Learning

On the first part of this journey, I had a lot of quiet time.  That changed at Assateague.
A woman named Mae invited me to join her family when she learned I was traveling alone.  I thanked her and declined and learned a bit about her and her family while brushing my teeth.  They had managed to stay dry in the rain.

Another man told me all about his solar set up.

Another set of neighbors were college students studying the Chesapeake Bay Watershed on an extended camping field trip.  They were lovely and invited me to join them when a visiting professor gave a lecture on beach ecology using the sand as his chalk board. I learned about saturation and percolation.  He asked me questions and luckily I knew the answers.

Seeing humanity is the greatest gift of this trip.  Families enjoying the beauty of water and forests.  Laughing.  Cooking together.  Telling stories around camp fires.  I am connected to all of these by our shared humanity.  Sometimes it is easy to lose track of that when we divide into factions based on our differing beliefs.

On this trip there has not been time for differences, only what we have in common - our present moment, wonderful lives.