The Breaking of the Fellowship and Return to Mackinac Island Seney and Mackinac Island, Michigan Days 45-49: July 17-21, 2002  Back   |   Next

The Breaking of the Fellowship Day 45 - July 17, 2002 I awake not to the sound of my wristwatch but to the scream of a bald eagle somewhere above Pike Lake. It is a tough morning for us because we still have about thirteen more miles of sandy road before we are back on pavement. The roads are so horrible to peddle through we decided to skip the north coast, which can only be reached via dirt road, and instead head straight for Seney. Our fellowship breaks in Seney. The town, once famous in the Old Northwest for its twelve brothels and rough lumberjack attitude, is now little more than a wasteland of shops and restaurants catering to campers and fishermen. My Matrix Point Campsite I push myself harder than I should after saying goodbye to Rich. I peddle 109 miles because I know each stroke will bring me closer to Mackinac Island, which even after three days I have begun to miss. I am encamped on the fog-shrouded shores of Lake Michigan. Lightning flashes somewhere south of my location. I am not more than five yards from the lake water. A half moon is but a glowing specter. The lightning strikes are getting brighter. There is no wind. Everything is still. There is no sound of thunder. I wonder if I should be worried. I begin to get paranoid and scan the shore with my flashlight to see if the waves are coming closer. Will I wake up inside a tent being pulled into a stormy lake? I am too tired to move my camp and fall asleep despite my paranoia. Return to Mackinac Island and White Noise Days 46-49 - July 18-21, 2002 I return to Mackinac Island and spend time with my new friends. On Sunday I go with Father Williams to a book club meeting at the library. We discuss Don DeLillo's White Noise, which the padre believes presents our postmodern situation, from the failure of religion to the shallowness of our consumer society. It is a very philosophical book, he says. Almost an allegory. Every character is symbolic. It is a dark satire on our culture. The book shows us where we are now. DeLillo presents the problem, now it is up to us at this book club to come up with a solution. The problem, Williams says, is that we don't know what's real anymore. Isn't that why you, he asks me, are on this journey?