March 10th, 2008 - Coordination Meeting

Entered by Jim
9:00 PM - College Hall - Duquesne University

Chinese food lays piled on the table as the ALT crew meets concerning logistics of this endeavor. Egg rolls, beef teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, fried rice, and an enormous pile of fortune cookies are devoured by all, who, by this point have had very long days in our lives outside of this project. All of us are fighting fatigue, hoping that the food might give us that last jolt of energy to through the evening. The balance all are tryng to keep between enthusiasm for this project and the demands of our "other lives" is delicate. This is an endeavour to which all have committed, not in replacement of, but rather in addition to the currrent responsiblities that sit on our shoulders every day. A few moments are spent with relaxed conversation over chicken on a stick, then it is down to business.

Due to the enormity of this project, it is agreed by all that a test run in necessary before we depart in late May. It is difficult to coordinate the schedules of 12 people, but after some discussion, we come to a solution.  The crew will assemble on May 5th and journey to Crown Point Farm and Education Center. "The Center's 10-acre Certified Organic farm, woodlands, meadows and wetland-pond ecosystem provide unique, sacred spaces to walk, to meditate and to be inspired by creation.Everyone committed to restoring Earth and creating a sustainable society is welcome at Crown Point." - Crown Point web site http://www.crownpt.org

Since it is close to Pittsburgh, this trip will allow us to take our time and work out all the kinks that exist within a project such as this, and also visit an location that exists to promote peace and tranquility. We will camp in the Cuyahoga Valley National Forest and return to Pittsburgh the next day.  This location is actually the last scheduled stop on the entire route, which means that it is the most at risk of being skipped due to deadlines (we are scheduled to return from our excursion with 35 days of departure).  So this test run will help take some of that pressure off of us.

The days moving towards departure are passing faster by the day, and the team will work over the next two weeks to develop all of the materials needed for our travels: media packets, news articles, location contact, etc. There is a lot to do. But not tonight. The genuine excitement for this extraordinary event is soon checked by fatigue, and the team retires for the evening.

All are positive. All are eager. Side discussions occur over the positive foreshadowing we all found in our fortune cookies. Is it realistic to take our advice from a fortune? Maybe not. But we don't care. For now it is just something that re-affirms our belief in what we are about to do. This unique group of twelve ordinary people are proactively taken on this enormous responsibility with grace and optimism. There is no discussion about possibility of failure; no fear of what is waiting out there for us on these remote routes of yesterday. This authentic optimism shines through each of us even as we struggle to fight back the sleepiness that is now at the forefront of our minds.

We end the evening with some light hearted conversation and laughter in the cold air outside College Hall, chuckling at the enormity of this venture. All is well.