The Last Annual Vol State Road Race 2017 – Updates 144 Hours

joy and sadness shake hands at the rock.

they are always so happy at the rock.
they have been thru the adventure of a lifetime.
the ferry seems so far away…

since stepping off that hallowed deck,
they have experienced things they never truly imagined…
sure, they knew it would be hard.
many of them had experienced it before.
but there is still no way to anticipate the adventures that will occur.

for most of them,
there have been times of incredible highs.
moments, frozen in time,
when they run with the feeling that they could run like this forever.
food that tastes better than any food before
(even if it is only the half-a-fast-food-hamburger offered them by a road angel)
the juices of a roadside stand fruit when they take that first bite.
the marvelous thick coldness of a milkshake from the bench of despair market.
the excitement of chance encounters with fellow pilgrims on the road.
laughing till tears run down their cheeks,
and their sides hurt,
at things that will never be as funny to anyone who has not been there.
everything is intensified, when nothing is guaranteed.

there have also been lows beyond imagination.
sitting beside the road and weeping like a small child.
feeling utter despair that the end will ever be reached.
long stretches where every step must be dredged from the depths of their soul,
step after step after step.
and progress is only possible because there is no other choice.

there has been heat that roasts them
humidity that suffocates them
drenching rains
and searing sun.

there have been peaceful nights
on empty roads,
serenaded by a million katydids
as they hurried down that endless white line.

and there has always been the endless white line
beckoning them
stretching out in front of them.

all of their plans have been crushed in the crucible.
until they all follow one plan…

reach the next city.
make the next turn.
pass the next telephone pole.

that is all there really is.
move on.

chasing records,
chasing time,
chasing each other,
racing oprah.

the plan is the great equalizer.
from the fastest to the slowest,
it is the same.
just reach the next landmark.
to think of more would destroy you.
to be in the moment
and imagine all that has to be done at one time
is more than any mind can hold.

but, for everyone,
somewhere along the way
they start to feel the pull.

it is almost undetectable from the distant reaches of the tennessee river country.
barely a whisper in their ear crossing the nashville basin.
by the time they enter the mountains of east tennessee
it is a constant presence…

the pull of the rock.

it calls to them like any migratory animal.
keep moving.
come to me.

the final cruelty is the climb up sand mountain.
after 308 impossible miles,
they must wind their way up the long steep hill.
what animal would place such an obstacle so close to the end?
who would mix the joy of imminent success,
with such physical torture?

but, like every obstacle before,
this one, too, will end.
and they find themselves on the final approach
castle rock road.
the cornfields (beans this year)
the woods,
and finally the rock.

all along that way
joy and sadness are converging…

until they meet at the rock.
how can anything feel so good?
the final achievement of the impossible dream
a destination that had seemed beyond reach for so long.

so why is there that sadness?
they have won the greatest prize,
they can rest without hurrying back to the road.
they can have anything they want,
whenever they want it.
just like any other resident of the modern world.
they can sleep,
knowing that when they awaken,
they do not have to return to the endless white line.

when it is hot they can sit in air conditioning.
when it is thirsty they can drink
when it rains they have shelter
and when they are hungry they can eat.

so why is it they feel sadness
walking alone thru the cornfiields
approaching the end of their journey
and reflecting over all that has happened
since that barely remembered ferry ride?

is it because there is something in us fulfilled
by a life so simple,
if also so hard?
something fundamental and basic
when the only problem is surviving.
the only needs are food and water.
and the only plan to reach the next place?

the vol state has changed them.
they have reached inside
for that something we cannot know is there
until we must call it forth.

from the starkest and simplest challenge
they have found complex insights.
and, at the completion of their journey,
they have found joy and sadness shaking hands at the rock.

laz