Date: 2007-08-19
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Part One - Sunday Morning Over Breakfast at the Moonbeam Caf©Today is another day of rest for me. It is also a day of reflection. Over the course of the preceding 14 days, I have hiked over 120 miles, and in so doing have re-immersed myself into the persona of Bumpo; AT hiker. In that persona I have left behind many but not all of my other attachments, concerns, and ways of being. Doing the trail is truly an experience I would never otherwise have; but it is also a different way of experiencing things, too. It is different being here in many ways, and I am different just being here. This is good for me. While climbing over Moosilauke in the rain, wind, and fog, I was treated to a small but very special moment that has stayed with me since then. I think it may be worth sharing here. It came as I approached the summit in one of those glade-like dips before reaching the top. The clouds were drifting through the trees, and the visibility was low. The firs were smaller and thinner to my left, and I was acutely aware than under other certain conditions I would be viewing an incredible panorama of mountains and scenery, if only the weather were different. While I felt exhilarated that I was meeting the challenge of the elements the Trail doled out, I was also feeling a bit ¢gypped.¢ It seemed that all my mobile efforts were not being rewarded with the prize view that has prompted people (myself included) to take this hike for many years and one thinks they deserve for such efforts.I finally tired of straining my eyes, trying to use my nonexistent x-ray vision to see through the gray-white wall of clouds to my left to pay more attention to the things I could see closer to me and in places I would not normally be looking. I aligned my head and heart to where my feet were and let go of thoughts about what I was not seeing in favor of what was truly in front of me. When I did this, it seemed the mist in the trees parted, and I was treated to a treasure I had never seen before - ¢Bumpo¢s Bubbler.¢ On the side of the mountain to my right, below some low balsam bows and framed with rocks and ferns, was a one-foot square of lush green moss carpet in the center of which was a small water pump bubbling out of the earth in a three-inch arc - just as if it were coming out of an oasis drinking fountain hung on the walls of every pre-1960s school, library, and public building across America. The stream of water was not being ¢shot¢ out of the ground under extreme pressure; nor was it lazily dribbling out, either. It was steadily and smoothly flowing out of a hole in the verdant carpet in a drinking fountain-size stream about one inch in diameter. After brief aerial flight, the water landed soundlessly on the moss and immediately disappeared into the ground again. My first thought when I spotted this fountain and had overcome my initial surprise at what I was seeing was to drink from it. My second thought was, ¢No, don¢t - you¢ll get polio from public drinking fountains,¢ (my, how old messages continue to abide, even in the rainy woods on Mt. Moosilauke!). I stood and looked at it - no, I marveled at it. It was a perfect stream of pure, fresh spring water framed by a deep, deep green, verdant cushion. As I knelt down to drink from my personal ¢Bumpo¢s Bubbler,¢ I could faintly hear the rustle of the water as it left the earth for its tiny moment of flight and its near silent dash down on the moss only inches away. The water is cold but oh so good - fresh and sweet tasting. After a few minutes I began to feel chilled as I started to cool off on the glade. Refreshed, I moved on, taking one last look over my shoulder to assure myself that the drinking fountain was still there¢¦a positive to assure myself that it ever was. Never had I seen anything like that, but then never had I had the occasion to see something like it either. If I were hiking this trail on a good day, would I have seen my fountain, or would I have been too preoccupied with the views to my left? If I had hiked this hike on any day other than a rainy one, would the fountain have existed, even if I had been looking in its direction? The experience of the ¢Bumpo¢s Bubbler¢ did make clear to me, however, what my role in serendipitous events was supposed to be - those events that some people like to call ¢God finds.¢ It seems to me that in order to see and enjoy the ¢Bumpo¢s Bubblers¢ of my life, I must be present with my head, heart, and feet all in the same place, all at the same time. If I am in my head trying to figure out what I am not seeing, that I expect that I should be seeing, I am sure I will have missed my spring. Or, if I had allowed myself to dwell on my feeling of disappointment for not getting the mountaintop ¢prize¢ views to which I thought I was entitled, I might have missed the true prize that I found instead. As in so many things, showing up unencumbered with preconceptions and expectations is the biggest step I can take towards being in a place to find whatever those treasures may be that are in store for me at any particular moment or place. Part Two - Jack¢s ArrivalMy son, Jack, arrived in Gorham around 1:00 pm, having been driven there by a couple of friends of ours, who also happen to be our personal financial advisors. Brian Prichard and Chad Webber live in Portland, Maine, and work for Smith Barney. Talk about your ¢full service¢ advisors! Brian and Chad provide not only great asset management resources, but they also do AT chauffeuring, to boot! Before returning to their families in Portland, Brian and Chad drove us to the grocery store and then to the Town and Country Motel, where we checked in, then finally back to town, where they dropped us off to get some lunch. Jack and I ate lunch in the Gorham Common, a feeble-looking community flea market event where not many vendors and even fewer potential customers could be seen. We started the walk back to our motel, but we got side tracked by the allure of the local public golf course that we passed along the way. Within minutes, he and I were saddled up with rental golf clubs and a box of balls, and we were heading to the first tee in a supercharged gasoline golf cart. Neither of us had played golf in a long while, but we had a blast. We also cut quite a couple of handsome figures in our attire - Jack was wearing sandals and hiking shorts, while I was outfitted in my hiking boots and running shorts. Before finishing a round of golf, however, we were stunned to see a red fox emerge from the bushes within 20 feet of our cart, pay no heed to us whatsoever, and leap up into the air to grab a mouthful of fresh berries before trotting back off to its lair. We finished the 18th hole at 7:00 pm and then continued our walk back to our motel for a delicious dinner in the dining room. And now, it is time for some shuteye. Fun day. Reflective day.