Date: 2005-05-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 32.5

5/31Wow! All right. Today is a day I hope tht I never forget! That should be easy enough- provided that its also the day a very special friend of mine turns 23! That's right! Happy Birthday Corrie! I sure hope you enjoyed your day-can't wait to hear all about it! My day was....it's really hard to put it in words! Boy, I've been tongue-tied a lot in these journals; mostly because this whole experience has been so unbelievable! Well, I'll try. This morning I woke up to a full stomach (courtesy of our delightful smorgasboard the night before) and I was cold! My body-heat sharing buddy was nowhere to be found! Turns out the old man in the loft was too much for him. He was sawing logs like NO ONE I've ever heard before (and yes, I have shared a room with Mr. Kooiman!) I think Paul ended up sleeping outside again. I slept on an outside stable porch, so I too enjoyed a great view of the night sky. The most amazing thing that I noticed was the size, brightness, & brilliance of the moon! It was incredible! I've never seen the moon shine so bright. It was like a mag-lite in my face! Thankfully, it didn't bother my sleep much, but it did take me back to Genesis 2 & the fact that God made the sun to light the day, & the moon to light the night. I always thought that was silly-cause the moon needs the suns light to relect....anyhow, I was just really impressed at how beautiful everything was. The rest of the morning was good. Paul and I made it into Roan Mountain to pick up our package from our extraordinarly loving and generous moms! Oh the treasures! It was like opening a Christmas gift! They resupplied us well, then we hitched a ride back with a young girl named Danielle. Given our appearance, we could tell she was a bit uneasy. I don't think she ever picked up a hitchhiker before. Everything probably would have been fine if Wagner hadn't suddenly busted out in song! If she thought we were strange before....! Anyways, the highlight of the afternoon for me was found in time spent talking with 'ol Wag Daddy! He and I shared some great conversations over the years, but today is one of my new favorites. We pretty much talked about what we've been noticing & learning from our time spent out here. For over two weeks now, neither he or I have read a magazine, watched a commercial, or had anything advertised to us at all! And the effect has been remarkable! I may have mentioned this before, but due to the simplicity of life out here, we've been able to look at our culture in a different light. We noticed good things and bad things, but mostly the overwhelming amount of messages that we're bombarded with pretty much all the time-through mass media. This leads to people grabbling, consuming, and hoarding all that they can get their hands on! Hey, I've done it too! But out here, it all seems so stupid. Her'es an example. Before I left, I had things I wanted to buy, places I wanted to go, & movies I wanted to see. At this point in our adventure, I could honestly care less about ANY of those things! Any of them! Maybe I feel that way because there's no commercial telling me I need to have it or no radio show talking about it. Honestly, I know this may sound silly, but I don't think Satan has very much ammo to throw at Paul & I since we've been out here. Back home, he's got an arsenal! But out here, there are no huge billboards with beautiful/airbrushed women to lust after. Just trees, mountains, and beautiful sunsets! My big dillema will come when I return to my consumer-driven world & try to apply there the lessons that I learned here! I enjoyed Paul's insights as well. Another highlight came through the chance meeting of an English gentlemen named 'Mike the Hike.' Mike is...amazing! He's 70+ years young & sharp as a tac! Since his retirement from mechanical engineering, he's hiked ALL OVER! Every continent. He even does talks around the world, hiking & raising money to fight against leprosy in Ireland, and raising awareness of cancer (that's how he lost his bride). He's one of the most delightful people I've ever met. I hope I'm half that cool when I'm 70! I actually first asked him if he was Scottish. His response was, 'Ach! No man! I HAVE AMBITION!" He reminded me a lot of my step-dad's father, Izzy Rosen. Just a gentle spirit. He inspired me to gear up my bones for one final push at the end of the day, to make it to a hostel 50 miles south of Damascus, VA! That put our daily mileage at 32, and meant we'd have to hike again in the dark. We perservered, and by God's good graces, both Wag Daddy and I are at the hostel, showered, well fed, & ready for bed! Wow, hiking in the dark though...nothing like it. We had our head lamps going (gave great new meaning to the psalm, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet..."), but we couldn't see ANYTHING beyond the step in front of us! We could have been in a valley or on a cliff & we wouldn't have known the difference. Anyways- what a great day. I've written WAY too much, but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything out! Looking forward to a good rest tonight. Thanks for reading, everyone! Good night!