A Place to Belong - Day 19

  You know how big a challenge it can be to find places to pee on roadwalks, right? There are a lot of roadwalk and paved trail miles in southern Michigan, and even the trails that provide porta-potties have taken them in for the winter. I guess no one is supposed to pee off-season!

But today, at just the right time, I passed Countryside Baptist Church. Their service had not yet started, and I went in and asked if I could use the rest room. They said "yes." You might not think this is a big deal, but I have had churches tell me "no." I promise not to go off on a rant here, but this seems like a basic human kindness to me- to let someone use a bathroom rather than get caught and possibly fined for... you know.

Anyway, their motto is "A Place to Belong."

I ended up thinking about that a lot today. We like to have a home where we belong. This beautiful, old hexagon house would make a lovely home. But maybe the families in the shoddy trailers I also passed do a better job of giving their families a place to belong. You can't tell from the outside.

The North Country Trail is looking for a place to belong in the landscape. This is a bike path through Homer that is also the NCT. When I first hiked through here, this was 100% roadwalk. Now the NCT has a lovely place to belong.

There are still roadwalks. Some of them are attractive if you just look. Yesterday's ice was still holding on tight, despite today being dry and slightly above freezing. There was no wind, and it was a great day for walking. Sure, eventually the trail will not belong here, but there are usually things to enjoy along the way.

One of the coolest things about the NCT is that it embraces not only natural features, but historic and cultural ones as well. I love the Rose Hartwick Thorpe bell in Litchfield. It commemorates her poem "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight." This was a maudlin poem of the early 1900's that was highly popular at the time. It was even mentioned in Anne of Green Gables. She was from Litchfield.

Lots more people have found a place to belong with their interactions with the NCTA. The Chief Noonday Chapter offered a patch set this year for anyone who hiked all the miles in their three counties. Today, I finished their last county (my sixth, with one to go before I hit Ohio). There are the Hike 100 incentive patches. (Got mine) There is a patch for hiking 50 miles of the NCT in Pennsylvania (I did not get that in 2021), and one for 50 miles on the Finger Lakes Trail (I did get that). If you like incentives and colorful rewards, there is a place for you to belong.

If you like to help people, there is a place to belong. While Sue is home for the weekend, Al spotted me again.

And Deb and Daryl hosted my trailer and fed me meals two nights.

The North Country Trail and the Association is a place I've always belonged, ever since I discovered it in 1988, and attended my first NCTA Conference in 1995. The NCT people are some of my best friends, and so far, they are certainly going out of their ways to help me along the trail on this hike.

Easy going today: 15.5 miles. Total so far: 279.5 miles. I am still icing, wrapping, and exercising my leg, but it is tolerating the walking and seems to be improving a little each day. At any rate, it's not causing me any concerns as to my ability to continue. I'm just out for a stroll!

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