In this week of stress and uncertainty, my morning ritual has been essential. Leaving the house, weaving down familiar trails under the vast dawn sky, this poem by Wendell Berry has surfaced day after day. The Peace of Wild Thingsby Wendell Berry When despair for the world grows in me…
The Right Path
Lately I’ve been reflecting on a recent read, On Trails, by Robert Moor. Looks like we’ve got a little impromptu series of posts going, you can read other thoughts from this book here and here. This book’s cover, even in its Dutch form, drew me in last summer, and this…
Trails Through the Snow
The path is made by walking. Antonio Machado You’ve probably seen them, veering off the snow-free sidewalk and through the deep snow. What begins as a series of footprints slowly becomes a packed-snow path. In his book On Trails, Robert Moor calls them “desire lines.” Desire lines are shortcuts adopted…
Walk and See
The Appalachian Trail stretch 2,140 miles along the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia. The idea of one long continuous trail was originally dreamed up by Benton MacKaye in the early 1900s to provide accessible wilderness experiences to an increasingly urban population. As told by…
Making the Rounds
In his book Keep Going, Austin Kleon references the US Postal Service’s unofficial slogan in describing his family’s morning walk routine. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” This morning, on a day where the Canada…
Minimum Presence
Jocelyn K. Glei recently had a thought-provoking conversation with Andrienne Maree Brown in the latest episode of Hurry Slowly, where Brown offered an inspiring thought to the on-going conversation around attention: We give minimum presence, then expect full connection. – Adrienne Maree Brown I’ve been chewing on this all day….
The Longest Night Run 2019: Recap
What a beautiful night. Thank you so much for being part of it. From sunset Saturday until Sunday’s breath-taking sunrise, about 160 of us ran or walked to show solidarity for Ashleigh and Jordan and their kids. Some walked with their families. Others completed incredible feats of endurance, running full…
Inside the Darkness
Lately I’ve been acutely aware of a certain dissonance that hangs in the air during the Advent season. If you (bravely) visit malls or grocery stores, you’ll hear songs about this “most wonderful time of the year.” And it’s true, isn’t it? Lights and glitter, food and gifts, it really…
To Know a Place, Run It: Reflections from the 2019 Polar Bear Marathon
As a runner, I believe that the best way to get to know a place is on foot. Sure, you can cover ground more quickly in a car or plane, but to really know a place, you need to get out of your vehicle, plant your feet on the land,…
© 2021 Brent Manke