Date: 2003-05-17
From: Trail Days, Damascus, VA

To: Trail Days, Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

It rains hard the first part of the morning, and many sleep in. We drive down from Abingdon to Trail Days mid-morning. I've brought my pack to stay in town tonight. But, I've just learned that "the cage" where the town sticks the hikers - the tenting area! - is a Superfund site from an old dye plant's settling pond. Heavy metals abound. Hmmm... maybe I'll look for alternatives.I collect my Leki poles. The company will clean and service your poles for free during Trail Days, and mine have become hard to open. When I get them, I see they have replaced the tips, baskets, one bottom section, one middle section, and both top sections. Oh, and the handles have been replaced by the more desirable cork. I have practically all-new poles!Later, back at the bandstand, I am hailed by Anna - MuddButt! My buddy! She's in a wheelchair, to spare her broken foot. We give each other a huge hug, and start yakking like sisters. I meet her mom, dad and brother. We get to talking about the head stuff of hiking, and how no one likes to admit to bad days. Anna makes a good point: "We're out there for six months. Over the course of six months ANYWHERE, who is NOT going to have some bad days?"Anna is going to be in the hiker parade, and Bumpkin and husband are going to push her. Excellent!A word about the hiker parade: there is a polite assemblage of local floats, the high school band, horse rides, trail maintainers, fire department, etc. And then come the thru-hikers.It's a mob scene of costumes, signs, friendly insults, wild shirts and, above all, water cannons, buckets and water balloons. No one stays dry in the thru-hiker parade as hikers spray the audience on the curbs, and the audience gives it right back, but harder. Water is a given. There are many shrieks, cheers and much hilarity.As I leave the bandstand area, I run into Miss Janet. She is in a grass skirt and has a bag of plastic leis. "Honey," she says, "you haven't been lei-ed yet." She puts one on my shoulders. "There now," she says. "You've just been lei-ed."Is that legal? "Was it good for me?" I ask.I walk toward the parade assembly spot, when I hear someone call my name. I turn, and immediately feel my ankle give way. I fall down flat in front of the spectators lining the streets. Ha! Someone claps.Footslogger runs over and helps me up. "I didn't mean to kill you," he exclaims. I am unharmed; there was just a hole in the grass that I stepped in as I turned my head. "Damn, man," I tell him, "were you trying to kill me?"We walk up to the assembly grounds together, and I hear Wench and Hotdog call my name. I have to say, they both look great, fit and slim, glowing with good health. Hotdog has no belly left at all, and he wasn't sucking it in either. They are going to carry Ted's flag in the parade, and a sign. Did I want to join in?But of course.I run find Anna and Bumpkin, and they join us. Gary Roberts, Detour and Amy from Indiana carry the sign "In memory of Ted "Soleman" Anderson." I have to say, when I thought about it, I would get choked up as I considered the situation. Ted, of all people, would have LOVED Trail Days and this water-fight parade.At one point, some wag on the curb - obviously a friend - yells out to two older hikers wearing leis behind us: "Hey! How did those OLD GUYS get lei-ed?" The crowd loved it.Yeah, Ted would have loved this.Another highlight was "the incident" with Leapfrog. She stationed herself high in the bed of a pickup parked by the curb. She was armed to the teeth with a huge water cannon and was giving it to the hikers. I mean, nailing us. She wore rain gear as battle armor.The skirmish was largely in her favor, with many thru-hiker hits and shrieks ... until someone snuck up behind her with a full bucket of water and nailed her good. A huge hit! She was drenched. The thru-hikers went wild, cheering en masse. Great, silly fun.Many, many inner children were running wild on the Main Street of Damascus this goofy afternoon. Yes, Ted would have loved it.After a bit of milling about, I went down the vendors. I stopped by Ed Speer's hammock booth to see what was happening there. There's Spur and Ready, experienced long distance hikers! We chatted about my trek. Spur was so encouraging, and agreed it wasn't much fun to walk with sore feet. He's an anomaly though, with great feet. He knocks out 20-25 mile days as if they were popcorn.After, I have supper at Sicilly's with G-Force, Felix, Gary, Honey and Moon. I watch Funny Cide win the Preakness on the TV. Adorable G-Force guesses my age as mid-30s, bless his blithe, young heart. Amy from Maryland comes over to say hi, as does Sloetoe and his twins: Toe gives me a knife to carry forward to Fly and Smoothie. There are many friends in the restaurant. It feels good.After, I connect with Hammer, and he arranges for me to stay with his friends Sandy and Tom in town. This suits me just fine. Weathercarrot is here too. We all sit around in Sandy's fabulous garden under a tarp and yak in the gloom and rain. I give myself a pedicure, as per Phil Oren's instructions ("You'll get blisters under those callouses!") Everybody gets up to go to bed, but the night is young and I wander down to the bandstand where, finally, people are dancing. It's about time!Another day where I smiled so hard and long I got a headache.