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Someone told me that it's difficult to leave a comment on my blog because you have to sign in or create an account. So I decided to remind my readers that you can leave a comment as an Anonymous poster. To identify yourself simply include your name as part of the message (please remember to do so). It's quick and easy. 

Your comment can be a question, a suggestion, a point of information, a correction, or just a friendly hello. Hope to hear from you.

Greta

Halfway point

From the train as it approached Philadelphia, 6/7/09

I'm home after a good train ride from Staunton, VA, to Philadelphia and then a bus to Bethlehem. Guy, cats, garden - all is sweet and  well. 

Google Maps tells me it's 1620 miles from New Orleans to Rouses Point on Route 11, and about 900 to Lexington.  So I've passed the halfway point by almost 100 miles. Hurray! I've actually walked 485 miles - I'd thought the percentage was higher. I think I'll travel back on the 22nd and start walking again on June 23. Maybe I'll get my walking percentage up.

I hope to do some research and culling through climate watch releases during my time at home, and I'll share some of that on the blog. So check in now and then.

The motor home gets towed again

I blew the transmission of my TranStar motor home and on Thursday (6/4) had it towed from Lexington to Stuarts Draft, Virginia, for an overhaul. It wasn't an easy decision because I'm so ambivalent anyway about driving while I advocate for deep lifestyle changes such as not driving or at least opting for vehicles with excellent fuel efficiency. However I'm still unable to conceive of a way that I, being who I am with my particular limitations, could complete my pilgrimage without a vehicle to live in as I walk.

I plan to travel to Bethlehem for a second two-week recess, taking the train from Staunton, VA, to Philadelphia tomorrow. A bus will get me home late in the evening. I'm looking forward to time with Guy, and a visit from my Boston-area children and grandchildren next weekend. I hope to also see some of you who live in the Lehigh Valley. Give me a buzz or email me. I hope to catch up on correspondence and other chores. I will continue to post to the blog during this time.

Peace and good energy to all, Greta

Things I'm reading

My daughter, Sofia Hart, sent me this article from the Boston Globe, knowing that this is one of the main concerns I have about Climate Change, ie. the suffering of the poor and vulnerable throughout the world. Click here for the article:

The following appeared on Boston.com:
Headline: Report estimates deaths by warming
Date: May 29, 2009 

"LONDON - Climate change kills about 315,000 people a year through hunger, sickness, and weather disasters, and the annual death toll is expected to rise to half a million by 2030, a report said today.

Also:  I missed the opportunity to meet David Roper, retired Physics professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, but I exchanged emails with him and have a couple of suggestions that you might want to check out. I started reading his manuscript and think others would enjoy it.   

Triple Threats to the Human Future: http://www.roperld.com/science/HumanFuture.pdf

Consonant with his belief that Blacksburg represents the type of community that is best equipped to survive in the coming times, David Roper has been involved in setting up a solar greenhouse in Blacksburg:

Why Build a Solar Greenhouse?

Global Warming and Peak Oil require that humans acquire their food from local farmers or grow it themselves. In climates with cold winters, such as at Blacksburg, Virginia where Virginia Tech is located, acquiring local food in the winter time requires the existence of solar greenhouses. Of course, one could preserve summer crops by canning and drying, but fresh vegetables in winter months would make a healthy diet more likely.

Southern Virginia

Crossing into Virginia felt like entering a new country and the city of Abingdon exemplified all the sense of gentility and long traditions of education and art. Historical markers dating back to the eighteenth century, log cabins in the middle of town, women's colleges established two centuries ago - these brought me right into the history and novels of that period of American history. I don't care for the history pertaining to battles, but I love to see how people lived and what they valued. A few examples:

A reference to Daniel Boone: "Wolf Cave - Lair of wolves which attacked Daniel Boone's dogs 1790 and from which the came the original name of this town: Wolf Hills."


This magnificent Inn used to be a women's school.

In the continuing post below (blogspot only allows five photos per posting), you will see more of the countryside as I walked northeast on Route 11.

Into the hills

I had to ask how to pronounce the name of this town. It's "Chil-howie" and, according to the oldtimer who told me the pronunciation, it means "Valley of Many Deers." The sign below gives two possible meanings.

