beltline: the secret road

we headed out bright and early last saturday morning, buoyed by the bright blue sky and springish breezes. it was a perfect day for walking so we plotted out a long one (7 miles) and headed out, sunglasses and ballcap in place, comfy sweatshirt and sturdy sneakers (well, me anyway. T always wears his regular knocking about wear, no matter what the outing). headed out and walked through little 5 points and inman park, over the MARTA bridge to reynoldstown, through the northern bits of cabbagetown before crossing back through the krog tunnel (eager to see the latest wall art) toward irwin and into the old fourth ward.
all of a sudden we saw a knot of people trudging toward us, on a dirt path neither of us had noticed last time we were on this stretch. we stopped to watch, wondering who they were and what they were doing, and soon realized it was a walking tour.
"welcome to the beltline!" someone yelled.
gee -- thanks!
though it's still a work in progress, the piece of the rails-to-trails path in our neck of the woods is finally something accessible. everyone we saw on it that day (and the next; of course we went back, to walk in the opposite direction) seemed to be just as thrilled to see it, finally, for themselves.
we marveled at the stacks of railroad ties, cleared paths and signs of the old kudzu trail's recent tenants (a red knit sock or lone shoe; an empty bottle of brandy or mattress; hunks of old metal or deconstructed grocery carts) and finally being able to walk across the old RR bridges over north avenue and ponce -- though that one took some focus, as holes big enough to catch a foot revealed the busy, well-trafficked street below.
most marvelous of all was the chance to see this part of the world from a new (old) vantage point, as if you were walking through the backyard of one neighborhood after another and seeing them with new eyes.
Details: www.beltline.org

on the record

i'll be writing more about this topic in coming weeks, but for now just posting a quick note about some very cool work being done on behalf of adoptees' rights to their original birth certificates, family and medical history.
there is no other segment of the population that is denied its history, or its legal records. the old reasons for "sealing records" -- and there is lots of debate about who it was originally done to "protect" -- don't hold any longer.
this is the age of free information. you can get passenger ship lists online at ancestry.com. you can view the social security death index, online. you can find photos of your great grand-mother, online.
everyone has a right to know where they came from, and who they came from and what their true historic and genetic ancestry is.
here's a youtube video done by the lovely and talented zara phillips and darryl mcdaniels (of run dmc), both of whom are adopted, that says it all.

connecting the dots

so we went to the beach with piles of art supplies, notebooks, whatever was in our distinct piles of Stuff We're Working On and claimed the gift of time and space and no distractions. piled the dining room table with as many paints and pencils, crayons and cool supplies as would fit and each claimed one end of the table that looked out through two picture windows over the atlantic. then we unplugged from the cycle of time that usually runs our lives: what has to be done by when, and for whom; where do we have to be; what must be finished by when -- and dove into the Yet to Be Seen in front of us. we'd both fallen way behind in the fabulous "Inside Out" e-course we'd joined, and though neither was panicked over it -- we really did understand where ever we were in the process was where we were meant to be -- we jumped at a chance to claim a boundless sea of hours to play in.
and between the wee-hours of monday morning drive down and the rain-clogged and then snow-stormed drive back friday, we packed in days upon days of writing, drawing, walking, talking, music, making connections, a-ha moments and serious deepening of all the laugh lines we've earned thus far in our lives. oh -- and rediscovered the singular pop wonderfulness of lou christie videos on youtube.
pulling away from what you know to find what only you can discover reminds you why you forge ahead on the path of mapless exploration, past the scary parts, the dead ends, the roadblocks.
what you find along the way is priceless beyond measure.