It was unusually hot as we walked into downtown Phoenix for a small rally at Margaret T. Hance Park. (our first public rally since Los Angeles) The 7th of April also happened to be my 60th birthday. I guess I won’t likely forget how I celebrated that day. Walking 14 miles with temps exceeding 94 degrees and relentless sun can be forgotten. The Kentucky Wildcats losing the national basketball championship can be forgotten as well. What can’t be forgotten was the encounter at the rally with a Navajo chief. He asked for a marcher who was dedicated to going all the way to Washington. I felt strongly in that moment that I should step forward, and so did a fellow spirit walker, Miriam Kashia. We were blessed by the chief and presented with a small piece of soft blue rock from his tribal lands. We are to carry it with us all the way to journeys end. If I need strength, I am to hold it in my hand. If I or the group is unable to finish I am to bury the rock and return it to the earth. If I complete my journey I am to let his Navajo tribe know so they can complete the prayers for us. Their concerns for the earth and their tribal lands are traveling with us. I feel something today I couldn’t have imagined a month ago as I was consumed with doubt about this task, my body & strength of spirit. I have a hard time imagining completion of my walk at this point of my journey, but I know this small piece of blue rock will stay with me till the end of my journey.