Walks With Words

They Have Reached Missouri

2009-05-26T11:54:00.004-05:00

Mike and Petra called about 10 minutes ago. They have just stepped foot into Missouri!

Doing great Mike and Petra!

Check their progress at:

Walking East

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Mike and Petra's First Camel Ride

2009-05-07T23:31:00.004-05:00

Before Mike and Petra reached my home in Hesston, they stayed a day in Hutchinson Kansas visiting our sister and before getting to Hutchinson they stayed in Nickerson, Kansas at Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm and Country Inn.
Here's what they did!! LOL! Have you ever done this?

Remember you can follow their journey and see their pictures at Walking East
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They Have Made It to Kansas-May 5th

2009-05-06T18:17:00.012-05:00

Their arrival in Hesston Kansas

Raining

Mike and I

Petra and I

First off, sorry for the absence from here although here is an update.
Mike and Petra of WALKING EAST traveling from California to Jerusalem have made it to Kansas. They first stopped in Lyons(my daughter Renee lives there), 35 miles later stopped in Hutchinson, visiting with our sister Edie, then 35 miles here to Hesston to visit and spend the night with me. Definitely too short we hadn't seen one another since our mother died in 2001. My brother and I have never been really close although this visit I felt a closeness to him that I had never felt. Him being the oldest child, there is 15 years difference between us. I felt I finally got to know him, it was great!! Met his wife Petra for the first time. I love her, she's a fine German woman and funny.

On their way in (in the rain)the Hesston newspaper stopped and wanted to interview them which later they called Mike and did a phone interview.

TIME TO GO

Dan dropped them off on a back road, double checking the map before hitting the road

Thanks for stopping by Mike and Petra

follow this journey at WALKING EAST--California to Jerusalem

Our Brother Met Mike and Petra in Flagstaff

2009-03-03T18:50:00.007-06:00

Remember you can get more details on this walk from Mike himself at WALKING EAST

Our brother Marty drove down to Flagstaff in his RV(from Illinios) and waited for Mike and Petra to arrive. Feb 24th, even with the long walks of the past few days, theywere still too far from Albuquerque that day. They have to be there on 13 March. So in the past few days Marty has drove them forward 87 miles. Along the way they visited the Meteor Crator and walked 16+ miles today. Tonight tonight(Feb 24) they are in Holbrook, Arizona. It looks like they will drive only a few more miles before continuing the rest of the way on foot.

Feb 28th: They walked into their third state last night, New Mexico. Everything continues to be so different with every few miles. What a beautiful exit-entrance to-from Arizona. Beautiful cliffs at the west end of New Mexico.

Barstow--Feb. 6th

2009-02-09T23:29:00.010-06:00

Mike and Petra are facing 160 miles of desert now. What will they do?

Petra found a toy buggy, proves to be a very useful tool for right now!

Walking East

Felt The Pacific For The Last Time For Awhile

2009-01-22T23:25:00.009-06:00

Mike and Petra walked 18.4 miles today. They walked along the Pacific for the last time today after walking around 6 miles along the beach. Surely they will miss it. They ran into a little drizzle today.
This is a map of the planned walk. Should take approximately 9 months. The route once reached south of Chicago will depend on which freighter they can take to Europe.

Planning a boat to Lisbon, Mike and Petra will return to Santiago and Finisterra for a reunion of sorts. Then walk the Camino de Santiago against the 2010 Holy Year flow and move on across southern Europe to Rome, unless they decide to walk the Dalmation Coast instead.

If you see them along the way stop and say hello! Remember you can follow their walk at Walking East

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THE JOURNEY HAS BEGUN

2009-01-15T23:22:00.005-06:00

Good luck Mike and Petra, the day has come to start your journey! See you here in Kansas when you get here(in May). Be safe.

Hey if you see this flag on a backpack it's Mike and Petra, stop and say hello! I'm sure they will share their story with you. If you want you could even join them for a walk for a day, a week, a month, how ever long you wish. I myself may walk with them for awhile!

Follow their journey,

Walking East

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CANCUN

2009-01-15T16:44:00.002-06:00

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MIKE and Petra Walking East January 16th

2008-12-30T14:43:00.005-06:00

CALIFORNIA to JERUSALEM. Yes it's true they start their walk from California on January 15th 2009. Mike will be walking his first full day on his 66th birthday on January 16th. This walk will probably take approximately 2 years to walk. Nine months or so of walking days in the US and the same on the other side of the Atlantic. I have every confidence that they can do it. you can track their walk at Walking East where they will be keeping a journal of their journey. Be sure to turn your sound on.

More later.........

Join Mike In His Visit to Sicily

2008-11-24T19:23:00.009-06:00

Sicily's Historic Coasts is a book about Sicily, its history, and his visit there.

