Date: 2005-02-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

7pm2.23.05So, 5 weeks of sleeping on the floor w/ nary a discomforting twinge or ache. But, one night in a bed results in a sore shoulder and a stiff back? Harumpf. Someone¢s cosmic version of a practical joke? Whatever. I¢m glad to be resuming my sleeping arrangement, my nightly ¢quality bonding time¢ w/ my sleeping bag. My apartment, on the other hand, is marginally depressing -- sadly depleted by the carload of stuff I hauled to PA. I did consciously leave my pictures and paintings on the walls -- nothing more depressing than staring at blank, empty walls in a blank, empty apartment. The apartment¢s still bare, but at least the walls have a little life in them.But despite the resulting sore back, and the vacated apartment, and the 6 hours of driving, I¢m so indescribably glad I drove up. Even though I was immediately conscripted into work virtually the moment I walked in the door. My parents just purchased a satellite radio system. (I¢m a trailjournals addict, my mom¢s a news junkie. My dad just tries to keep everybody happy.) But, Mom¢s very selective of her news sources. (She envies me my ability to get C-SPAN on the radio down here, and I recently introduced her to the wonderful world of blogs.) She¢s also, admittedly, technologically illiterate. So, after I¢m accosted by an ebullient Woody, jumping, legs akimbo in excitement, after Dugan ever so much more sedately waddles over to offer his gretting, his tail rapidly miming a rear windshield wiper; after I finally reach Mom through all the canine interference and give her a hug, we go inside. And what do I find? Directly in the line of sight of the door, placed ¢just so¢, sitting on the dryer -- a couple of bags from Best Buy. ¢What¢s this?¢ I query. ¢Oh that? (said oh-so nonchalantly) That¢s the new satellite radio thingy we bought over the weekend.¢ (It¢s now Tuesday evening.) My eyebrow goes up in anticipation of the next sentence. ¢Dad and I, we were hoping¢¦ since you¢re here¢¦?¢ This accompanied by a vague, noncommital gesture b/t me, and the bags, and back again. Sigh. So, after unloading my car, dumping everything in my (previously tidy) room (which now resembles nothing more than a garage sale), I spent the next 90 minutes -- on the phone, registering their system, enrolling them in a plan, tinkering w/ the hardware, and ultimately jerry-rigging a set-up involving way too many wires and electronic appliances -- audio cables running from the radio unit into a converter box, over to the VCR, then into the TV, which we needed b/c it was the only device that had speakers. (I later discovered this new-fangled radio actually has its own transmitter, so I could have completely bypassed all the cables and wiring. But, nobody told me this. Until, conveniently enough, I¢d already created my own little electrical code violation.) But, it all worked out, and now Mom can contentedly gorge herself on C-SPAN and PRI and AirAmerica. And catch a few tunes as well.But, much as I love being my parents' own personal installation tech, that¢s not why I¢m so glad I went home. Just sitting around for hours, talking about the Trail, recounting the tales, revisiting the sites -- it brought everything flooding back, the memories washing over me in torrents. And it¢s made me feel so alive, so aware. Made everything seem more alive and vibrant. But, they also gave me a lot of things to think about. Several of my friends have asked me -- Why on earth are you starting down in Georgia again? (The unspoken, underlying questions is -- Why on earth are you going back, period. But, I think they¢ve just accepted the fact that the marbles and rollin¢ around up in my noggin, and a few of ¢em maybe have gotten loose.) Well, I¢m beginning on Springer for a plethora of reasons, most of which I¢m incapable of articulating coherently. (Believe me, I¢ve made numerous attempts and what it comes down to is -- If you have to ask, you just won¢t get it. And if you don¢t need to ask, then you already know.) But, these friends, they argue -- you¢re gonna see the same stuff you saw last year, same trail, same views. And all I can do is emphasize, emphatically, the reverse. Marlena said last night -- it¢s about knowing what you¢re seeing; once you know what to look for, you can see it everywhere. This year, I¢ll be looking at everything through different eyes. So, maybe physically the landscape will be unchanged, but what aspects of it that I see, and how I interpret it, how it affects me, will be enormously different. Your eyes play only a small role in how and what you actually see.