Date: 2018-04-20
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Miles today: 0.0

I started the week with one of my most hated pre-hike rituals, the Trimming of the Body Hair. I have become a Mexican hairless dog, albeit a bearded one with a full head of hair without pointy ears and a tail. I should have gone to the doggy day spa and jumped up on the table and let the professionals whack away. At least I would have gotten a treat. I do this dreaded routine a couple of weeks before the start of a hike, so that the itching is over and any nicks are healed before I head out. I don¢t shave my body, but I do trim it closely using a Wahl electric trimmer that is actually called The Manscaper©. Okay, I admit I bought it because of the name, but it does a fine job on my beard the rest of the year. Why do I subject myself to this humiliation? Because it¢s easier to keep my body clean with less hair and easier to spot and to remove any ticks.  Ticks! How I loathe them! More than black flies, more than deer flies, more than leeches, even more than spiders. Blacklegged ticks or deer ticks to be specific. Ixodes scapularis. In addition to Lyme disease, they can transmit anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan disease. The risk from rattlesnakes and bears is minuscule by comparison. A bear attack would be a date gone bad, but at least it wouldn¢t leave me with debilitating fatigue, fever, neck and joint pain, and mental confusion ¢ and that¢s just the first phase. Having had Lyme disease once, I will suffer the indignity of trimming my hair and wearing pyrethrin-treated clothing.  Another highlight of the week was receiving the official 2018 thru-hiker¢s hang tag in the mail from Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It¢s a bright orange color this year and coordinates well with my pack. I don¢t know what I would do if the colors clashed. Cancel the hike? It¢s just a little plastic triangle, but clipping it to my pack was quite emotional, akin to unwrapping a Wonka Bar and discovering the Golden Ticket!Adding to the excitement this week was a visit from my friend Ed from Sarasota. We¢ve known each other for about 45 years and have disagreed on almost everything touching on politics and theology the entire time. Somehow we¢ve remained friends. It was joining Ed and some of his fellow attorneys in canoeing the Allagash in Maine and parts of the Marias and Missouri Rivers in Montana that convinced me to take up solo hiking.  So I am indebted to him. Vermont has cooperated with a few nice snow shower and a thorough dusting last night, since a visit to Vermont is incomplete without snow. It was planned to be just an overnight visit. Ed had borrowed a Subaru from his friend in Connecticut and driven up. As he headed back, about five miles south of Burlington, a warning light came on. Ed phoned. Did I know what it meant? Like I would have a clue. But I do know where the Subaru dealer is and directed him there. It¢s a blown head gasket, so Ed¢s short visit is quickly becoming The Man Who Came to Dinner, starring Bette Davis and Monty Woolley, this being day four. Ed resembles Monty, so I get to play Bette. Needless to say, his sheets and towels were already in the washer and the guest bathroom cleaned when he phoned. Wouldn¢t I rather be on the Trail?The best thing of all this week was Tom¢s safe return from a week of visiting family in Georgia. The only things remaining to be done before I leave next Friday is a prophylactic visit to the chiropractor, my annual eye exam, a haircut, and buying groceries for the first four days of the hike. There are so many snack options to be had here between our food co-op and Trader Joe¢s. I found organic, GMO-free Vermont-sourced moon pies at City Market yesterday, guilt-free decadence. Trader Joe¢s has freeze-dried mango and individual packages of Manzanilla olives. So many choices that I won¢t find the Trail. I must carry something made from Vermont maple syrup on principle.