Stonebridge Newsletter-Final Edition
(Number 600)
Kenneth L. Pierpont
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Hello Stonebridge Faithful;
I have written my way to a significant milestone today. This is Stonebridge Newsletter Number 600.
When I exercise I walk. I wish I had discovered the virtues of a good walk years ago. I used to run. Just a few years ago I thought of running a marathon. I followed a marathon training program. I had some running paraphilia and dozens of books about distance running. A marathon training program always involves a long Saturday run. Every other week the long training run gets longer. It one point a few years ago I was up to 20 miles on my long run. At that point I could have finished a marathon if I had signed up for one, but I didn’t. My training program sputtered and died. I tried a few more times after moving here to the Downriver. I was running my long run out in the Lower Huron Metro Park one day. I think it may have been an eleven-mile run. It wasn’t going well. There was no joy in it. It was just a grinding drudgery.
Distance running is a solitary thing. You have a lot of time with your thoughts. That day out along the Lower Huron I just got tired of running. I stopped and walked back to the car. I took of my running shoes and never participate in distance running again. I have no intention of ever doing it again. I just tired of it. I packed up all my running books and gave them to a friend. I retired my Garmin. I pushed my running shoes to the back of the basement closet.
Since then I have changed gears and I have discovered the virtues of walking. Not power-walking, not fitness-walking, just human walking. Walking and thinking. Walking the smelling. Walking and listening. Walking with others some. Occasional walking meetings. Often walking with Hazard the Wonder-Yorkie. I try hard not to measure the distance or pay too much attention to the time. I spent too many years measuring every step when I ran. Sometimes when I walk, I stop and sit on a bench or talk with someone. It’s not a fitness regimen, it is a human act.
There just comes a time to stop something. I have reached that time with the Stonebridge Newsletter. Stonebridge Newsletter Number 600 is my final Stonebridge Newsletter. I’ve enjoyed it. It has been an important part of my life. It has been my way of keeping steady with the writing. I need to do something fresh. I will continue writing and post at least once a week on kenpierpont.com. I will continue the Ken Pierpont Storytelling Podcast. I have a few other ideas. One the sight I will post writings, audio, and occasional video. I will stay in touch and I hope you will keep in touch, too. I would love to know about as many of you as I can.
I’m working now on a book called The Village Parson. I hope to have it ready this year. If you haven’t read them you should grab Sunset on Summer, For a Few Days, and Sacred Stories and Strong Families. All the Stonebridge Stories dating back to the year 2000 are archived free at kenpierpont.com.
You can “friend” me on Facebook.You can follow me on Instagram. You can subscribe to my “Tweets.” You can track Lois at loispierpont.com and follow the kids on their Facebook pages. We are not going away.
If you visit kenpierpont.com you will still have the opting of subscribing to my posts. Whenever I post it will send you an email with the post or with a link to the post.
Thank you for fifteen years of Monday mornings. Thanks for letting me be a part of your morning coffee and your family circle. Thank you for reading about the family and about our ministry. Thank you for taking an interest in my stories and in our lives.
Until we meet again I will be out there with my ear to the ground listening and watching my world and the people in it for stories that move the heart and nudge people Godward. That’s what it was all about.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
June 22, 2015
