Day 21: Yoda In the Kitchen, Yoda Everywhere

POOLESVILLE, MD —

April 14, 2024

Day 21:

As I made my way toward the Great Falls beside the C&O Canal Trail this morning, what appeared to be an organized morning commute consisting of roughly 100 pep-in-their-step Asian people passed me heading in the opposite direction. It was a shame I couldn’t speak the native tongue with which they communicated, but all the same, we shared smiles and waves, one after another.

No matter where you come from in the world, those who saunter among the trees in the early daylight share a universal language: happy to see you, happy to be alive.

The Great Falls, an immense series of cascading waterfalls and overlapping rapids along the Potomac River, were a true natural spectacle to behold, and the might of their splendor carried my legs 20 miles beyond them.

A lovely trail angel named Judith from the Rockville area had been in contact with me for a number of weeks, anticipating the time when I would cross through her neck of the woods. Today, she and her husband David met me outside of Poolesville at 6 P.M. and drove me back to their home, where I was given a delicious quesadilla and splendid company to indulge in.

As we sat at their kitchen table, Judith told me stories of her and David’s hikes along the Appalachian Trail. The two of them have also biked the Delaware, Maryland, and a vast majority of the West Virginia portions of the ADT.

While discussing spirituality, particularly the nature of meditation, my gaze roamed to a painting hanging directly behind Judith, which displayed the modern cultural icon ‘Baby Yoda’ embedded between a bright floral foreground and a colorfully sharp, abstract backdrop.

Judith’s great niece gifted the piece to her after the two realized Yoda had dream-weaved through their slumbering minds on the same night.

Judith sees the world as a metaphysical expression, wherein all individual things are tethered to one collective source. I found this painting to be highly congruent with the principles of her worldview, as I did the paint color lining the walls of the spare bedroom where I’ll be dreaming the next two nights: a shade resembling that of the little green extraterrestrial so well that it ought to be labeled ‘Baby Yoda’ in the color swatch book at your local paint shop.