Robin Rieske--"We have to keep these stories alive"

Robin was on the United States walk and helped beforehand with mailouts. She was 20 years old during the walk and a college student at Florida State. She currently lives in Brattleboro, VT and works as a certified substance abuse prevention consultant, community organizer and a media literacy educator. She is still active politically, especially around the impact of media on public health and democracy. She is married to Breeze and she has a stepson named Silas who is heading off to college. Her main passion is belly dancing. "I was a sociology student at the time of the walk. Being on the walk gave me a real life experience in sociology and community. I had the book knowledge but I hadn't lived in a community before so I had a lot of lessons to learn and I still apply some of those lessons today. One of my biggest impacts from the walk is that I gained a huge appreciation for the natural beauty in this part of North America."

"There is so much to say about the walk.... the personal relationships, the day to day logistics of travelling, camping out, cooking, bathing, conflicts, healing, singing. There were powerful experiences of being with the native people and how these different cultures did exist and do exist. I think most of us grow up thinking that one way was the norm and it isn't. Working now with the government, I feel we are more aware of how the services we provide need to be geared toward the culture of those receiving the services whether it's low income families, racial diversity or gender differences. It's all a part of cultural competency. Because of the walk experience, I can now apply that a bit more.

"I've had no desire to go to high school and college reunions, but going to the walk reunions has helped me to keep alive the experience, the stories, the successes, the challenges and the beauty of community. Because we live in a media-saturated society we have to keep these stories alive, we need to tell stories that preserve our planet and not just the stories that our media culture attempts to sell us. Understanding this has helped me to understand the importance of story telling in all cultures and how we have to use our privilege to help others maintain their ability to speak! Dougs book, his tour, the reunions, these have been such great gifts. May we all cross paths again!"

Mindi Bender--"I still feel the walk"

We had a wonderful program in Brattleboro last night, the gathering organized by walk veteran Robin Rieske. More than 50 people showed up. Robin had publicized the event in the local newspapers and Janisse Ray, an old friend and noted writer, wrote a good review of the book for the main newspaper. I enjoyed meeting many warm people including Woody, a Lakota/Dakota Native American. He knew some of the Native Americans depicted in my powerpoint such as Shorty, our guide through the Pine Ridge Reservation. I enjoyed all the hugs afterwards.

This morning, I talked with Mindi Bender, veteran of the U.S. and European walks and long time friend. She currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and works as a teacher of high school students with special needs. "I recall the great amount of diversity of the people on our walk, the people we met and the vastness of our country's land--the diversity of natural landscape. I wish that I could go back and experience it with my current perspective of being more present, with all the different individuals in different situations, being more involved at a deeper level. All of the phenomenal things we went through were part of our daily lives and I took it for granted that walking was just another way of life. Now I realize how phenomenal our journey was. I learned to be able to accept all kinds of different opinions and be more tolerant.
I loved being immersed in the sacredness of nature all of the time. I continue to seek nature to rejuvenate myself in times of stress and peace.

"Sometimes when I'm walking on paths of nature, I still have the perspective of looking for places to sleep or camp, like when I was on the walk. It's just a natural part of my mind now. With gratitude I honor the four directions when entering and leaving a space in nature. When I walk I still feel the energy coming from my chi center; I still have a fast walking gait, remembering walking 20 miles a day. Even when I walk down the corridors of my high school I think of the rivers and roads and various landscapes that we traversed. I still feel the walk in my body even when I walk through a hallway. I imagine walking the long distances from mountain to mountain. When I'm in a large city I try to seek out the natural spots. When I look at the stars I am reminded of the brightness of the stars in Nevada. The friendships I've made with the core group of walkers have continued and have been maintained through visits and reunions. They are so precious to me. These are the people with whom I love to hike, camp, and travel with in natural areas."

Massacusetts/Vermont events and walkers--Eric Herminghausen

Cyndi and I drove to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where we gave a program at a community non-denominational church. It was organized by Suzanne Carlson, veteran of the United States walk and an ardent peace activist for most of her adult life. We had a warm sharing. The minister approached me afterwards and said he appreciated the quiet sense of hope in my message. Then we drove to Brattleboro, Vermont, where we had a mini-reunion with several walkers.
I talked with Eric Herminghausen, veteran of the United States Walk for the Earth. Eric left the walk group in Durango, Colorado, and walked alone across the country and met up with the group outside of Washington D.C. He now lives in Burke, Vermont. "The walk was passing through the country faster than I wanted so I wanted to get a better feel for an area as I was going through," he said. "It was an evolving philosophy I had. By the time I hit the Mississippi, however, I was studying my map and trying to figure out how I could reach the East Coast before the winter, so it turned into something worse than what I was trying to get away from. So that was revealing. It turned into sort of a marathon event--walking through the country instead of fully experiencing it.

"I have very vivid memories today of the country and people I met on my own. For instance, in walking through Kentucky I met a young boy and he invited me to come home and meet his family and I ended up camping in their yard for a few days. One thing I discovered was my loner tendencies--not feeling comfortable being with a group. It's still a challenge today, but I appreciate partially what I missed and that is walking with a group and the community. I feel today that the walk people are part of my family. So it's sort of a regret that I separated from the walk."

For the past 18 years he has been holding the same job as the caretaker for an historic estate and trying to live a simple life respecting the earth. He built a house in the woods using a passive solar design and has been trying to minimize his impact on the planet.

The Tour Continues!

Cyndi and I left Tallahassee June 18th to begin the East Coast book tour. Our first stop was Atlanta, where we stayed with friends Holly and Craig Loveland and their four children. Holly was once a summer camp student of mine and now she is a summer camp teacher as well as a wonderful mother. We connected with folks at the Phoenix and Dragon Bookstore in Atlanta and had a warm gathering at the Dunwoody Nature Center. Holly's brother Paul Ingram drove down from Dahlonega to join us. Paul was on a three-week walk with us through the Pacific Northwest in the late 1990s. He recalled a wonderful memory of when we met with a group of Native American runners on the Quinalt Reservation and they allowed us to run with them for a mile and to carry their feathered staff. The staff had more than a hundred feathers attached to it, given to the group from native groups they connected with.

After visiting with relatives in South Carolina, Cyndi and I drove to the Big Apple. We quickly learned why country people shouldn't drive in New York. It is a bit nerve wracking with aggressive taxi drivers dominating the roads. We parked at the Quest Bookshop in Manhatten, waited until our heart rates returned to normal, and didn't get in the car again until we left. We walked to the United Nations, Central Park and several other gardens and parks. There are some beautiful spots of nature in the city. We met some very friendly people and enjoyed the fact that New York is pedestrian friendly. I gave a talk at the lecture hall adjacent to the bookstore and we had an interesting discussion afterwards. Topics ranged from the little people to the colors associated with the four directions. Now it's on to Massachusetts and Vermont where we will connect with several walk friends.