AscensionPortPerry

I am on the home stretch. Thank you all for staying with me. When I began this project my plan was to walk an average of 10 kilometres a day for 100 days which would bring me to my goal of 1000 kilometres. August 17th is day 100 and I will, on that Monday, walk kilometre number 1000! I will write a final Ramblings journal entry summing up my experience. Perhaps today I will simply encourage you to do four things:... 1. Thank God for some of the blessings in your life. I will thank him for the gift of good physical health which has enabled me to walk this summer. 2. Send a donation to Faithworks if you have not done so this year. 3. Tell someone you Love them. 4. Exercise a little today. I think I’ll go for a walk.

Hello my friends, The walk continues. I will say it has begun to slow down a little as I am allowing myself more frequent no walk times. I remain well ahead of my forecast schedule and it will take a lot more than creeping fatigue to keep me from finishing. Which leads me to today’s very pleasant observation. Even though I am a bit of a slave to routine there are variables in my walk. I may start a few minutes earlier or later. The other thing that is changing is when the... sun rises and sets each day . I say this because I had a neat experience this morning. In one section of my usual morning route I walk straight west on one street for about 800 meters then turn right for about 200 meters before turning back due east. As it happened this morning I made the westward walk before the sun crested the horizon. The short north street is heavily treed and today had the effect of darkening the morning. As I turned from the shade to face east the sun crested the horizon in the most spectacular fashion! Immediately as I turned I was washed in light and warmth! In a splendid metaphor my morning went from cool, dark and routine to WOW! Enjoy the thought and wait for your WOW!

Ramblings In May, when planning this walk, I was going to use numbers to make the venture look impressive and then hit you all up for donations to Faithworks. Accordingly, today I would remind you that Toronto to New York City is 757 kms and I have now walked 761 kms. At this point I would say something cute like Hello from the Big Apple. Then I would ask you to make a donation to Faithworks.... Instead let me tell you why to donate to Faithworks There are 72 million refugees, some of them are going to ask AURA, a Faithworks partnered ministry, to help them settle into Canada. These people are scared and desperate and looking for a little hope. There are people, often young, being released from prison into a city where no one cares that they even exist except the people The Bridge Prison Ministry. Another ministry that offers real help and a ray of hope. An addict and sex trade worker having a safe, warm, hassle-free coffee at All Saints Church. A terminally ill kid being loved by the people at The Philip Aziz Center. These are why you should cut a check to Faithworks and not because a healthy, privileged, middle-aged priest is well enough to walk a long way. ThanksFrom The Big Apple!

This little project has been a great teacher. Having committed to walk for an hour every morning and another every evening means that in time I walk through every variable. Weather is an easy example; I have walked in the snow (May 11th), been soaked to the skin and walked through some ridiculously hot days recently. I have also walked in every state of being. I’ve noticed that my mood tell is how I hold my head. When I am in what I call a quiet mood (this is a catchall te...rm which includes hungry, tired, frustrated or down) then I walk with my head slightly lowered. When I am in a pleasant mood my head is level and I look around at the world. I don’t think my stride, my gait or my speed are subject to change, the main difference is whether I am looking at and taking in the world around me. What this observation tells me is that self-care is really important. It seems to me that we all need to be at a certain level of wellness to engage the world, to actually walk around with our eyes up and open. And the only way I can meet my siblings’ needs is if I can see them and I can't see them if I go through my travels with my head down. Surely I must value my wellbeing so I can value yours. Just a thought.