Our Stories
Wild in the North Country – Part Two
By Michele Oberholtzer
On Curing Myself
Day 7, Mile 91
Today I crossed the 45th parallel in a place called the Jordan River Valley. For a long time I have been searching for a way to differentiate the past from the future, a reason why tomorrow will be different from yesterday. There have been countless nights where, head on my pillow in the dark, I make promises for tomorrow. But whether it’s a matter of hours, days or weeks, I always fall short. It’s like I’ve been saying “I’ll be different starting now….starting now…..starting now…” and after so many failures, the words have lost their meaning over time. I’ve been searching for some line in the sand and now I have one, an invisible but perfect line that marks the halfway in between the equator and the North Pole. For me, this line delineates the past from the future, the life of comfort from the life of purpose.
Near the 45th parallel, I reached a small creek where, I performed a little ritual to commemorate the experience. I faced the water, did a small sun salutation and “ohmed” long and loud. I crossed the bridge and said something like this:
“I declare that a new time in my life has begun and the old is over. I will no longer remain a prisoner of the illness that has suffocated me for 9 years. I will no longer be sick, I will no longer hurt myself. Though it will always be a part of my life, it is now in my past.”
I crossed back over and repeated the ritual from the north side. I washed my hands and face in the water, noting how there was dark dirty soil on the sides with a seam of sand running through the middle with clear water washing over it- imperfect but clean. It was hard saying those words but I honestly believe I can make them come true.
Michele Oberholtzer backpacked alone across Northern Michigan from Leelenau to Keweenaw, traveling on foot for over 700 miles. Most of her hike took place on the North Country Trail, which has over 1000 miles in Michigan. Stay tuned from now until New Years Day as we share her story.