| A couple of years ago, Neil King Jr. decided to take a walk — a very long walk, from his home near the U.S. Capitol to New York City.
This wasn't some great stunt or endurance test. Rather, his "meandering, 330-mile saunter along the edges of roads and highways was all about paying homage to the land in between and to what it could tell me, step by step, over 26 days."
Neil encountered plenty of natural beauty. But what most moves me are his descriptions of the hidden histories the American land reveals when one observes it at 3 miles per hour, and his recollections of gracious and sometimes surprising interactions with strangers. "We fight over the Founding Fathers," he writes, "but on a long walk your respect deepens for those other founders, the anonymous ones — some enslaved, others barely scraping by — who cleared the forests and dug the canals and blasted the rock to lay the rails."
In the present, he met many people, "some faintly like me and many not," and "even those who held views contrary to mine had things about them I found endearing."
Meetings between strangers do not always go so easily, of course. And not everyone has the time, resources or physical ability to embark on a journey such as Neil's. But one needn't "walk for weeks on end to glimpse what I'm talking about," he notes. And in a period of high conflict, when so many people are erecting walls or talking past one another, I found it inspiring to read about his determination to avoid judgment and bridge difference, to be attentive to this nation's "extraordinary complexity." If you want to hear more about Neil's adventure but are eager to lace up your walking shoes and get outside, good news! He also recorded an audio version of the essay — a great soundtrack for the first 10 minutes of your stroll. Though afterward, I'm sure he would implore you: Put away the earbuds and listen to the world.  (Dante Chinni, provided by Neil King) On a 330-mile saunter along the edges of U.S. roads and highways, I found history, awe and kindness — the things that unite us. By Neil King Jr. ● Read more » |    | | | Inflation is less severe than it was a few months ago. But constantly monitoring how and where they spend money is stressing more than Americans' wallets. By Catherine Rampell and Yan Wu ● Read more » | | | Renovating our democracy for today's America requires smaller congressional districts. But what formula should we use? Let's look at some options. By Danielle Allen ● Read more » | | | | Governments, businesses and families all benefit from a robust child-care system. Why isn't everyone paying for it? By Alyssa Rosenberg ● Read more » | | | | | If hope is critical to human flourishing, then why can't journalists make it part of their job? By Amanda Ripley ● Read more » | | | | Imagine if students read a banned book, or viewed provocative art, or learned some upsetting history — and then went safely home again? So awful. By Alexandra Petri ● Read more » | | | | | Swing for the fences with these 35 questions to celebrate the start of a new baseball season. By George F. Will ● Read more » | | | | I really like Louisville and its people, culture, restaurants, schools. But I think often about whether my family and I should move. By Perry Bacon Jr. ● Read more » | | | | | Disinformation, or organized lying, can be used to wage political warfare. It is a tool of dictatorships. By the Editorial Board ● Read more » | | | |
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