As Powell’s is the biggest bookstore in the country, I know that I sometimes only need to wander in there, poke around a bit, and walk out with the right book– quite often a title I’d never heard of before walking in. Such was the case when I was seeking messages for the soulful traveler.
I spent hours checking out books in the travel writing section, the Americana section, and many of the aisles between the two before deciding on the one I wanted: The Art of Pilgrimage, by Phil Cousineau. I saw multiple used copies for sale alongside the new, giving me a first clue that this was a widely-read, still popular classic. And though I know that I’m not to judge a book by its cover, I must say that I did find Cousineau’s jacket appealing. Quickly perusing the table of contents, and hopping around every few seconds to randomly selected sections of all chapters, I could feel The Art of Pilgrimage calling me to its pages. I selected one of the used copies to carry home with me– as used not only halves the price– it adds character!
The Art of Pilgrimage entered my life just weeks before the Walk began, and I ended up not even finding time to read the forward of the book before leaving. That said, I still carried the book with me. By the time I’d made it to Salem, and still had yet to break into it, I made the painfully difficult decision to simply leave it behind, with family– as I could tell that I wouldn’t be finding the proper time/mood occasion to be diving into it anytime soon.
I decided I’d simply look for it in libraries and bookstores along the way– reading a chapter or even just a few pages at a time, progressing unpredictably through the book as I made progress into my pilgrimage. I’ve thought about the book many times since; I’ve looked for it in a number of libraries and bookstores, when time has afforded me, yet no one has had it– till yesterday.
Yesterday I awoke in Berkeley for the first time, guest at the home of long-time friends from Vancouver, Josh and Miranda. Josh & Miranda dropped me off yesterday afternoon in Central Alameda, per my request to not be driven all the way back to my aunt’s place (I needed to get some walking in!). It took us about a half mile to find the perfect place to the side of the road to drop me off, and isn’t it funny how coincidences work, I found myself only a block away from the yet-to-be-searched-for Alameda library– which I walked right into on my way back to Park Street– the main city thoroughfare.
Immediately searching for The Art of Pilgrimage, I finally found it! The Alameda Library is the first place so far this trip that I’d found it!! I can’t even describe how thrilled I was…
Sniffing it out by call number and opening up to the forward, I found myself amazed to read that the forward of the book came from the same place I began my day: Berkeley!
As I began to soak up the richness of just the opening score of pages (I only made it through the forward and the author’s introduction yesterday), I began getting a taste of why I’d selected this book, and why it has been on my mind from the beginning of the trip– despite having officially read none of it.
I’m headed back to the library tonight, to continue into chapter 1: The Calling. Have answered a calling to begin my current pilgrimage, you can only imagine my optimism toward what I’m about to read…