“It is a great thing to walk and to carry a needed message. You deserve the thanks of all people for that good work. It is not easy, and I know the strength and courage it requires. Therefore, I am glad for the bravery you display.

"Another quality helpful in a messenger is humility. If you know that no one of us is better or more valuable than any other in the eyes of Creator, you will carry with you the understanding and caring which will open more hearts to your important message. I wish you a strong journey on the good Red Road—the path of beauty."

- Manitonquat

Day 31 - Sunday, July 23, 1995 - Setting out early from the Good Knight Kingdom in Beltsville, Maryland, the walkers traveled hot roads to reach Washington, D.C., in the afternoon.

On their way to the capital city the walkers passed through neighborhoods where they received a unanimously upbeat welcome from people on the street. The Sunbow walkers were widely noticed, and immediately recognized as pilgrims.

People on stoops and street corners sang out their greetings: "Hey, Chief, how ya' doing?" These cheery salutes echoed the walk's passage through Harlem a couple of weeks back.

Late in the hot afternoon the walkers arrived and encamped at the home of Bill and Helen Hillman, where they passed a quiet evening.

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While the Sunbow pilgrims settled into Washington, amateur astronomers in New Mexico and Arizona were scanning the sky. Working independently, Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona, both observed a fascinating celestial phenomenon this night. They saw and identified a comet that would slowly emerge as visible to the unaided eye, and that would come to bear their names: Comet Hale-Bopp.

Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered on July 23, 1995.

Comets have been noted throughout human history, and even in our own time their goings and comings receive great attention.

The name "comet" is first recorded in the works of Aristotle. He used komes, the Greek word for “hair of the head,” to refer to the luminous hair-like tail of the sky traveler. The Greek word was later adopted into Latin as cometes, and eventually became our modern English-language word, "comet."

Comets are celestial bodies consisting mostly of dust, ice, and gases. They move in elliptical orbits around the sun. They have long been regarded with awe. In olden times comets were understood to be omens of great portent.

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 Copyright 2006 by Steven McFadden