The INDEPENDENT, February 21, 2008
Want to walk a mile? How about a couple thousand?
Ever wanted to take a walk?
Jesse WhiteCrow looked up at
a map on his bedroom wall
when he was six years-old and
wanted to ride an air balloon
across America and meet nice
people. In 2002, when he was
40, he walked from Maine to
Massachusetts. In October of
2005, he left Massachusetts
and started a walk that will end
at Camp Flattery in Washington
state.
Between being 6 and 40,
WhiteCrow went to college,
served as a paratrooper, mar-
ried, and worked. Now he
walks. He has no support staff
on the road, only a pack with
the basics needed to continue
the trip. By January 30, 2008,
he had walked as far as Ver-
nonia.
Before reaching
Vernonia,
White-
Crow was shot at,
harassed by bears,
met nice people, met
not-so-nice people
and spent a lot of
time alone with him-
self and his journal.
On the border of
New Jersey, after
being harassed by
bears “all the time” a
90 year-old lady
came out her door
and said, “You come
in” and gave him ap-
ples. That’s one of
the nice people
memories, as is his
stay here in Vernonia
with the Isaksons.
Rhonda Isakson met
him near Sentry then
invited him to stay at the home
she shares with husband Chris-
tian, and their two children.
That allowed WhiteCrow to
stay inside and enjoy some hu-
man company, instead of
camping out alone during those
couple of days of snow.
A 20 mile day is an excep-
tionally good day in winter
weather; he travels anywhere
from six to 30 miles a day and
often camps out by himself.
Only a couple times has he
gone down the wrong road,
once going 200 miles out of his
way.
The trip, planned out on a
map he carries with him, cross-
es the country in a ‘W’-like
shape and is being funded by
money he made before he left.
When he finishes this trip, and
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his 28th pair of walking shoes,
he will go to a friend’s home in
Minnesota to spend time turn-
ing his journal entries into a
book to be titled, “WhiteCrow
Walking”.
WhiteCrow quoted an old
saying in partial explanation of
his trip, “If you learn another
language, you gain another
soul. This trip is a new lan-
guage.” What does he want out
of the trip? For one thing, he
wants to learn to “really live in
the moment for the rest of my
life.” Another observation, “The
greatest people have been the
poorest. The very poorest were
the richest and the richest have
been the most reluctant to
share and the most suspi-
cious.”
When this walk is over and
the book written, you might
think he’d be ready for a nice
recliner in a warm room but, in-
stead, WhiteCrow would like to
walk in other countries. China,
Nepal, Australia, New Zealand
and Argentina are some of the
places where he’d like to learn
more new languages by visit-
ing.
For now, he keeps walking
on toward Camp Flattery. If
you’d like to join him on his last
day of the walk, or just keep
pace with him on your comput-
er, visit his website at www.
whitecrowwalking.com.
Page 9
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
There
are two
t i m e s
w h e n
t i m e
flies.
One is
w h e n
you’re
having
fun; in
the sun, in the snow or lost in a
good book. The other is when
things seem to pile up on you.
Like this past two weeks – it’s
been cold, Arthur-itus came to
call – then news of old friends
getting hurt, seriously ill, or
members of the Senior Center
suddenly passing away. You
fall into the pattern of getting
up, eating, doing anything that
will keep your mind on unim-
portant things so you won’t no-
tice what your inner mind is
dwelling on (who’s next?).
On the light side. It’s time for
the horse fold to get their dia-
pers out or start carrying their
shovels at the Lake – ho, ho.
The Robins, Redwing black-
birds and Crows are all busy
chasing bugs. The dogs are
beginning to walk their humans
around the lake in larger num-
bers, also the ducks are pairing
off and beginning to nest.
I went to Etta Russell’s 90th
Birthday gathering last Satur-
day. It was sort of nice to see all
the senior ladies again. We all
hadn’t changed too much. It
was a happy reunion – seeing
Nellie Tipton as spry as ever.
Is what I heard on the
grapevine scuttlebutt or fact?
The Senior Center has to be
moved out in two years. The
Senior Center is building by it-
self. If so, what happens to the
Food Bank??? Vernonia Cares
is key to the people of Colum-
bia County that live in the town
lost in the woods where the
rivers meet. (I thought the Se-
nior Center owned the building
and the lot.)
How about an update from
those folks that know – we sen-
iors do miss our meeting spot;
and the music of the Golden
Oldies.
Writers Workshop this Saturday
“Supporting the Writer in
Yourself and Others” is the title
of a free writing workshop to be
held Saturday, February 23,
from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. at the
Banks Library.
The workshop is being given
by local author Mary Jane
Nordgren. Bring pen and paper
and join the fun.
Please call the Banks Li-
brary at 503-324-1382 to hold
your place.
WANTED
Volunteers Firefighters for the
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
Free Training, Evenings & Weekends
Starting March 29
REWARD
Personal Satisfaction, Gain Valuable Skills, Help People,
And Enjoy Making A Difference In Your Community
For Information call 503-429-8252 Must be 16 years of age or older