Day 1 ~ Some thoughts on beginnings ~ June 9th, 2010

We began this journey at the cemetary in Harriston, and it seemed as though cemetaries would be our symbolic points throughout the day.
It felt really appropriate, as I feel that I will be a different person by the end of this walk.  Who I was at the beginning will have died, and a new Heidi Burrowes will taken her place at the end of this journey.
I was nervous, and excited because I have been planning this adventure for a long time, and because it feels like an important step for me to take.  I am also nervous because I want to listen to the river, and what if the river has nothing to say?  Wouldn't I look like a fool then! 
I knew in my bones that the river would speak, but it was still a fear that I had in that moment.

In the photo above we are standing in front of a 'doorway' on to the trail.  It is a very small entrance, and leads to a beautiful bush area.  It was quite amusing to enter because immediately we hit a fork in the trail, and had to make a decision of which way to go.  We decided to go left, down a hill, and through a lot of trees that were hanging on to the trail.  Marie went first, and was greeted by many lovely spider webs. 

We realized after a minute that we could have taken the path to the right, because, of course, they became one trail again soon.
Before leaving Harriston, we had to stop to have a pee, and we found a restaurant, Susie's Eight Ball Grill.
A sign on the door said, 'washrooms are for customers only', and listed the community centre as a place where there were public washrooms.  It was before 8 am, and I really didn't want to do any back tracking.  We weren't really hungry either.  So, we went in, and they were nice enough to let us use the restrooms before we left town.
Stopping on the bridge close to the edge of town, we decided to make an offering to the river, and to unveil the spirits.  Marie felt like spinning and so I was the safety lady, ensuring the she didn't end up on the road, or bang into anything that might cause her harm.  Of course, she didn't, and she looked very beautiful spinning on the bridge, in the rain, early in the morning.    It was so unusual for me because I didn't feel odd performing a ceremony on the sidewalk, even though cars and trucks were whizzing past.  It was like we were creating our own little world, and it didn't really matter what others might think at that moment.
As Marie was finishing, a woman came by and said, 'gee, you must have had something different in your coffee this morning than I had!".
We headed off, leaving behind all of the problems we had been carrying on our backs, ready to hit the road, with no one else's baggage, fully and completed in our own power...to walk 270 kms, listening to the Maitland River.