Onward
I am at the end of the declared rest and reflection week. I am feeling as well as can be expected after the double whammy of my brother's and mother's deaths so close together. Grieving is a process, not an event. Still processing. It takes what it takes.
My loosely held plan for the day is to follow the Allegheny River down to Pitsburgh, then the Monogahela River down into West Virginia. I hold many regrets that I will be following the rivers on the road instead of the water. I hold even more regrets that my river passions remain so unfocused and invalidated.
My personal anxieties continue to run high, perhaps on the verge of out-of-control. My most recurring impulse is to beat the most efficient path back to my assumed duties in Texas. The inspection sticker on Boy Toy officially expired yesterday. Gots to stay legal, doncha know? Hubs and the middle-aged sons can't function without me, can they? Sigh. . . The anxieties are running high, but the quiet voice is telling me to forge ahead on the unmarked path.
Time to pack.
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It sounds like you know what you're doing, and that you have a good grasp of what is/isn't emotionally possible given all the grief you've been through.You know yourself, and that is no small gift. Many people never get there. May God bless your day.
Peace be your journey.
Taking 28? It's a nice winding 2 lane highway until you get to Kittanning.
To stick by the River till Franklin, US 62, after that, 322 a bit, but no road sticks with the river and can get you to another road for a bit. Dead ends all over the dang place or waaaay off the river. (There's a river trail but it's not for vehicles). Once you're at Kennerdale, the Kennerdell road (South Tunnel stick sto the river but dead ends, nic eside trip), should be Scrubgrass creek till you hit state 308, then take that to Butler (ish), then hook east back to the river on US422, pick up 28 at Kittaning, back on the river to P-burgh. We'd use side roads and those are the safer ones that I recall. (Get a map! My roads may have vanished!) I think 837 follows the Monongahela. Only did that trip a couple times, and that number sticks out. Hmm. Back in the day, there were little dirt roads we knew that wound over hill and hollow, but half of those were, well, y'know... Not really *roads*. Ahem.
Geez, sprained my brain remembering the run down from Warren to the burgh! Scenic as the dickens. We stuck west of the river as a rule, never tried the east bank run down. Hmm. Sounds like a vacay in th emaking someday.
ah, you are making me think of an old favorite song, Friends and Neighbors (Virginia's Alders). different river though. i love writing and hope for recognition one fine day. long after is ok. but i write about rivers sometimes. hope your anxieties are remaining under control. that song makes me cry. it may be a good cry, maybe you'd like it. who knows, maybe you know it.