
Today was an awesome day, despite (or because of) the rain. It started when I woke up at first light and found out it hadn’t started raining yet. That was good news: it meant I could walk all day in a misty, drizzling fog, but at least my sleeping bag would stay dry. I packed up in the semi-darkness and hit the road a few mins after 5 am.
About an hour later, a police officer in Ashby, MA stopped & called me over. I automatically pulled my wallet out, but he didn’t want to see my ID. He wanted to know what I was doing.
So I told him. I said “I’m walking across North America to promote my novel The Legend of Pedestrio.” And since I already had my wallet out, I gave him one of my business cards.

He asked if he could keep it. He asked if I wanted a ride. He asked if I needed water. He was genuinely interested & said he’d be following my progress. I got a kick of energy from the whole encounter that carried me 6 or 7 miles.
And that’s been the way of it, all day long. I got a solid 90 mins of hiking in before the rain started. The temperature was cool and there was no wind, so my poncho kept me warm & reasonably dry without getting blown hitherin yawn by nasty swirling gusts. I had a nice, wide shoulder to walk on most of the day, so I didn’t have to worry about the wall of rainwater that streams off the sides of trucks.
I didn’t spin a single yarn, but I told the tale of what I was doing five or six times, & gave out as many cards. People seemed interested. One barista at a coffee bar in Rindge said she saw me as she was driving in that morning, and gave me an extra large piece of cinnamon bun. A young dad riding herd on a couple of mischievous toddlers asked me where I was going and said he had a backpack the same brand as mine. The woman who served me lunch told me about the hike she had planned for August through New Hampshire’s Presidential Range.
I walked on clouds all day long, and probably overdid it. I covered about 25 miles in the rain, in wet shoes, and got blisters on both feet for the first time in decades.
I’m glad it’s a short day into Winchester tomorrow, and a short day into Brattleboro the day after that. My first scheduled day off is in Brattleboro this Saturday.
My feet are looking forward to that.

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