Footsteps

I recently walked the Appalachian Trail! …I know…please do not begrudge me… well…in truth I only stopped and walked a little…I know…I know… don't judge me! Where was I, oh yes, the Appalachian Trail… In the short time I was on it…in the little I did explore I found myself seeing shadows…of those who walked before. I could see their shadows walking by…all of them smiling and alert. and as they passed I bowed my head…and saw their footsteps in the dirt. I have hiked up in the mountains…and seen footsteps on the land. I have walked along our beaches…and seen footsteps in the sand. But it occurred to me there on the AT…in those few strides I took that the footsteps we leave behind in life…deserve a closer look. For no matter where we walk today…on the land or on the shore we all walk in the footsteps of those who came before. And each footstep tells a story…it marks a time…a place…a day A memory that will linger long after those footsteps wash away. And I found myself wondering…on this lonely wooded lane What were the people like who left these footsteps? What memories of them remain? And I wondered about those of us alive today. Will we be remembered as compassionate and kind? What memories will be inscribed In the footsteps we leave behind?