planning

So we have the project in mind. We have funding for it. Now how to proceed? We knew we wouldn’t get very far if we just pulled into town and stopped people on the street, asking them to talk to us. We decided that the best way to do this would be to contact churches. They are the ones out in front helping people who find themselves in need, through food pantries, community meals, financial assistance, and in other ways. In addition, I have always been very interested in people’s experiences in their spiritual lives, so I am curious to know how the changing economic reality has impacted people’s faith. So that’s our plan. We will talk to various church people in the towns we stop in and will ask them if they know anyone else who would like to talk to us. We will observe the ways in which they are responding to meet the needs in their communities. We will attend services when possible. Now I am even more excited about what we will learn on this trip! Since we have been attending a Quaker church here, it will be particularly meaningful for us to be a temporary part of other Quaker meetings, since there is a wide variety of practice within this small denomination.
A friend donated a road atlas to the cause, so we have examined that, looking at the possibilities. We had decided to point the truck in the direction of Burlington, Vermont and take 2-3 months to get there, stopping along the way. We knew that going south wasn’t a viable option. I hate the summer heat, so try to avoid as much of it as I can. That meant staying north. Even so, there were a few options. We opted for the most northerly interstate, so starting in Oregon, we will go through parts of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Then we will head southbound for a short while and then eastward again to get around the Great Lakes, going through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, a small portion of New York, Massachusetts, and finally Vermont. I have an aunt in New Jersey that I have not seen in 12 years, so we will plan to stop in and visit with her. We have a few potential contacts already in various places and we hope to get more. We will organize things around whatever contacts we can gather before we leave, knowing that as we proceed, we may end up with more. We are being very flexible. We are open to whatever comes. Living in Klamath Falls for 5 years and dealing with one bizarre experience after another has allowed me to grow into a level of comfort with that kind of thing. The only thing we are expecting is the unexpected!