One of the first East Texas hills - hadn’t seen one in a while… nice to look at, harder to walk, but there’s the downhill on the other side! According to Google, this is what I have to look forward to… I will go up 44,682 ft, and down 45.066 ft… the first third looks pretty tame compared to the second, but it’s all downhill from there, right?
Sacrificed my rest day for a short 7.5 miles to Buffalo, no, not NY, Texas, still. Wanted to make a little headway towards Palestine, no, not the Middle East… Texas. It’s a pretty good hike, going to break into two days, but wanted to get here tonight so I could do so. Happy knowing one of my support units is coming up, Isabela, my youngest that is! She will help with logistics, and comes loaded with tape and sterile pads and ointment and all the things we shopped for together today - me on Facetime of course. Still amazes me, though I understand the technology, that you can pick up your little piece of electronic glass, press one button and see your daughter/friend/mom, talk & watch, for free, pretty much anytime. We have definitely advanced, in some areas…
And all the above mentioned pads and ointments are for some very sore blisters - wasn’t going to bore you, and am not going into detail, but they hurt, but happy to say better. The two short days helped, and if I can keep them wrapped, we should be OK until the new skin comes in. Not posting pictures.
Besides the blisters, I can feel myself getting stronger every day.. don’t have a choice. Always in awe of the human body, its resilience and healing capacity. It’s one of the few things around that can mend itself perfectly, given the chance. Food hasn’t been altogether good or available, and the salad bat at Whole Foods is now just a great memory, but we’re doing OK… I eat well when I can, and microwaved lasagna isn’t too bad, especially since the only alternative was another Subway sandwich, half a mile from the hotel.
Very uneventful (perfect) walk this morning, couple of hours, not much, but still hot!! Someday I’ll tell my grandchildren that I left for this little walk during the hottest few days on record (in some places)! I got an alert on my phone Leon County was under a Heat Advisory… duh, I could have told you that at 10 in the morning!
This is kind of ridiculous… someone asked me today why I picked this week… I didn’t, but it has been a challenge to say the least. It has slowed me down a bit, taught me some good lessons, and given me the confidence that if I can walk 145 miles (+/- about 5%) in this, I can walk it in anything!
Still have a few days of heat… weather geniuses say it’s going to start coming down, to a much bearable feels like 100… piece of cake, all thing being relative.
So looking forward to the Fall, a brisk walk up the Shenandoah Valley perhaps… but enjoying every step now.
And, as I walk, given the bridge incident last week, I am being a little careful about stopping and taking pictures, lest someone that sees me think I am, uh, shall we say, suspicious. It’s sad to say, but I really don’t want to trigger anything around here, or anywhere. I thought about this today, when I spotted an Israeli flag proudly flying on a little knoll in front of a nice house. I took a picture, one, and it didn’t turn out very well because the wind died. I could have waited for the perfect shot, but moved on. I loved seeing the flag, totally unexpected, and frankly, a bit out of place, not something I would expect out here,
But have taken several pictures over the few days of these…
I’m sure you’ve seen them before. They are crosses remembering those who lost their lives in that particular spot. I don’t know where the tradition originated, but I have unfortunately seen thousands of these in Mexico, where I grew up. And unfortunately, I have seen too many over the last few days. And I wonder how many could have been prevented, by not answering the text message or by handing the keys over after another drink. We are constantly bombarded by the media, don’t drink and drive, don’t text and drive, and on and on. As you read this, I ask you to stop, close your eyes, and think for a few seconds of how you’d feel if you were to hurt someone, hurt yourself or hurt your family, all because you were doing something that could have been avoided. I have been guilty of texting while driving (even got a $209 ticket once), and have probably driven when I shouldn’t have, but do neither since. Hope you will too.
Little more on this… I have been watching oncoming cars for nine days now. Occasionally, one isn’t centered, weaves, crosses the median and scares me, as half their car is in the shoulder… Nine out of ten times, as they drive by, their phone is in their hand. Please don’t do this, especially if you’re somewhere between here and New York, but really, anywhere… Please.
Spent some time on my statistics… actually made a fancy spreadsheet, but am tired, not going to analyze data tonight! Here’s the information, I’ll make sense of it for you soon.
As you can see, there are some device discrepancies… at the end of the day, meaningless compared to everything else!
And I leave you with yet another Real Man Field Guide… if you need to know ANYthing, just send me an email and I will create your very own RMFG… this requested by my dear hiking friend Mel… Hope it is of use. Peace
