Via di Francesco, Day 12: Pietralunga - Gubbio

Saturday, June 3
26.5 km
800 m

We climbed three hills today. We saw a foal stand on wobbly legs. We saw more big, bright green lizards than any day so far. We followed well-marked trails through stands of pine trees, down dusty roads and lanes. We descended into a broad, flat valley parched by the hot afternoon sun and walked on hot pavement til our feet were stiff and sore, and our skin red and tight.

And I was happy. Not the momentary passing happiness of daily life. Not the feeling of satisfaction that one gets from accomplishment or hard work. Not pleasure in the things one thinks about. No. This was a simple, pure, all-consuming joy that was so big and so complete it threatened to swallow me up. A joy that made laughter bubble up from inside of me and spill out of me in the middle of the road, with no one to even hear. A joy that split my face in two and blurred the line between laughing and crying, feeling and experiencing. For hours I walked in joy so deep I had no thoughts and no cares. I was joy.

It sounds ridiculous. It sounds too simple, too sanguine. Those who know me well know I am not prone to such sentimentality. But there it is. I walked, and I was happy. I saw, and I was elated. I lived, and I knew joy. I don't know how or why. I only know I have more than 170 miles left to walk, and I hope such joy visits me again.