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Covered Wagon Pace: Why Bernie Can’t Promise a Time and Place

Published June 12, 2012

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

Long Rider Bernie Harberts' mule Polly resting after trailering from Asheboro, North Carolina to Sydney, Nova Scotia, near Lunenburg. — Polly takes a nap when I pull her off the trailer at the end of the day. In the past week and a half, we’ve traveled close to 2,000 miles – from Asheboro, North Carolina to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Here, Polly catches a nap around mile 1,562. Meanwhile, Yari Msika and a jumping pal go airborne. His parents Thierry and Maran Msika put us up a few days in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

When voyaging by wagon, I have the following place and time rule: I can meet you in a certain place. Or I can meet you at a certain time.

But I can’t do both.

Trouble is, the world moves much faster than my mule wagon. It’s easy to say, “let’s catch up this weekend in Baddeck, Nova Scotia”. Which is nearby. If you have a car. But my mule, it would take three days to make the 30-odd miles.

See you in Newfoundland!

More on Polly's and my Newfoundland ramble.

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