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| View from Whitetop |
I drove away from the mountains and hills of southwest VA
after another Trail Days headed home to Ohio and plugged in a CD that always
makes me cry. It is the first CD/movie
made by a good friend, many moons ago, when he was just experimenting with this
medium. It was, for him, a monumental
step to put his art out there and it is such beautiful, touching mix of songs
that it inspires me. It reminds me always of the hills I love.
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| Grayson Highlands View |
This person has become, over the years, a
solid friend whom I only see a couple of times a year at specific events. Treasuring every moment with him and other
long known trail friends, we’ve swapped wild stories, laughter, beer, food and
hugs. Over the years and miles, we have come to know how fleeting and
precarious life can be. As our knees become stiff and our eyes don’t see the
mountains tops so clearly, we realize that the beauty and shared knowledge of
independence that hiking brings is what joins us and defines us…people, friends
from all over the country have a common secret that we share. I played this music watching as the VA
Highlands disappeared in the rear view mirror and I cried.
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| Attack...friends at Trail Days |
This Trail Days, I’ve had several poignant conversations
with people who are my family, yet we are completely unrelated by blood. As one friend said, “I love you, Vera and
it’s because you’re family, trail family.”
He said this as he shared that after assisting hundreds of hikers over
the years, he would be attempting a thru hike of the AT in 2018. We looked each
other as tears welled up in both our eyes and I patted his back as he engulfed
me in a bear hug. I knew what this meant
to him, I know how precarious and how precious this trip is for him. We hugged extra-long and I wished him well. As I walked away, I thought, I want to go
with you on this old hikers walk because I, too, have dreamed, wished, thought
for so many years of doing this very same long walk.
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Headed towards WhitetopAs the VA highlands vanished around a corner, my heart said,
“What would you do if you could do anything you want? What would your unencumbered soul do with all
its brilliance, dreams and long-awaited wishes? What if there were no, ifs,
ands or buts. What if you could just do, BE whatever you so dream? What would
you DO? Which one of the many schemes
you’ve dreamed would you wish to accomplish most?” I looked at those blue-ridged, steaming, fog
covered mountains and thought – I would walk there. And so, I dream. There is a hike I planned for this
summer. I’ll see how it goes and then go
from there. (unfortunately, a summer’s
walk is not happening this year) |
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| Hiking with Mawee and Pawee - Cloudland SP |
Here’s a challenge for all of you, a gauntlet throw down….what
would you do with this one life you’ve been given if you could fly free and
follow your dreams? How would you answer the above questions? Might it be time to consider trying a new
direction, following your dreams? As someone once said, “If not
now, then when?”
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| Into the Shadows |
