rest

Today has been a day of rest. I was ahead of schedule so decided to take 2 days here in Valley Forge/King of Prussia. It's a strange place to stay--across from a mall and tucked away in the intersection of the turnpike and other highways. We spent most of the day inside resting. My ankle feels a million times better and Tina's feet are healing. It's ironic that we're resting here in this odd place constructed mainly for access by cars. We have to insist on being here on foot. Valley Forge was selected by Washington for its ideal location to rest his troops for the winter but also to keep a safe eye on the British army. From this vantage point, I'm keeping a safe eye on our final destination tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a long walk in to Lansdale and then the following day we will actually walk into the center of town. I am hoping, in a way, to move invisibly into town and see it with new eyes. Maybe now it will be a place like any of the others I've walked through on this trip. I'm already less intimidated by the memories that have brought me so much stress and caused me to avoid it in the first place. My parents, with their aloofness, apathy and carelessness, no longer own it.

But once I get there, will I just see where I was thrown against the car? Slapped outside of band practice? The streets I walked when I was kicked out? The places I ran to get away from a loud and crazy house? Will I see that there's peace there now?

What will I notice this time? I wonder if it will be locked in memories or a place that all those memories have fed--the ground flipped over and buried or sunken underneath.

What's happened before feels short and compressed. What's about to happen feels long and open.

This trip feels like it just started but already it's over.