Sicily, a crossroads of the Mediterranean for more than 3000 years, has been ruled by Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, French, Spanish, Italians, and miscellaneous others while its people have retained their strong personal independence.

Here's some quotes from Sicily's Historical Coasts:

"...civilizations flourished and died when Rome was only a village . ...Selinus was destroyed 2200 years after the built. ...we are another 2400 years after that day. ...But perhaps the deeds and words of those who lived here in some way influence us through the generations between them and us." -pg 56

"We walk down a long hall of high ceilings and closed doors. Every step echoes back loudly.... We turn to climb a marble staircase.... A door made of heavy steel beams and one-inch-thick glass opens to the right off the first floor landing. What is this place?" - p. 115
"I realize I know several new cities. It’s surrealistic, in a place a second night and I feel like I have been here a long time. I know streets. I know places to eat.... I arrived only yesterday and it seems like forever ago. Palermo, Trápani, Monreale, Syracuse, and now Taormina-Sicily is becoming part of me." - p. 133.

Go with Mike along Sicily's Historic Coasts he makes his way around the coast of Sicily from Palermo to Palermo visiting extinct cities, collections of ancient coins, Mt. Etna (Europe's largest volcano), and many other corners of this island with a thousand faces. Walk with him through this series of essays, each a snapshot of a town, a city, a train, a beach, a haphazard pile of rocks--each a glimpse current life, of a long ago civilization, of modern society. They are his view of an October, turn-of-the-century Sicily.

Own Sicily's Historic Coasts today

paperback---$17.95

download---$5.00

click here to get your copy!

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PC, Laptop to TV

2008-11-24T19:20:00.000-06:00

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Germany to Rome in 64 days IS HERE

2008-11-04T14:23:00.004-06:00

Germany to Rome in 64 daysOur Pilgrimage is now for sale!! This is a book about their pilgrimage from Kisslegg, Germany to Rome. It's about he and his wife Petra interacted with the people they met and the places they walked through on this pilgrimage. It's also about the path itself and its many faces and it's the story of their internal pilgrimages through their souls, minds, hearts, and spirits as they walked that external path through Germany, Austria, and Italy to Rome.
To put it in a broader perspective, this book is about how they celebrated this ten weeks of their lives and some of the things they want to take from it to enrich their ongoing pilgrimage of life. And as they tell their story they drop a few hints on how you might use some of what they learned when you choose to take a similar pilgrimage.
Germany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage is printed in two interior formats: black and white (B&W) and color. Mike recommends the B&W format; that is how hewrote it. The basic black & white version is $22.95. Buy it and get all our words and pictures in black and white. You need nothing more. buy the black and white version here there is also a downloadable version for $6.25.
Special introductory offer!
As a Holiday special, during Germany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage's introductory period we are offering three dollars off the normal price of the black & white edition and we will send it to you postpaid by USPS Media Mail. This offer is good only to US postal destinations.
click here

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And We Have A Winner..........

2008-11-03T06:04:00.005-06:00

The winner of the book, Walking Life--Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life is Katie Stacey! Congratulations Katie and I will be getting a hold of you for you shipping information shortly! Thank you all for participated it's been fun! (claimed)
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Walking Life--Book Giveaway!

2008-10-26T14:13:00.019-06:00

It's bloggy giveaway time! For this giveaway I will be giving away one of my brother Mike's books. Walking Life--Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life(ARV:$15.99)--is a book of meditations illustrated with photos from pilgrimage walks. It asks you to meditate on how you are walking through your life. It is about walking one step at a time and the quality of our walk and what we can do to improve that walk. Inspired by several long walks in Spain along the Camino de Santiago and its companion, the Via de la Plata, Walking Life considers lessons learned throughout life and reinforced during these walks and applies them to our daily walk through life, our pilgrimage from life to death and beyond. It asks questions and suggests meditations to help improve that walk.

Yes my brother and his wife have walked across Spain and more! They are planning on walking across the US in 2009! I have started this blog to help him promote his books. Read other articles on this blog.

How to win Walking Life--Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life

Just leave a comment below telling me if you like to read or not. If you like to read please feel free to subscribe to Walks With Words! Would also be greatful if you faved me on Technorati, button on my sidebar.

I will offer 5 extras entries for signing up for Market Leverage! Click on the banner on my side bar(directly right) to sign up. I will know if you signed up on my referral page. I have been with this program for about 7 weeks and made $29.10 far, and trust me my blogs are not that popular, so good money made thus far, the payout is awesome!

