Date: 2003-08-14
From: ATC Headquarters Harpers Ferry

To: Fishkill<,NY
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I am sitting here in the pitch dark wondering whether the world is coming to an end, or whether somebody just forgot to pay the electric bill! I am sure that by the time you get this, we will know what caused the great eastern seaboard blackout, but for now, we are...literally and figuratively...in the dark.   Bumpkin and I are in Fishkill, NY visiting her friend and taking a little break. Bumpkins husband brought her car up so that we could jump forward on the trail to continue hiking North. Our deadline to summit Katahdin is looming, so we will come back and do this skipped section when we are finished with Maine.   As usual, we may not be on the trail, but we are finding magic, adventure, and beauty at every turn. :) On the way up here,we stopped at a hotel to spend the night. Staggering under the weight of our packs, we were headed towards our room when we came upon a large Asian family unloading a van full of fruit into small paper bags. We said hello to them, and without hesitation, one of the women started to fill two bags with plums and peaches. Handing them to us, she smiled at our stammered 'thank yous', and explained that they were here for a church picnic and that they were happy to share. How did she know that fresh fruit is like nectar of the gods to us?! Magic. We were able to find her again the next morning and give her a card to explain what we are doing. I hope that she reads this so that she can know how touched we were by her kindness. Then again, maybe our faces told that story. We arrived in Fishkill the next day to meet Bumpkins friend Jane. These two go way back, but had drifted apart during the years until, through a series of newspaper articles, the trail brought them together again.How can I describe Jane? Imagine the biggest heart you ever saw illuminated by a 200 watt bulb. All light, sunshine, and effervesense....she is delightful with a capital "D"!    The next two days were a whirlwind of activities and energy, culminating on a boat ride down the Hudson River. This afternoon found us climbing aboard a huge white cruising boat and firmly attaching ourselves to the bow of the boat. After claiming our seats, I headed to the bar, and ten minutes later was cruisng down the Hudson with a gin and tonic in my hand and the wind in my hair! Adventure! Yep....we are aqua-blazing again! :) ('Cept the river doesn't follow the trail, so we still have to do the miles!) The boat ride was wonderful, and the scenery was beautiful, but the people on board the ship were the true delight. A couple filming a PBS special, a group of older women that had been friends for years, and three generations of women out for the day...these and many more are the folks we met on the boat. My favorite were the women....mother, daughter, and granddaughter. Watching them, I was struck at the similarities between them. Not things like hair and nose, but things like how they sat, and how they held their arms. You could see the imprint that genetics and history had placed upon them, and they could not have denied each other if they had wanted to. It was wonderful! Bumpkin suggested that I take their picture, but the youngest of these did not want her photo taken! And at the age of nine, she was very adamant about this! However, a while later, she came up to me and said that she had changed her mind about the picture. Of course, I was happy to oblige, but !I was even happier to see that she had changed her mind. When she is 30, she will have this great picture to look back on, and thanks to her maturity at the age of nine, there will be a picture. Isn't that neat?Beauty. As we neared the dock, we all agreed that the perfect end to a perfect boat ride would be a perfect dinner! So we walked through downtown Newburgh, NY looking for a place that struck our fancy. In minutes, however, we learnwd that while we had been dreaming the afternoon away on the river, the whole eastern seaboard had been losing power. Our blood ran cold as we began to hear reports about how wide spread the problem was. Detroit, Ohio, Canada.....how can that be? As we drove home, the sounds of sirens enveloped us. You could feel the thickness of fear around us as we drove through neighborhoods. We aren't in California or Georgia...we are in New York, and these residents are on edge.   Five hours have gone by, and even though the news says that all is well, I can still taste the coppery remains of panic. I will feel better when we get back out on the trail. This is too much real world for me.   On a lighter note, before I sign off, let me bring you up to date on a few things. I got some late test results in, and they did find something bacterial wrong with me. So I am on antibiotics and doing better. Thank you all for your concern! Also, many of you have asked about my maildrop list. My next maildrop is Dalton, Mass., and then we should follow the rest of the list in order. I will keep you posted as to any other changes!   Love, Anna aka Mud Buttwww.trailjournals.com