My husband, Marc took this photo on the first morning of our Border to Border New Hampshire walk when he dropped us off at the Canadian border.
In the picture, my son – Griffin and I are both excited to get started on a journey walking from the New Hampshire/Canadian border to the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border. There is so much potential ahead of us, so many things we’ll learn. We know it will happen, at this point though, we just didn’t know the specifics of *how* it was going to happen.
Leap and the net will appear.
Walking the length of New Hampshire was a mere 220 miles by our calculations, that’s only 220 times around our neighborhood. We planned to do it in 14 days. A piece of cake, right?
At the beginning of our trip, we certainly thought it was. After all, we were just walking on roads, how hard could that be? It wasn’t like we were hiking mountains.
Oh the naive promise of success that shines in those grins. We had no clue of the lessons that were in store for us – the many things we would learn.
In hindsight (which we all know is 20/20) I also now see packs filled with far too much unnecessary stuff that are not adjusted correctly on our bodies. They hang too low on our backs, all the weight carried on our shoulders. Chest straps are not buckled and hip straps are below our guts (because, we thought it minimized the bulge – fashion first- even in the north woods.)
I see pale legs, a little more pudge than we had when we ended our walk, legs without braces, and beneath those socks, virgin feet not yet blistered.
I see pain yet to be felt.
Fears to be overcome.
Inner strength to be recognized.
But first and foremost, I see smiles that are as wide as our beautiful state and I can smell the optimism from here, just like the fragrance of the northern pines that fills our every breath. The beginning of an adventure that will take us to places we’ve never been and show us sights we’ve never seen. It will test our strength and determination and, in the end, will bring us new friends along the way.
We knew if we could do this, we could do anything. In short, it’s the start of a journey that turned out to be absolutely life changing.
We just didn’t know it that bright and sunny morning as we set out for our adventure.
(Here’s some information on why we took this trip.)
***
Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.
Like what you read here? Consider subscribing to this blog so that you’ll never miss a post. And feel free to share with those who may need a little chicken love.
