May 27, 2001
It's been so long since I've written that the task is daunting. Here are some snippets from my recent life:
My first article in the Asheville Citizen-Times came out on Mother's Day. My second one is ready for press now after my visit to Asheville for graduation.
The other night I noticed that I couldn't see the trail and forest because it was getting dark. Then I noticed that it might as well have been dark all afternoon, because I hadn't been looking.
Yesterday I saw a striped maple in a late afternoon shadow of the setting sun. The tree was all in shadow except for one pair of leaves lit up in a spotlight from the sun. If the sun were God, they were the chosen ones.
Thinking about Mom as my emotional support. Thinking about the goals I wrote when I started the trail. Feeling the support she gave me, swelling my own strength, may be as simple as feeling confident without her whispering it in my ear. That is happening on trail.
Yesterday I hiked 27 miles to catch up with Norway on her birthday. And if that weren't enough, I also spent four hours of daylight in Buena Vista re-supplying. And if that weren't enough, I hiked the first 11 miles before 10:15 because the post office closed at 11. So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself, pretty triumphant as I waste half of today lounging in the shelter, gorging myself on the candy that Double-Time, Gary, and Molly sent me.
Yesterday was one of the first fully sunny days in almost two weeks, since before I got off trail for graduation. Today the sun is trying really hard to shine on us. I can tell. It's winking at me through the ashen blanket of clouds.
Just over a week ago I said goodbye to my trail friends, Groundhog and Redneck. Groundhog left us on the road to Buchanan, though he may return further North in the fall. Redneck and I started our hitchhiking adventure with Thawookie outside of Buchanan. It only took us five rides and six hours to get the 300? miles to Damascus. One man preached to us about drugs. One man had three farms in VA. Two girls were looking for a party--18th birthday for one of them. The highlight of her day was buying her own cigarettes. I donated my lighter for her birthday. The highlight of my day was our ride in a bigrig. The man who helped us out had 8 1/2" x 11" Glamour Shots of his wife on the dashboard, and his handle was Muffdiver. He taught us all sorts of trucker-speak. Glad Redneck was with me. Finally, a nice couple--TrailBoss from VA and his girl--found us as we were hopping the fence to get off Hwy 81 where hitchhiking is illegal. They took us the rest of the way to Damascus for Trail Days.
My ride North from Damascus was easier. Jay, who lives behind the hostel, reluctantly agreed to give me a ride to the bus stop in Abingdon, 15 miles away. When I told him I'd decided to hitch, he took me a little further. When I told him I'd put gas in his big blue Scottsdale, he took me a little further. When we arrived in Buchanan, he took me to the trailhead and had a Tall Boy on me. I had a really good time talking with Jay for the four hours it took to drive to Buchanan on side roads. Still, though he promised to bring me back to the trailhead for free, I couldn't take him up on his offer to come back to Damascus for a few days.
Trail Days was amazing. I got all of the benefits and none of the annoyances. Dana Designs and Gregory fixed my Osprey pack for free. While I waited, Greg from Dana sewed it and repaired the zipper, which had been broken for two years. And they gave me Seamgrip materials to finish the rest on my own. MSR traded me a new pump for my leaky one, and Gregory fixed my OR gaiters. The vendors were magical. I partied with the Shiners, three Southern boys who may catch up again eventually. They're fraternity brothers with hearts of gold. Surprised me.
Dale, whom I used to describe as a former writing professor and now I call friend, colleague, mentor, and surrogate father, picked me up in Damascus while I ate Super Fudge Chunk Ben and Jerry's. I'm so happy and lucky he was willing to drive me because I've had the best talks with him.
I got back in time to have dinner with the Foxes, all down for Kevin's graduation. I spent most of the weekend being part of the Family Fox, much to my delight for good company. Of course, it didn't hurt going to nice meals with my trail appetite either. Thank you to Don and Karen for making me feel at home and feeding me so well all weekend. It would have been hard to leave Kevin and his family to go to the camp wedding as I had planned, plus I didn't have directions and my car wouldn't run, so I had a nice long visit in Asheville. Kevin's a college graduate now and has a studio apartment on the West side of town and works at Diamond Brand--coincidentally the gear shop that is sponsoring me.
I visited folks at Pathways too. Richard and both Shirleys are amazing. They had all the articles about my trip posted right where everyone walks in. We looked at pictures and they gave me updates about the people I'd met. Most were doing well. Two women had tumors again. One woman was a nurse who had been focusing on nutrition in lieu of conventional treatment for breast cancer. She now has cancer in her lymph nodes. Another woman just had surgery for her second brain tumor. I didn't expect to feel so affected. That night I went to Kevin's and cried for two women I barely know, cried because they're finally taking care of themselves and it may be too late, cried because it's hard to reverse years of self-neglect, cried because not my walking and not even their personal work can save them. I cried to realize that Pathways can't save lives, but it has to be enough to improve the quality of life. It doesn't take away the importance of what everyone is doing. You don't always have to recover to heal.
It's 10:30 now. I still haven't written about anything outside of my head, but I have to make some miles before lunch. Short day today.
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