PUBLISHERS: Leverage Your Audience--MarketLeverage provides Publishers access to hundreds of top-notch advertisements designed to maximize their online profits. We have the best offer payouts, FedEx payments to Publishers, and have the highest paying rewards program in the industry. ADVERTISERS: Leverage Our Reach--MarketLeverage is a powerful online customer generation platform with massive reach. We deliver tens of millions of targeted consumers to our Advertising partners using an extensive and proprietary base of Internet Publishers. Advertisers using MarketLeverage pay only for confirmed leads and sales – there is no risk of spending money without results. Click Here to sign up, or the banner in the side bar

giveaway ends: November 2nd@12pm CT, at which time I will choose a winner from random.org. Please remember to leave me a way to contact you! I will email the winners and they will have 72 hours to contact me otherwise another winner will be chosen! Will also post winner here on Walks With Words. Sorry US only

Have fun at the carnival!!

If you would like to purchase Walking Life today click here

Walking Life: Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life

2008-10-23T21:38:00.009-05:00

Mike's book, Walking Life: Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life considers lessons learned throughout life and reinforced during several pilgrimage walks and relates them to their daily walk through life. Walking Life is richly illustrated with photos from several pilgrimage walks.
You can take Walking Life along with you on your next retreat or just sit with it under a tree. Walking Life is at its best when you read it slowly one page at a time and consider how the spirit of that page fits into your life.
This is the color edition of Walking Life: Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life.

get your copy today

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Tropical Gourmet Coffees!

2008-10-20T01:08:00.005-05:00

YUMMY TRY SOME

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Walking With Awareness

2008-10-17T21:12:00.006-05:00

Walking With Awareness is Petra and Mikes site and it is about being aware of everything around you at all times. Walking with awareness is about physical walking, yes, but it is also about all aspects of their life. It is about their walk through life.
The site is about listening to and being aware of lessons spoken from every corner and every opening of their lives and incorporating those lessons into the walk, the pilgrimage, of their life. Often they hear lessons they have known from earlier times and reinforced over and over by the experience of their daily lives. But when they listen closely we can also discover lessons that can bring an altogether new facets into their life experience.
Petra and Mike offer you the content of these pages and their workshops, walking classes, slide shows, and books to help you listen to and discover, define, and refine and walk your life with more awareness and depth. More info here.

Mike Metras Books For Your Reading Pleasure

2008-10-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

You can view and purchase these books and video.
Germany to Rome in 64 Days

Walking Life

Sicily's Historic Coasts

Ethiopia: Travels of a Youth

Money Meanderings

Axum: Coins and Places
Mike has written the following books and video. Click on the links

Germany to Rome in 64 Days: Our Pilgrimage - a book about our walking pilgrimage from Germany to Rome.
Walking Life: Meditations on the Pilgrimage of Life - a book about walking our life path.
Sicily's Historic Coasts - a book about Sicily, its history, and my month-long visit in there 2000.
Ethiopia: Travels of a Youth - a CD-ROM book describing people and places in Ethiopia and Eritrea during the late 1960s.
Money Meandering: An Introduction to Numismatics - a CD-ROM book with 87 articles on coin collecting.
Axum: Coins and Places - a video of coins and places associated with ancient Axum, Ethiopia.

Germany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage

2008-10-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

Newest book by Mike to be released:
Germany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage is a book about our pilgrimage from Kisslegg, Germany to Rome. It's about how my wife, Petra, and I interacted with the people we met and the the places we walked through on this pilgrimage. It's also the story of our internal pilgrimages through our souls, minds, hearts, and spirits as we walked that external path through Germany, Austria, and Italy to Rome.
To put it in a broader perspective, this book is about how we celebrated this ten weeks of our lives and some of the things we want to take from it to enrich our ongoing pilgrimage of life and as we tell our story we drop a few hints on how you might use some of what we learned when yGermany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage is printed with a color cover and black and white interior. You can also purchase it in as a downloaded PDF file. The download version has color pictures. The download file gives you the advantage of color withour having to pay dearly for a printed version in color.
story by Mike Metras
Germany to Rome in 64 days: Our Pilgrimage should be available late-October.

Meet Mike

2008-10-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

About my older brother Mike Metras. He is a Pilgrim, Writer, Traveler, Wanderer, a writer for two score plus a few years. In his freshman English class Sister M gave him an "F" for a writing project. She insisted that, even though she couldn't find the source he had to have plagiarized his short-story assignment. She said he couldn't have written something that good himself. It was his. From that he has rewritten it as The Kite.
He survived the change, though not without scars that have healed with time. He is still writing travel narrative, essays, and a little poetry and fiction. Today after wandering Europe and India since 2003 and living two years in Germany, he is back in the US in California. His wife, Petra, and him are continuing their slide shows and workshops on Walking with Awareness and pilgrimage including upcoming workshops on environment and walking.
More later..............

The Beginning

2008-10-14T01:16:00.001-05:00

This blog is the beginning of helping my brother in promoting his published books. Until I can get posting if you would like a preview of some of his books you can take a peek here at Works And Words. Please feel free to browse around. Most of all, stay tuned. I will post as time permits.