire I found out about some great things that are happening in Bowling Green. I was particularly inspired by Kaleidoscope, a community center she works with that's been started in an impoverished neighborhood. There, there are rooms for reading and making art and music, and kids can come after school to get some quality on-on-one learning in. A dinner is provided weekly by a local restaurant using food supplied by local farmers, and WKU provides funding. Beautiful! Makes me think of the bonds being formed between local farmers and poor urban communities in Louisville with help from the Community Farm Alliance-- west end farmer's markets and the Urban Fresh delivery service come to mind. You can read a little blurb about Urban Fresh here:
I left with breakfast
first breakfast of the journey! 2 cd's for the road (one is Bonfire's own spoken word performed live) and a beautiful little bamboo flute to keep me company on the road. Got up around 9, cooked some breakfast (buckwheat & veggies) and brewed some yerba mate for the road. Said my goodbyes to Jeremy after showing off my almost-bike, and came here to the library to post my first journal entry. Jeremy is embarking on a journey of his own, leaving soon for Ecuador, and upon returning will be starting an internship with A New Story Foundation, a local sustainability research organization in Bowling Green that's being started up by one of his porfessors at WKU. So many good things happening!
Well, I better hit the road. Feel free to post comments on here to say hello or start up a conversation. Or email me at my new account (which I'll be emailing you from today). I can't be certain how frequently I'll be able to get to a library and post, but I will when I can. I wish you all well, and I'll catch you later on down the trail.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.091s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0511s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Homesickalien
non-member comment
Home on the Range
Happy to hear about synchronity. We project what we absorb and you project peace, love and light. I am enthused about so many who are dedicated to preserving this planet. Be safe. Keep us posted. Love.