OTET, An Accidental Pilgrimage

Every hill, every bend in the road is a new invitation.

~Valerie Brown

Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati…Sunbury, Xenia, Milford, and Apple Creek…Little Miami, Sippo Valley, Alum Creek and Galena Brick.  These are some of the cities, towns, and trails I traversed on the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) back in June.  I’d wanted to pedal the OTET for a few years.  It was a project I wanted to “complete,” something to check off my “To Do” list.  After getting vaccinated back in April, and watching restrictions around the country begin to loosen, my master birder/photographer wife, Jo, and I decided it was time to get back in the saddle.  So, we made plans to go to Ohio where I would pedal the OTET, and Jo, while SAGging me along the way, would visit various wildlife refuges and bird sanctuaries.  In the days leading up to it, I spent no time anticipating this trip as a journey that would mean anything more to me than a notch on my top-tube.  

But then, I started pedaling.  Rolling over the long, undulating hills of Ohio’s Amish Country, then pedaling past apple orchards, corn fields, meandering streams and roiling rivers; stopping at places like Hipp Station, the Bridge of Dreams, Fountain of Dogs, and Fort Ancient Earthworks; enjoying the stories and generosity of fellow travelers, the guidance of birdsong, and the godsend of cool, breezy days; sharing the trail with children on scooters and horse-drawn carriages; entering cities with impressive cycle track, and small towns embracing trail users with gratitude, good coffee and clean restrooms; and, Oh, arriving in Columbus to pay homage to the hallowed ground upon which Jo and I met…I felt moved and blessed.  

Valerie Brown writes in The Road That Teaches, “Pilgrimage…is about finding beauty in the very ordinary.”  She goes on to suggest that, “Pilgrimage is about making meaning by journeying out and by journeying in with heart, mind, and soul.”  I didn’t go to Ohio looking for meaning.  And yet, I had gone to undergrad and graduate school in Ohio; I have family in Ohio; my oldest friend grew up in Ohio; Jo and I met in Ohio.  My golly, Ohio is in my cells.  How could I have been so naïve, so cavalier?  

The places where we’ve dwelled, no matter how long, signify the contours of our biographies, the peaks and valleys of our physical, emotional and spiritual landscapes.  To ramble, roll, stroll or simply stand among them, we are provided with the gifts of opportunity to consider and reflect on where we’ve been, where we’re going, and where we are, right here, right now.  

My experiences in Ohio many years ago shaped who I am today.  Of course, those experiences then, and even some of my experiences on my trip in June, weren’t all bright and beatific.   There were some bumpy roads, a few detours, and a couple of cranky creatures (me included after one particularly grueling afternoon).  Once or twice, I wondered why in the heck I was returning to a place I’d left almost three decades ago.  And, ultimately, my time of mulling and meandering along the OTET was encouraging and edifying.  My return to the Buckeye State was a stunning and sometimes strenuous trek through my past, a demanding and grounding affirmation of where I am in the present, and perhaps a curious foreshadowing of what is to come.  Rather than going to Ohio to “do” and complete something, I found in Ohio an opportunity to simply “be.”

Thank you, Spirit; Thank you, Ohio; and, with an especially deep bow of love and gratitude, Thank you, Jo.

There’s a wonderful Buddhist Gatha, I’ve boldly modified to fit my path, and will use to end this post. 

Oh, Holy One, to you who lives in the silence and stillness, in the busyness and restlessness, kindle the Light within me and in all that lives.  May I go forth, pedaling gently on the earth and give you thanks for this journey and these lessons along the pilgrim’s path.  Amen.  Om Shanti.

May your journeys, wherever they lead, gently prod you toward the unforeseen.  And, may you return from your experience feeling a little brighter, a little lighter, and hungry for a little more.

Pedal on, Pilgrims!