A Ride to Spirit Rock By Tom Sebastian

The substance of this article takes place in 3.7 miles. It is the
precise distance of my short journey with a hitchhiker making his way
into the Valley. As it turned out, I was to be the last leg of his
travels. He had a small sign which read "Spirit Rock." It was a good
sign, on sturdy, white cardboard. I noticed that "Highway 37" was
written on the back side. I thought of the ridiculous navigation system
in my car that doles out bits of information in a pretentious English
accent to places I can't now remember. I admired the hitchhiker's
system. "Where are you coming from?" I asked. "North Carolina, sir" he
answered in a gentle, pre-occupied twang. All of his attention seemed
to be focused out the front window. "This is the most beautiful place
I've ever seen," he said talking more to himself than to me. "How long
has it taken you to get here?" I asked slowly, not to break his gaze.
"As of this moment, Sir, one week and 6 hours." I realized this man
was on a journey and not a trip. I realized he probably remembered every
part of it. I wondered how long he had been waiting for this exact
moment. As we drove down the lane to Spirit Rock we had to stop and wait
for a group of Wild Turkey's to cross. He looked out the side window
and said, "I saw one of those on the road on my way here, but sadly the
one I saw was deceased. Look at 'em all. Just look at that." As we
pulled up to what appeared to be a main building, I asked the man why he
had come all this way to Spirit Rock. "I'm applying for a job as a
cook. I read about it on the internet, and I figured rather than call
them on the phone, I would just come on down. They don't know I'm
coming. I guess we'll just see what happens. Thanks for the ride." I
travel that stretch of road every day. I go to work where everyone
knows I'm coming and why I'm there. Every moment of my day is accounted
for in some way. I have thought a lot about the hitchhiker. Where
would I travel for one week and six hours? What place would I write
down on my cardboard sign? When was the last time I said, "we'll just
see what happens?"