Soperton

I constantly wonder how to introduce myself to people when asking to camp in a spot. How do you enter into someone's life- a foreigner and a passer-through. They look at you throughdifferent eyes. Will they understand or make the same judgements of your purpose as you do?
I spent the night in Long Pond, and faced a dilemma. Camp next to the wood, and worry about animals but out of sight of people, or camp away from the woods in full view of the community. I opted for the latter and was largely ignored although one couple went to the store and bought me loads of food. I had breakfast as well as dinner on their gifts.
A few people have told me that I am in the wrong job, that I have an ability to empathise with people. I agree, but still love much work at Skern. I do try and think about the way others look at the world.

My speedometer went wrong today. It wouldn't measure my speed, and the clock jumped forward an hour. I only worked out that these were two separate simple issues, and not the speedometer just breaking down, because of a conversation with a friend. We had been chatting about a fear of hers, which only occurs occasionally, and seemed to be of water. She mentioned two incidents that highlighted her anxiety. I thought the incidents should be separated and then the fear was of a new root cause, or causes, not of the water in which she can sometimes quite happily swim, and others feel uncomfortable. So I fixed both speedo problems, and everything is running smoothly again.
The point? Listen to what you say as much as you would like others to hear you. Which brings me back to how I present myself and my tour.

• Intrepid, frontier explorer
• Searching for fulfillment
• Feeling at odds with the land i call home at the moment
• Trying something new
• Just doing what the crazy English do
• Having a bit of fun

Maybe I don't have anything to do with presenting myself. You will pick one of the above based on what you know of me, or what you think of my idea. i read the subtitle to Robert Pirsig's 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenence'. It reads 'an enquiry into values'. Maybe he has put me in this contemplative mood, so maybe he will have answers. Soon, I hope, as it's almost too dark to read.

I spent a while writing all this last night and have been on this computer uploading, and trying to sort out couchsurfing, for too long now. The librarian may be able to help with photos so I'll give it a bash in a mo. Check out previous posts every now and then as they will have photos added at some point! Oh- I'm in Soperton. Its quiet and beautiful, but everything has been today. Maybe it's just tuesdays? I'm turning 50 miles a day easily, although I suspect my little computer was lying to me a bit.

The day started out cold, and my back is sore and stiff. Must have slept funny. As i get going early the roads are cool in the shade but heat up in the sun. Constant adjusting of the jacket/no jacket style is slowing me down. That said, i hit 35 mph coasting down one hill. On a fully loaded bike at that speed, one small bump is enough to enduce a heart-in-mouth speed wobble! It's the touring equivalent of hitting a ton in your car.

Hazlehurst, despite its pretty name, seems to be an industrial town. I have to wait around for 15mins before the library opens. Georgia's (and maybe all America's) libraries seem to be well equiped and people take pride in them. They, like the churches, are always neat, clean and well kept. Contrast this with the state of the Libraries in England, that appear to be falling into disuse. Public Libraries are one of the single greatest social advances in modern times.

By the doorway was a wonderful saying from Socrates, which amazed me because it was secular. It read:

If I could get to the highest place in Athens, I would lift up my voice and say

"What mean ye fellow citizens that ye turn every stone to scrape wealth together

and take so little care of your children to whom you must relinquish all?"



You could substitute the word 'children' here for many other words. Planet perhaps, but this veers towards the political. No doubt Socrate's intention, but I leave it for you to interpret.