my trail

Sept. 25, 2009

I left behind an obese book about the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge with my Cajun third cousin-in-law. After deciding my Chaco sandals could do it all, I gave my New Balance tennies to Pam in St. Francisville, LA. My extra water bottle, with the WWOZ sticker, found a new home in Marksville, LA with the "coonasses," Penny and O'Neil. My red and maroon biking shirts--both uncomfortably short--I gifted to Grace in Giddings, TX, along with my mustard yellow knitting yarn. At the Ashram in Taos, NM, I donated 18 neon combs, since the dollar store only sold 20-packs. In Albuquerque, after buying and reading "Semi-Native"--a book about New Mexicanisms--I placed it on a shelf in the Beekeepers' library. I accidentally passed on my razor to the Couchsurfers in Flagstaff, AZ. I placed an extra pair of sunglasses on a park bench in Boise and another on a tree branch in Arlingson, OR because Bree keeps finding me cooler pairs along the road. Yesterday, we left our mixed "NOLA Jams" CD with Katherine in Pendleton, OR--a woman we met at a coffeeshop who invited us to crash in her beautiful Harley-themed home. Twenty-seven other people along the route might be listening to that CD, too. Our gift of gratitude.