Everything Old is New Again: Guest Post by Andra Watkins, author of Not Without My Father
Today, I'm happy to welcome Andra Watkins, author of Not Without My Father, to my notebooks. She's talking a bit about her walk on the Natchez Trace.
Everything Old Is New Again
by Andra Watkins
For 10,000 years, souls both animal and human have walked the Natchez Trace. It’s older than Egypt’s pyramids, more ancient than the hanging gardens of Babylon. Animals first trekked its natural ridge line thousands of years ago, migrating from the Ohio River Valley to Mississippi’s salt licks. When the Native Americans arrived, it was natural for them to settle along the Trace. Who wouldn’t covet a ready food supply and ample space to build ceremonial mounds visitors can still experience today?
I’m no athlete, but I was curious. Walkers ruled the Natchez Trace for millennia, but in the 1930’s, they were displaced by a ribbon of pavement from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. A historic footpath overrun by cars and camper vans. With no facilities for through hikers, almost...