final stretch - day 6
146th - 155th st / 168th - 173rd st / fort washington ave / cabrini blvd / pinehurst ave / overlook terrace / wadsworth ave / audobon ave
14.94 miles
i’ve been listening to ‘you learn’ by alanis on repeat. it feels like my anthem of the moment and also fuel for the second to last day of walking like a mad woman. the daily mileage has decreased, thankfully, but my blistered feet and ankles are not too happy with me. conscious of my breath today, and aching feet, and also of the increase in masks and worried faces around me. i am thinking of young women in afghanistan and their futures, but i am not thinking (reading, doing) enough. fires burn in california. delta is whispered. it is different from a year ago, but chaos is consistent.
foggy sights today: a nod for no reason; a squealing babe; a market stand with sunflowers, beets, and corn; a gorgeously thick fishtail braid; trinity cemetery; a woman fixing her hair; fort tryon park (and it seems that is all? less observing and more pondering today, and conversing with a thoughtful friend).
if i have learned one thing from my mother and from this world, it is to be nice. i was nervous entering the post office today, trying to ship a large parcel back home, prepared to be turned away. but as my mama says, ‘people just want to talk, to tell you their story’. i talked to tina at the post office today, as she unburdened herself of the difficulties of working at the post office, dealing with people in the worst of moods and the most entitled of attitudes. i think people look down on post office workers, forgetting (or choosing to forget) how difficult it must be to constantly encounter people at their most impatient. we forget that mail takes time, money! and i myself am guilty.
but i love the mail, i love my postcards from across the ocean, and sometimes being nice comes in handy. tina told me not to tell anyone, but she gave me a bit of tape when i ran out of my own while taping up my box even though they’re not supposed to. i left the post office grateful and humbled.
*and not part of the walk, but how could i not include a picture from this lovely dinner with strangers-turned-friends (sean walked all of manhattan, too!) and with my number one walking buddy, dearest cher.