Walking has so many interesting elements. While I love walking, the first week always is a bit uneven. Getting used to new terrain, new views, new food. However, I finally am settling into walking.

The past three days are finally bringing that connection with the path and the people that I meet along the path. Often our encounters entail the usual trail banter. Sometimes the encounters, snippets of conversations, are quite interesting for what people disclose or show. I’m realizing that the path doesn’t refuse anybody.

I meet a Norwegian couple, Ida and Knut. Having walked from the beginning of the South West Coast Path at Minehead to Falmouth and then from the end of the SWCP at Poole to Exmouth, Ida is now walking the middle third of the SWCP. Because Norway encouraged people to “get out and walk” during Covid, she is another “Covid-inspired hiker.” She began to walk and walk and walk. She proudly describes walking eleven hours one day. “I saw parts of Bergen and the surrounding mountains that I’d never seen before.” When I tell Knut that my grandfather was born in Sweden, he talks about how many Scandinavians had to migrate. “Too much poverty in the 1870’s and 1880’s.” “My uncle was a skilled brass artisan and couldn’t find work. He moved to Washington State. Although he found work, he only returned to see his family once. Cost too much for those who were poor.” Like others that I’ve met from Germany and Switzerland, let alone England, Ida and Knut have stories.

Early one morning, I meet three young adults pushing a baby carriage with 2 year old twins (and a third perched somehow on the front also). “We have to keep moving or they want to get out and run around.” I watch a young couple give each other a sweet kiss at a stile. I couldn’t help but say “Ah, a new ritual. A kiss at every stile.” They smile. I pause and say hello to a middle-aged man who relaxes with a coffee/tea mug on a stone bench. “What do you find here?” “After growing up in London and graduating from University of Plymouth, I decided that I always wanted to live in this area. Despite a home and job in London, my wife and I bought a second home here. I find ‘intense happiness’ here.” I chat with an elderly local couple. “We can’t walk much anymore, but we park at a nearby car park. We walk to the path just to see the water and the cliffs.” Walkers or sitters of all ages. What age haven’t I seen on this Path?

The next day, I pass people. Several more day-hikers. Several more families with children who are obviously thinking of time at a nearby beach. Two fellows and two dogs who plant themselves in a patch of grass for an early lunch. I pass Guy and Roger. “Walking without a care in the world” I say to them as they pass. They pause “Well, actually we’re talking about politics! And trying not to get depressed!” As I meet Ben and Henry on the path, I ask “What are you doing with that large microphone?” “I’m hoping to capture some bird songs. The wind is so strong up on the cliffs and headlands that a regular phone can’t capture the sounds.” Good luck! Individuals on the Path with all sorts of interests and concerns.

As I attune myself to this season’s walk, I’m convinced that this path is open to any and everybody. Individuals may choose not to walk the path; individuals may not be able to walk the path. However, the path doesn’t bar anybody from walking.

The Path’s openness certainly contrasts with our frequent “oppositional proclivities.” As a counterpoint to our current social and political world, and I walked with those protesting Trump on a Saturday in Atlanta before I left, I find the Path’s non-oppositional nature renewing. As a counterpoint to my expectations of dramatic scenery, and my actually seeing dramatic coastlines and headlands, I meet ordinary folk. From this domestic side of life, with individuals finding ordinary escapes and ordinary enjoyments, I find the Path renewing.

Maybe part of this walk is simply a daily reminder. This Path doesn’t refuse anyone. All who choose and are able can become attune to the not-so-few and not-so-small joys surrounding us.