"When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head!"
- William Blake
Day 41 - Wednesday, August 2, 1995 - Kay Deschenes reports that the walkers have arrived at the home of Kathy Best in Ruckersville, Virginia. The walkers were hosted there by LadyHawk Two Hearts, Kathy, and several other members of the Monacan Indian Nation.
The night was filled with drumming and singing, and the walkers were offered words of encouragement by their Monacan hosts.
"They told us that they think the walk is just wonderful," Kay reported. "They said that Native people have a lot to teach non-native people about traditional values and principles, and that they know it's sometimes hard or confusing to communicate and be understood, but that it is well worth the effort."
The walkers again saw a lot of wildlife: deer, hawks and eagles. "It has become common for every one of the walkers to see eagles," Kay told me. "They have been with us since Baltimore almost all the time, and it seems as if they have traveled with us all the way from there.
"The eagles sometimes fly or circle very low overhead, and often they land in the pines just along the side of the road where we are walking. They watch us," Kay said. "Whenever one of the walkers becomes lost, she or he will see an eagle soaring overhead and realize that they are not really lost at all.
"When we got to Kathy's house we saw three eagles together, low, maybe about 300 feet. Kathy and the others said they had never seen eagles there before, and that this was an unusual sign. They made special note of it."
"We understand the eagles as our guides, as messengers from Great Spirit," Kay said. "They are guiding us through our journey."
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Rita Sebastian and Ineke Soto push a baby carriage with 10-month old Julia Soto as they make their way along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Charles Byington and Gaston LaVoice are shown resting in the second photo. Image scanned from a news clipping, The Roanoke Times, August 9, 1995. |
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Copyright 2006 by Steven McFadden
Read Day 42 -- Odyssey of the 8th Fire