Walking Feets

Shadow of the Walker

Walkin' Home

What Is the Music that You Hear?

It's a bit overused, but this has always been one if my favorite Thoreau quotes. I've nit always lived this quote, but now i do. Be who you are!

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away"

Henry David Thoreau - Walden, Conclusion, 1854

Ramble On....

Ramble On by Led Zeppelin

"Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.
But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do...

Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Got no time to for spreadin' roots, The time has come to be gone.
And to' our health we drank a thousand times, it's time to Ramble On.

Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.

Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Gonna ramble on, sing my song. Gotta keep-a-searchin' for my baby...
Gonna work my way, round the world. I can't stop this feelin' in my heart
Gotta keep searchin' for my baby. I can't find my bluebird!"

Advice from Bilbo Baggins

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
~ Bilbo Baggins

I've always loved Tolkien's The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. The Tookish wanderlust of Bilbo, the rambling life style of Strider the Ranger. Early on in life, these characters struck a cord deep within me, one that has resonated throughout my life.

My love for all things Tolkien was reaffirmed when I discovered Led Zeppelin songs, specifically off of their 4th album commonly referred to as Zoso, that seems to "ring" with Tolkien themes. Ramble On... Misty Mountain Hop....... The Battle of Evermore....

To live the carefree lifestyle of a wander with no responsibility, no required direction; walking the woods by day, sleeping under the stars, living off the land...these are things that have always appealed to me.

I guess my interest in walking/rambling, besides getting back in shape, has it's roots in my ideas about Tolkien and Zeppelin and the free life.

It's time to ramble on.....

Slept Like a Rock Last Night!

After an exhausting day at school following my morning 10 mile walk, it was nice to get home and relax. Sleep came very easily for the first time in a year....

Richard Grant's top 10 Books about Wandering

"I have a restless personality, a compulsion to keep travelling, and I've always enjoyed reading about people who made their lives into a perpetual journey. The literature of wandering and nomadism is also in part a literature of harsh, arid environments - deserts, steppes, tundra - where trees, agriculture and sedentary societies have found it difficult to take root."

1. Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca
The extraordinary, mesmerising and true adventure of a Spanish conquistador shipwrecked off the coast of Texas in 1527. Naked and barefoot, with three companions, he walked all the way to the Pacific coast of Mexico, accruing a procession of thousands of Indians who hailed him as a god and a healer. This is the first book ever written about the North American interior and still one of the best.

2. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
A travel book about Australian Aborigines in which very little actually happens apart from Chatwin's speculations on the human urge to wander. Aborigines won't talk to him, he invents his main character, the book's structure dissolves into a mosaic of notebook entries - and yet he writes so beautifully, and thinks such interesting thoughts, that none of these flaws matter.

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Read the rest of Richards picks...

                                          

Cabeza de Vaca - The Ultimate Trekker and Forager

"Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow trekkers survived their ordeals as POWs and became successful healers and traders and effective, albeit not necessarily efficient, hunters and gatherers. Over the course of almost seven years, they came to know vast tracts of North America, root by root, fruit by fruit, and animal by animal, terrestrial and aquatic alike. During their cultural metamorphoses, the survivors had ample opportunity to learn enough about the landscapes and cooking technologies in greater South Texas to eke out a living along their routes to freedom. They made their escape when they entered the South Texas heartland for the last time and fled south to would-be enemies who welcomed the soon-to-be trekkers. In doing so, they availed themselves to the powers of Old World healers whose fame was spreading fast across South Texas"

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/cabeza-cooking/deepsouth.html

Stalking the Good Life!

Ultimately, I would like to be able gather food along the way as I go on my walks across country. To be able to identify and gather edible plants has always been a deire that I've had. It's time to start studying up and practicing. Here are a few of the foraging sites that I've found for Texas edibles and  edible plants for other locations. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

• http://www.foragingtexas.com
• Historic Foods of the Texas Natives
• Eat The Weeds

I walk with my waterproof backpack with my camel back water pack strapped onto the backpack.

Some of the treasures I found on my walk to work today.

Walking to work - my time. My best yet. Maybe southbound on 75 is the way I need to start going in the morning.

 

It's 11:45AM, and my day is almost halfway over. I can not tell you how tired it I am right now. Getting up at 3AM stinks, but it is a different world that early in the morning. More than being tired, the upper part of my back is killing me from my back pack. I really have to find a way to lighten my bag some more. All in all, it was a good experience, and a great adventure. One of the main benefits, its that it did not take any time away from my family since they were asleep.

Walking to Work - walking south down Central Expwy

Walking to Work - the foggy service road

Balancing - Walking to Work

Walking to Work - 4AM

 

I decided to walk to work this morning. Central Exprswy is a lot tammer at 4 in the morning versus during the day. There was also a thick blanket of fog the whole walk. A very Hounds of Baskerville!

The First Walk

My first time walking home was a neat experience. I changed into shorts and a t shirt, and strapped on my backpack and camel pack. It took me 3 hours and 44 minutes to walk the ~ 10 miles from work to my house in McKinney. 

A Walk To Remember....

This November I turn 43 years old..... My birthday used to be an exciting event that I always look forward to as a kid. Not so much any more. It seemed like yesterday when I was 18... young..... strong.... full of energy.... Now that I suddenly found myself to be a middle aged man, I feel old....weak......and really really tired. I wake up in the morning with aches and pains that I didn't used to have 10 years ago. Sounds like a classic formula for a mid-life crisis. I don't plan on having one of those, so I needed to find an outlet. I have friends that ride 100 miles on thier bikes each weekend. Other friends spend hundreds of dollars collecting cars, toys, coins, etc.... I even have one friend who is an ultra marathon runner.

But what outlet do I have time and the funds for?  I don't have a lot of time on my hands with three kids, 4 dogs, 7 chickens, a rabbit, two jobs, and a beautiful wife, so I have to maximize  the time I do have. I've got to try to consolidate my tasks.

I decided to try to combine my love for being outdoors, meditating, hiking, and getting to an from work by walking home from work. Walking home from work seems like the perfect confluence of the above activities.

Oh, I forgot to mention that a year ago I torn the ACL in my right knee while taking pictures at the first Occupy Dallas rally last year.I've gone through intensive physical therapy, and this idea of walking home from work seems like the perfect way to celebrate my recovery.

So on the morning of Thursday, October 25th my wife dropped me off at work, and I  made my first attempt to walk home from work later that day.

More on my first walk in the next post.......