Date: 2006-10-10
From: zero at kincora

To: watauga shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

======2003====== saturday, march 29, day 36well.....we¢re goofing off.....it¢s only 3:30 and we¢re at the shelter at watauga lake, already in our sleep clothes and under the quilt!.....charlie found a mystery novel here and is reading it....he says it¢s just like t.v.!the rain is coming down on the tin roof and we¢re RESTING...(i think we actually needed it after our hostel stay at kincora)....we worked hard.....cooked hard....what did i cook?....fried chicken, green beans with new potatoes, broccoli casserole, corn on the cob, rice and gravy, pinto beans, old-fashioned-tossed-salad-with-mayo-dressing, homemade rolls, cornbread AND strawberry shortcake!*and we really didn¢t sleep all that well.....one of the guys ¢slept¢ with his radio playing most of the night.....and though bob¢s wonderful little ¢honeymoon suite¢ was a special treat for us, it got a little ¢stuffy¢ after a while.....i told killeen i¢m getting¢ to where i prefer the fresh air i think, rather than an enclosed room.....well...we¢ve sure got THAT tonite!....i think all this fresh air will be frozen air after while....it¢s supposed to dip into the 20¢s!....we¢re lookin¢ forward to spaghetti for supper....tomorrow¢s the Lord¢s Day, so maybe we can count this ¢lazy¢ afternoon as our ¢sabbath rest¢......even though it¢s raining now, our hike this mornin¢ started off as the most beautiful, clear, warm spring morning....walkin¢ through the narrow, rocky gorge of the laurel falls river was awesome!...steep, tall cliffs jutting straight up from the clear, rushing water....we had quite a bit of ¢fancy footwork¢ to do as we climbed up and down rocks and along narrow (but not high) ledges beside the river.....but it wasn¢t so much the river that caught my fancy, nor even the bleeding hearts fresh and green and emerging from the impossibly ¢fertile¢ crevices of the rock....no....it wasn¢t the crimson shoreline where maples ankle deep in the sparkling river had let fall their ¢rosy, spring petticoats¢.....indeed my eyes were definitely drawn to the serviceberry, fresh with the ¢bouquets of a hundred faerie brides¢, all brilliantly white in the morning sun....(serviceberry always makes my heart jump and sing!)....but neither this, nor the tiny, Christmas-red, newly budding cones on the Carolina hemlock did as much for me as one little, insignificant creature i almost crushed underfoot as i stepped down the narrow mountainside : i was totally caught off guard.... ¢captured¢........ by the glory of a SNAIL!i was so surprised by its beauty!.....so taken with its exquisite form, that tears welled up in my eyes as i considered it.....seal-black and so sleek was its taught leathery body....its ¢antennae¢, alert to the morning, elegant and straight, seemed focused on the work of spying out the best path over the next stone....and, of course, balanced delicately upon its narrow back was the golden spiral of its porcelain-like shell!...how that snail took my breath away! how that snail made me think.....i began to consider how that this little ¢insignificant¢ snail, along with all the other things i had seen that morning, was simply about the business of ¢BEING¢.....he caused me to consider the rest of my surroundings...how they, too, were simply and profoundly just ¢being¢.........the river was being the river....the stones, stones.....the bleeding hearts seemed contentedly ¢at rest¢...not the least bit ¢self conscious ¢in their rosiest best as they quietly just ¢remained¢ in the rock....serviceberry, maple, and hemlock were playing their part in this silent ¢dance of existence¢: they were ¢ladies¢, gracing the gorge with springtime faces and bright new ¢gowns¢.......birds were singing and soaring as birds are wont to do ....and a snail....one tiny, little snail was busy being all the snail he could be!...how awesome!...how beautiful all these varied elements of our Creator¢s handiwork, in chorus together to sing the song of ¢being¢!.....and then i thought of humans.....we are supposed to be the ¢crowning glory¢ of His creation....but what has happened?....have we forgotten ¢the song¢?.....so many of us are busy trying to be something that was never intended....trying to become something we simply are not.....we have forgotten what we were created for....we don¢t understand our purpose here....in our confusion we be-foul our lives...our speech....our doings......we have forgotten how to just ¢be¢....to praise and glorify our Creator within that ¢being¢....it is sad to me that, unlike the snail, our ¢beauty¢ falls short of what it was intended to be....it is sad that we have lost our glory....the book of romans, as i remember, talks about this glory....it speaks of creation anticipating this particular glory... ¢waiting for the glory of the sons of God to be revealed¢.....i think that if creation were not held back...if it were not ¢waiting¢ (as it must, but only for now), then all the beauty i beheld this morning, i¢m certain, would have erupted into one huge crescendo of praise to the Creator who caused them to BE!...a snail, indeed is a snail, but in being what his Creator has designed and ordained him to be, he is VERY GOOD !....you might even say he has purpose....significance....value.....he is part of a much bigger picture than we may have ever imagined!....like the hippopotomus!....(no....there aren¢t any hippopotami out here on the AT).....but the snail reminded me of the hippopotamus.............