DAYS 68 & 69 - Hay Springs & Rushville, NE - 1308 miles from home

It's hard to imagine true violence, when you're walking alongside the road. The human-paced stride of the walk, the buzz of the cicadas, the wind and roar of passing cars, the occasional horn blast from a semi or (thrillingly) the whistle of a train, the fluctuations between bright sun and cool shade: all of this movement, noise, variation brings a rhythm to my hours on the road - a cadence that fundamentally affirms life, affirms the open landscape and the opening heart.

But nonetheless, there is violence. I'm writing this on the morning of 9/11 (24th anniversary of that day) - the morning after yet another assassination and yet another school shooting. There is violence, and I'm striving to walk peace, and there are mornings like this where it's even more obvious to me than ever that We the People have so much to grieve, and yet collective mourning - the mourning that begins to return life on the morning after death - that collective spiritual work is not something that we know, anymore, how to do.

And in the words of my mentor, Forrest Gump: That's all I have to say about that.

Because I also want to talk about another loving and affirming community welcome, here in Hay Springs and Rushville, Nebraska. Peace and love in action, in yet another community. The Methodists are feeding us well. "We eat to meet!" as one delightful casserole-bearer told us, grinning broadly. But it's not just food - it's also bed and bath! Pastor Peter Mtuamwari gave us the key to his parsonage - an extraordinary act of generosity. He's only been in Nebraska for two months and is currently living with his wife (also a pastor) in a rental in Alliance. We were his very first guests, and his home's first inhabitants. If you know me at all, you'll not be surprised to hear that, within the first 12 hours, I managed to take two hot baths.

We talked with Pastor Peter about his years in America, his admiration for the Great Plains, and his love for his native Kenya. He is from Meru, urged a visit there, and we joked (half-joked!) about next year's pilgrimage from the mountains to the sea. Wouldn't Mombasa be a delightful place to end a little hike??

The Pastor's parsonage is as lovely as it is thanks to the care and hard work of John Rotness. John has been our contact in Hay Springs and Rushville. Retired from his work as railroad roadmaster and (if I recall correctly) safety specialist, John of course now works even harder and nonstop. Church trustee and Board president, disaster relief responder, history buff and Dawes Historical Museum trustee, 'Sheriff' for the Western club (i.e. Western history association) 'The Pine Ridge Corral' - and cub reporter, at least yesterday, for the Hay Springs Hip Hop (their editor asked him to write a story on us, since she was out of town).... John is the sort of person who picks up the phone. I suspect his wife, Linda, is much the same. She is also a history buff - a teacher and docent at the museum - and her people homesteaded here in Sheridan County several generations ago. John himself is originally from northern Minnesota. When he moved to Nebraska as a boy he was gravely disappointed by the relatively mild winters. "Back home, we'd have had four feet of snow by December!" he tells us. But now this lovely, modest, unceasingly generous man has a hefty pick-up truck with a ginormous cowcatcher on the front grill. Nebraska is his love, is his home.

People adapt.

Walking these past couple of days has also been about the Cowboy Trail - an ambitious 'rails to trails' project that currently spans about 300 Nebraskan miles from Chadron to Norfolk, alongside Hwy 20. When Bob picked up the trail in Hay Springs, he ran into Tony Hindman - a warm-hearted advocate and trustee of the project. Tony immediately began that work of connection that has come to define the trail magic of this pilgrimage. He suggested daytrips and worthy sights (Bob almost went to Mt. Rushmore yesterday on Tony's suggestion... just 180 miles roundtrip - a quick jaunt here on the Great Plains). Then Tony reached out to a cousin affiliated with the Norfolk Visitor's Center, and contacted a friend who freelances for local media.

And then - in keeping with the synchronicity that is true trail magic: at last night's Church potluck in Rushville, we sat next to that very same reporter. She'd already pitched the story to her editor. "Oh, you're the Walkers??" Yes, Heidi, that's us. Of course you'd be sitting next to us at dinner!

Evelyn of the Rushville United Methodist Church. "I love what you're doing!" she says.

"Deep Roots In The Land." The fabulous Rushville, NE town sign - designed by a landscape architect fellow with the Sandhills Institute, 13 miles south of town. Although we couldn't align schedules with the Institute's director, Mel Ziegler, we made good contact... and will definitely be back. Extraordinary mission, extraordinary people.

The Cowboy Trail. Hay Springs, NE.

Bob and Tony Hindman (trustee for the Cowboy Trail.)

John Rotness, Hay Springs, Nebraska.

Esty restored. At Pastor Peter's parsonage, Hay Springs, NE.

Sunset from the parsonage.

Pastor Peter Mtuamwari in his new parsonage.

Ginger and Heidi at the Rushville United Methodist Church.

Hotdish Heroines! Rushville UMC.

Pastor Peter, offering his blessing. "We are all sojourners," he says.

Pilgrims with John and Linda Rotness, outside the Rushville UMC (photo by Bob Hall).