To the editor:

This morning I had the pleasure of a walk around the track at Harmon field. I resisted walking when I first thought of it. It is hot, it is muggy, my feet will hurt and I will be breathing heavy soaked with sweat were all excuses that I had to cut through to make it happen. I need to walk each day (even though I don’t walk most days), because I am blessed with a warm house and television, a warm office to work from and an abundance of good food. I love all these things so I have to walk.

I finally worked up my determination and began stretching, then started the slow walk to begin my journey. I planned to walk about a mile. With the first step, the breeze blew through the leaves of the trees lining Harmon field road and urged me on with a chorus A-H-H-H  Y-E-S.

My scowl that had worked its way up to my face from all the thoughts of an upcoming unpleasant experience began to melt. I took some more steps and rounded the first turn and heard the birds singing and watched the killdeer zig-zagging across the soccer field scolding me for disrupting their morning breakfast of worms and grass critters.

By the time I completed the first lap my thoughts moved to the upcoming Foothills CROP Walk. Being a CROP Walker, supporter and organizer for many years I have few facts that are embedded in my head. As I reached the half mile lap breathing heavily, I contemplated the children and women in Africa who walk miles to carry home the three to five gallons of water they use per day. No time in most countries of the world for education of the children, they are hauling water or boiling it because it may be contaminated. People spend 200 million hours   each day collecting and processing water. Most people in developing countries use less water per day than I flush down the toilet in one use (four to seven gallons).

As I walked on I thought of all the folks who are displaced by wars and disasters and the miles they walk to find a safe place to sleep out in the cold. I thought, “I walk because I am too fat, and too sedentary, because I am blessed; they walk just to exist.”

I keep walking and the steps seemed lighter and before I knew it I had walked a mile and a half. I began to see the blessings around me: the sights, sounds, smells, the good mornings of fellow walkers and runners, this was actually a blessing.

How about it? Want to take a walk? The Foothills CROP Walk begins at 4 p.m. at Harmon Field, Sunday, Oct. 18. Contact your church, class, and club or business representative and find out how you can share the blessings of walking and change the world.

This year the Thermal Belt Ministerial Association is joining the events of the day with a community gathering called “Serve, Eat, Play!”  Everyone will be encouraged to come to the CROP walk and bring a covered dish. We will all share a meal together and then fellowship with whiffle ball, kickball and/or board games. We are planning ongoing music throughout the afternoon evening. Come join the celebration of life.

Lance Smith
Tryon, N.C.