This was the first mountain I climbed. I think you can read the fascinating story on this plaque. Check the children's blog for a photo of the Black Snake that greeted me near this outlook.

On the other side of the mountain lies the town of Pulaski, where the rails are busy. I saw many freight containers with Chinese logos, a well as other languages I didn't know with certainty, perhaps Greek and Swedish.

I crossed the New River in Radford, took a side trip to Blacksburg to visit the UU church there on Sunday, and parked my van in the hay field of a wonderful couple who keep horses. I had the opportunity to speak about my Walk with a few folks at the church. Then on out of Christianburg into the rolling hills heading toward Roanoke.

Nancy Tate, who runs the Lepoco Peace Center in Bethlehem, gave me the name of her family church in Salem, just west of Roanoke, as a place to park overnight. I arrived on Sunday evening and found a very friendly group of members of the Green Hills Church of the Brethren, including the pastor and his family. I had a peaceful night in the parking lot of the church and coffee and conversation before I left this morning.

Assessing the Walk

As I start walking in Virginia and celebrate the completion of 400 miles, I'm in the mood to evaluate what I've been doing. Some days I wonder about the value of this adventure, especially given the problems and expenses of the motor home. So here go some thoughts:

I've come to see myself as a walking Poster Board, and the van as a moving Bulletin Board. As I walk along the highway people in hundreds of cars see me every day, and I notice that many of them read my shirt, WALKING for the CLIMATE. If even one or two out of a hundred actually think about what that means, awareness has been tweaked. And if a few every day talk with the others in the car - "Hey, what do you think that means?" - then my walk is worth it. 

I also notice people reading the signs on the van. On a humorous note, people think the handwritten signs in the windows are For Sale signs. I've actually had people turn their cars around and come back to look and ask me if I'm selling. Sometimes they then ask what "WAKE UP to the CLIMATE EMERGENCY" means, but usually not. I thought of changing the signs somehow so that people wouldn't come out of their way, but I decided that my message is worth a little inconvenience on their part. 

The other day in a park a group of children engaged me in a conversation about the signs on the van. When I started explaining global warming one girl sighed and said "School's out." (Indeed it is in Tennessee.) But several of them took my fliers and one of them said she'd love to walk like I do. I referred them to my children's blog. 

That blog might be the most successful of all my efforts. I love it that many of the children leave comments, and we've actually developed a blog relationship. One of them was inspired to start her own blog and recently posted a wonderful dream about the end of global warming. During the next couple of weeks I'm planning to post some suggestions for their summer holidays. 

This original blog and the Progress Map serve to keep my friends and supporters informed of my journey and I appreciate the comments that let me know that folks are checking in. I also try to keep the issues of the climate change crisis in front of us all so that we don't slip into living our daily lives as if nothing was going on - while the ice caps and the permafrost melt, temperatures rise, the oceans become more acidic, trees wilt and perish, and fauna and flora species teeter on the verge of extinction. Whew!! 

There seems to very little awareness around America, and little support for measures to address climate change. One big disappointment regarding my Walk is the almost total lack of interest on the part of the media. My friend, Tim, has contacted many newspapers, TV stations, and student and environmental groups, but with the exception of Tuscaloosa there hasn't been any interest. I think that if there were a few more people walking it would be more of an event, and I'm hoping that by the time I get to northern Virginia and certainly in Pennsylvania I'll have some company to shake things up.

I've been nurtured with interest and hospitality by Unitarian Universalists along the way, and most Sundays I attend services at a UU church. Usually I light a candle during 'joys and concerns' to mark the number of miles I've walked. I'm learning from my successes and my failures at generating good dialogue about Climate Change, and mostly I realize that I'm best at telling stories, and not so good at providing strong arguments for those who question the scientific basis of global warming. You tell people the kitchen's on fire and they want to talk about who caused it and if it's really going to affect the rest of the house. 

So I guess I'll keep on walking (and driving my behemoth as long as it holds up). Leave me a comment now and then, and join me if you can.

Good energy to you,

Greta