Yesterday was a grueling and beautiful day. I got a late start and spent the first leg of my day biking 30 miles through a consistent headwind, 2 hours of a medium rain and an hour of a full on down pour. During the downpour, I arrived in Princeton, KY, home of the Big Springs cave which is a spot that the Cherokee people camped along the way.
The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park was moving. The main piazza was shaped like a tear with the 7 pointed star in the middle, symbolizing the 7 clans of the Cherokee. I found it symbolic that it was pouring rain in the park which actually used a tear as a sculptural feature of the park.
As has become habit for me on this journey, I opened circle to pay my respects to the ancestors and offer my my ride as a small token of atonement. I’ll never forget calling the south, of all directions, when simultaneously a huge crack of lightning burst forth from the sky. When I called the west, the rain fell harder. My tears flowed easily here in time with the rain.
Noting that I’m a servant of the owl, this painting caught my eye. Maybe I’ll get to see the original in Tahlequah.
Atone The Removal 