foothold revisited

 

A distant dream... Realized?

Running, breathing and seeking cleanse. Friday afternoon, a long week’s end, a sunny day ascending Betsy Ridge on the MST, 6 miles out of town. Uwharrie and I catch wonderful panoramas through the leafless forest out across the expansive Catawba valley to the South Mountains, tomorrow’s destination.

It’s quiet and peaceful up here. The medicine is strong. I can appreciate the small town down there in the valley we’ve just escaped. It looks so quaint. For better or worse, Marion has been our home for the last two and a half years. Lily Uwharrie and I have chosen to live here and establish a more sustainable routine.

Most days, we drive to work together, six miles roundtrip. Most errands are accomplished on foot. Between us, our average weekly gasoline consumption is less than two gallons. Discounting our summer gluttony, our yearly consumption for transportation right now is probably around 6 barrels of crude oil.

Factor in our other energy demands and this already unimpressive number grows and becomes even less so. Yet I look around and observe the staggering waste around us and realize we’re doing a lot better than most. Not that this matters much because we’re all in this together…

Many days I feel isolated in a land of ignorance and apathy. But when we get a chance to climb into the hills and look down on this land, this county, it looks just about right, nestled amongst its natural beauty. I just have to remind myself that there are other people down there that share this same view.

Death by plastic... A long way to go.