(in no way whatsoever!.....ha ha.....a little ¢arthur* humor¢ there!).....seriously.....i was remembering this huge, strange creature sometimes called a ¢river horse¢ and how in the book of ¢job¢ the Lord brought this animal to job¢s attention.....there was WORTH there!....worth given by the Creator Himself.....and for that, there should be praise!....sheer, unadulterated, earth-shattering praise!....well....at this point, i was in all-out ¢crying mode¢....the beauty of this little snail had somehow attached itself to my soul (and tear ducts) and i struggled to see the trail in front of me.....i was crying, not only for the sweetness of this incredible morning and the incredible gifts it brought in this lovely place, but i was crying to God, ¢PLEASE.... make ME to be what You have intended ME to be, too!....let me glorify You, Mighty One!.....at least as much as this tiny snail has!¢i¢d say it¢s time to take a little nap now, here on this lazy, rainy saturday afternoon.........prayers for all our new trail friends will go with me as i make my way to ¢dreamworld¢....prayers that all of us would experience the joy of knowing Christ and the fullness of His sweet companionship out here in these woods.......======2006====== Lord¢s Day, march 19, day 36 (10.7 miles from kincora to watauga shelter)woo hoo!... we¢ve made it to virginia!....the ¢three¢ of us!ahhhhhh!.....how very good it feels to be stretched out on this real bed here at the ¢hiker¢s inn¢!*.....suzanne, our host, has been so very helpful...... giving us a key so that the bunkhouse has become ¢ours¢.......taking us to the store.... doing laundry for us.... and presenting us with a steaming plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies!.....the tab was a little more than at sweet, wonderful dave¢s place (where we stayed in ¢03), but worth it this time to have a place with heat*.....i¢m so excited about sleeping in tomorrow morning where it¢s WARM, and spending some ¢close¢ time with my killeen...it was 15 degrees this a.m. at abington shelter up above damascus!...we were very toasty warm, however, under our tarp and quilt all night long....(on the ground in soft grass and leaves really helped, i think).....but as we started getting dressed and packing up we realized it was a LOT colder than we had thought it to be.....our water bottle, we discovered, was frozen and our hands and feet began to ache with cold....one of the scout masters informed us that the ol¢ mercury had dipped to that very chilly 15 degrees....NOW we were really cold on hearing that bit of good news!...so we picked up our ¢packing up pace¢(say that 3 times real fast!), hoping we could get hiking to damascus in a hurry!i have to admit to having been a little grouchy at this point....and i had to repent later on this perfect, clear, beautiful Lord¢s Day dawn.....i mean.... HOW could i have even been the LEAST bit perturbed on such a blessed day as this?!!.....so it was a little cold.......so our ¢privacy¢ was a little less with the scouts sharing the space....so what that i had a teensy headache or our water was frozen.....i was INTENSELY ALIVE!.....breathing in a GLORIOUS morning!....and remembering God¢s own presence WITH us there on the mountain!.....i was really pretty embarrassed, to tell you the truth, before killeen and before the Lord that i could¢ve been anything less than thrilled to be in that place with the husband i love, new friends we had met, clear-clean air to breathe, hemlocks under a blue sky to enjoy, and my Creator¢s patient smile as a special ¢stamp¢ of blessing on all of it!.....i really felt (as the preacher i heard in the little non-denominational church i attended this a.m. spoke of), like GROANING...big time!....it seemed like that old ancient curse had taken me over....i forgot for one freezing, headachy moment who i was.....where i fit into the Bigger Picture, the picture of the Kingdom of which my Noble and Attentive King had so graciously made me a part.....and so i was GROANING.....had i been a ¢perfect¢ human (as our species was originally intended to be), i might have contributed more perfectly to an almost perfect morning!.....but we are not ¢home¢ yet.....and unfortunately....tragically....i still find myself in the grips of sin.....groaning to be set COMPLETELY free from this adamic curse....groaning to know a new earth where 15 degree temps won¢t matter....groaning to transcend hardships and learn to be thankful for ALL the ¢things that work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose¢......forgive me, Lord.....what a jerk i can be sometimes....well.....it¢s a ¢zero¢ day tomorrow!....i would ask Your blessing, Kind Creator, for our REST ....prepare us for WHATEVER is ahead....and to know that ¢one thing that is needful¢.....help us to prioritize according to Your will....................i¢m tired.....more tomorrow......*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS.....*what did i cook?...strawberry shortcake and all that other stuff, too?....no wonder i was ready to rest at watauga! (it sure tasted good though!.....and we sure did have fun chowin¢ down with all our friends!)* ¢arthur¢.....this old Dudley moore movie about a millionaire alcoholic searching for love is, incomprehensibly, one of my alltime favorites!....(guess you have to be there)*hiker¢s inn....you can visit our photo album for pictures....just click on the photo above (¢santa at watauga¢) and click ¢next¢ through the following 21 photos.....you¢ll arrive at suzanne¢s front porch!*a place with heat.....we checked with dave, but his place wasn¢t ¢de-winterized¢ yet....what a great guy!....he actually suggested suzanne¢s place!...thanks dave!