Tales from the Trail #14: Benevolence over the Barrell …
My new knee brace actually helped quite a bit with the pain I had been experiencing (pain which was now persistently occasional but no longer sharp or shooting) and I eventually made my way through the night to Sellersburg (napping surprisingly well alongside the road at various spots along the way).. And it was here that a kind motorist at the first gas station I came to gave me some good advice – essentially letting me know that a bridge was out on Highway 31 up ahead and that as such hitching onto I-65 would be a wiser move for me. And so it was that I hobbled over towards the nearby I-65 on-ramp to see what I could see …
And as I steadily made my way over to said on-ramp I immediately saw two things of stark note – one, several highway workers were milling about the on-ramp proper (making hitching there a venture that was strongly ill-advised) and two, one of the more vibrant double-rainbows I have ever witnessed – one that stretched almost from horizon to horizon – seemed to perfectly frame the Cracker Barrel that happened to reside at that precise location. Not needing any more encouragement than that, I headed over to said restaurant, promptly sat myself in one of the rocking chairs located close to its main entrance, placed my hitching sign* in my lap so any & all could easily read the same, and sat back to revel in the miraculous beauty that was gracing the heavens above me.
The manager of the place, Jan, came out after only a few minutes and somewhat stridently asked me what I was doing there. I smiled at her gently, told her briefly about my Walk and its current predicaments, and mentioned that I was planning on sitting there humbly (& quietly – not addressing or in any way bothering any of her subsequent customers) while admiring the rainbow above and waiting for “the Divine” to offer me a way upward & onward. To her credit, Jan softened immediately upon hearing this news, took a few steps out into the parking lot to admire the rainbow herself, smiled at me as she returned, and told me to remain as long as I needed. And very soon thereafter she appeared to me once more to bring me a cup of coffee while I waited.
Well, I did indeed wait there for a time, and Jan later told me that she was sure one particular couple was going to offer me a lift onward, and yet it soon became apparent that this was more a test of my resolve than a fluid way out of my quandary. And as soon as I indeed realized the same, I calmly posed myself a few important Questions – 01) Do I need to simply have radical faith and head out along Highway 31 anyway? And if so, 02) should I simply get up and go now (under blessedly cloudy skies) or wait awhile for the day to cool & darken? The answers to these queries seemed to be quite clear once they were clearly posed – namely: Yes, head out on 31N, and Yes, do so right away. And so that is precisely what I did; first saying goodbye to Jan and thanking her effusively for her kindness, and then wobbling onward through the town of Sellersburg proper, in surprisingly good spirits indeed.
*The sign essentially read “injured Peace Walker needs help getting to Indianapolis … Any ride at all would be most appreciated; every single mile helps!”
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