Date: 2010-04-23
From: No Business Shelter

To: Uncle Johnnys hostel
Miles today: 6.3

Woke to the sound of rain falling on "No business" shelter this morning. Uncle Doyle, Wizards dog, was feasting on Tequila Johns food bag. Part of it opened and fell onto the ground. Something giant, black, hairy and mean was eating the food, but it was just Doyle...not a bear. A bear would of been more interesting. It was still funny.I was the last one to pack up and the last out of the shelter. Not long after leaving the Shelter I caught up with Wizard and Doyle. The Wizard was turned around this morning and couldn't figure out which way was north. He's from Maine. Uncle Doyle barks at everyone. He won't come within 20ft of you. He's kind of cowardly. I don't think anyone has successfully petted him. Hummm...challenge?Atlas, Snickers and Thunder were just ahead. I talked to Thunder as she told me that she wanted to start hiking alone more often. I tried not to be offended. She meant, alone in general.When I got to Uncle Johnny¢s I was greeted by "Bob" the snaggle toothed, former felon, general threat to society at large. He said, "I'm taking this hiker to town and when I get back, I'll deal with you!" in a very rude and gruff tone. Welcome to back to society!I tried, I really tried hard to think highly of him. He threatened motorists on the highway. He flipped the bird to an older couple in a minivan. He honked the horn at a guy with a broken foot and shouted "Hurry up!". He cut people off while driving 90mph. No consideration for people when he drove through curves. He dropped off "Flying Scot", a 69 year old man, at a Pub. When the older gentleman asked politely, "How do I get back, Sir?" He replied, "You're a big boy, you figure it out!" Then sped away.Lately I've been trying to describe these thru-hikers I meet. It reminds me of being a kid again. Like a second chance to get things right. I wish I would have been more open and friendly as a child and had closer friendships. For some reason here I get that same feeling. That slightly awkward feeling. And this time, I'm doing something about it. It was my goal to be more social out here. To make the effort to be friendly and make connections with people. It's really important to have people here to depend on. You'd be surprised how much we need each other sometimes.The way these people tell stories and laugh and really listen to you just reminds me of the way it felt meeting people on the first day of school. Except, we're excited to be here. It's like playing dodge-ball, kickball or duck-duck-goose again. So many people in this world only get to know a select few people. When you meet new people it's like you form better thought patterns. You're more open minded to others needs and opinions. There's some type of magic in meeting people. Smiling together and talking about nothing. Learning about each other. These people talk about dreams and about a better life. They talk about it like it's possible. Like they can do something about it, and make it happen. We believe!We took the Death Cab shuttle, captained by "Bob" (not his real name) the toothless felon to Pizza plus buffet. We rocked that place! They had Blueberry desert pizza! Wow!Lish sent me the nicest mail drop! She included Cornbread and Honey! She wrote the lyrics to our favorite song from last summer, "Cornbread and Butterbeans and you across the table..." Made me homesick! It was so moist. It tasted fresh like she just made it. She included Peanut butter powerbars, a snickers bar and two crackers. I ate them all. Well, I shared some with Fun Dip and a few fellow hikers. The cornbread was mine though! Awwoooo!I ate a ton of food today. Pizza buffet. Salad. Shared and ate 32 cookies. 2 Fanta grape sodas. Confucius and Minnie Mouse bought my dinner at Azteca! They're such nice people! It's amazing how much we help each other out here. People in the real world don't treat each other like we do here. No one goes hungry. If you're sick. You get help. It's like having Mothers and Fathers along the way.We took another shuttle from the only sane person that works at this hostel. She was so nice and normal compared to the psychopathic death cab driver. We were on our way with her driving when "Bob" the felon flagged us down. He switched with her and she drove back leaving us in the arms of a madman again! I would have taken the bicycle instead of riding with him at the wheel.Snickers, Guda, Stitches, Grapevine, Thunder and I were randomly offered a ride from a local lady and her husband. Lee and Amanda. They had stickers on the tinted windows of their Ford pickup in their respective seating arrangement. Unlike the clown car seating style of the Death Cab shuttle, the bed of their truck was actually a good place for a great moment on the trail. It was such a pleasant day! The way the freshly mowed grass smelled. The old main street store fronts. Ahhh! The small country town air filling our lungs and brushing against our wooly beards and hairy legs (Thunder and Stitches excluded). We laughed and told funny stories. Waved at people in their yards and on their porches. Ummm! I wish I could bottle up this feeling. I wish these moments could last forever. The way life comes in flashes and then goes away. I think this memory will be defined by things as simple as the way someone held their straw hat from blowing off their head, the way a bandana flickered in the air, the way the white plastic grocery bags snapped in the wind. The way we all stopped talking and took a deep breath. How they looked down the road and felt thought about how time was slipping away like the yellow highway lines we were leaving behind. No one said a word, we just smiled. That's all we needed to share.