TRAIL DAY 12 – CONT
Well, wouldn’t you know that snow fell upon Top of Georgia that day as I sat and typed by the window wanting to connect with anyone, anywhere in the whole world who would happen to stumble upon my blog.
Yea, that’s true of my Turning-Point, post-AT self, the one who’s been way down in there since my days as an English major at Yale and before, since childhood I guess when my dad would say, “You have a way with words.” I would muse at that comment thinking it suggested something you could go to the store and purchase by the pound and keep with you. What is “a way with words” really? Aren’t words the way, bridges between in here and out there?
Long ago at Spanish literature seminar at Yale, our professor asked, “Why did Ortega y Gasset write this?” I thought as the answers came one by one and the professor was unmoved. Finally, I answered, “Because he had to” and that seemed to satisfy him. And that is why I write now. In the movie Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis asks a student, “Why do we read?” Again dissatisfied with the answer, he tells the student, “We read to know that we are not alone.”
Though I walk alone with my dog, Theo, I am not alone – because I have pictures and I have words.
It was wonderful to have the snow falling outside the Top of Georgia Hostel while opening my heart online to family and friends. Or so I thought. Blogging completely failed as I remember so I turned to emailing my family in a fairly lengthy document which also did not get out in the ether. Many moons later, if not over the entire trail, the email got less and less relevant so remained in the outbox going nowhere which had something to do with a password reset via my office PC in Outlook via Office365.
The short story: I had a good, cozy day inside going nowhere in more ways than one while enjoying multiple cups of coffee and the buzz of people coming and going – often a real plus for me when writing.
Theo had been on a leash inside as required by local mandate; however, in short order everyone, including management, realized that this was no ordinary dog. He was pure love in a fury gold coat, made to please in return for hands-on attention. If I haven’t said so, he was surely the most popular hiker on the AT in 2016 – and I’ll probably say it again as the miles pass. . . . “You don’t need the leash – don’t bother” came the welcomed comment from Paula on staff who had a dog named Ella.
It being snowy, people arrived ad hoc throughout the day. One such person was “Journeyman” who made himself comfortable in the couch before the fireplace. Our grey hair probably encouraged the conversation that led to an exchange of trail names and the stories that brought us to this adventure. Journeyman was 65 and retired from social work in North Carolina where he worked with VA PTSD patients. I later learned that he had been chosen as the North Carolina social worker of the year and would learn still more on this score on a mountaintop up ahead.
Journeyman took the bunk above me and we carried on our friendly conversation before bed. There or somewhere on the trail, I noted that I was not a wealthy person. We had shared information about our families and the fact that we were each doing this hike for ourselves but also for our grandchildren – our posterity. We wanted them to know that significant things could be accomplished in life.
After supper, Sir Packs A Lot lectured on topics mentioned above. As the evening drew on, “Rich Strange” picked up one of the guitars at the far end of the room, each of which was highly decorated by signatures of prior users. He sang several songs in a manner that suggested he was very comfortable with the instrument and his voice. I saw this fellow a few times later, the last at a hostel called Cabin in the Woods near Fontana Lake where he stayed in his room recuperating from an illness someone surmised was from drug-use. I did not see or hear of him again.
Day #12 Top of Georgia Hostel 0 miles