Date: 2005-10-08
From: Hanover,NH Post Trail 150 Yards from it.

To: NAMING OUR FRIEND THE PILOT
Miles today: 0.0

Ok, if you havent read the story the leads up to this message, go back a few to get updated. I will resume Confessions of a Thru-Hiker soon but for now, we'll call this NAME THE PILOT.I am posting email correspondance that took place the last few days between our incredibly generous new pal Mike, the Pilot, who will forever be known by his trail name as FLY BY or...FLY BY MIKE. And here is how it came to be:MIKEHi Domino, Not sure if you are picking up or sending email there in Hanover but thought I¢d whip one off to you anyway. Was a pleasure to meet you and Stilts and to fly you to Lebanon yesterday. My family heard all about it and can¢t wait to see the pictures you took. I¢ll try to email you the the one on Katahdin. Hope you are enjoying Hanover.Cheers, Mike.PS. My 13 year old son suggested this and I like the idea.   He said ¢Why don¢t you get a REAL trail name, Dad? And get those two guys to give it to you. A real trail name has to come from another real hiker and those guys are real hikers.¢   So there you have it. If you and Stilts are up for it you can come up with a name for me that all I use on all my future section hikes. I think Jack (my son) was impressed by the company I was keeping with you guys. DOMINOTo Mike "Fly By" Lee:The description of your naming is as follows:2 hours in the Dirty Cowboy Coffee Shop, Hanover, NH. Stilts and Domino presiding, Tuesday, October 4, 2005...Late afternoon, I think.(Photo to come). Problem: Finding a trail name that is befitting of a Trail Magic Aussie Transplant, AT hiking, Writer, Yogi with 5 Kids (5 to 30's) that lives in Egromont, Mass. AND Millinocket, Maine.Though we know that if someone were with you out on the town with many ladies around, Wingman would be a fantastic name because of that accent of yours; women just seem to love that in a man. However, we wanted your name to characterize you and not be one that someone else may use and you might come across a duplicate name someday hiking the trail when you introduce yourself.Why "Fly By?" We'll get to that later. For now, lets go over the list of names we brainstormed, pondered, scatched of, pooled more possibilities from and simply got a good laugh at times:SkyMiles; Landing Gear; Flighty; View Master; Special Offer(sounds more like a car dealer);Fly Over; Take Off; Overview; AeroBlaze; Crazy Offer(car sales again); OVERHEAD; Go West; Sky High;Sky Magic; Up-n-Down; Up and Away; Casual Approach (Also: Quick and Luck with Approach); Jetsetter; Carry On; and Look Up. The finalist were: Fly By, Altitude, Mile High, Props(Big) and Happy Endings.Now, back to Fly By, as we will always think of you now. First, there is plenty of examples of how we did this with you in route to Hanover. Next, we sort of "flew by you" on Katahdin as we did our accent. Third, there are plenty of "other" explainations you can make up when you introduce yourself to hikers on the trail and explain the name. The last, and this will be the one that will brand it in our heads until we meet again, comes from a RUSH song called FLY BY NIGHT in which we subed out MIKE for NIGHTin the lyrics and started singing...: Fly By Mike away from here, change my life again....." Also, FLY BY stands out great alone, as in "Ello, my name is Fly By, oww are you?" Or, as the ole standard "Ello there, I'm Mike "Fly By" Lee, and you, young lady are...?"So, there you have it. I hope that we have done you some justice. You are certainly able to accept the name, choose another, or tell us to "take off." I do want to transplant this email to trail journals, alone with you letter with the comments from your son, so that others can enjoy the taril name process and smile. Also, I'd like to post the lyrics to the RUSH song with the MIKE substitution.FLY BYYES¢¦ I love the name.   Mike ¢Fly By¢ Lee The lyrics too. Especially the last line¢¦¢My life begins today..¢...   Something I try to remind myself of every day. Thanks for taking the time in the Dirty Cowboy (I love that too) to you and Stilts for finding a fitting trail name for me. You can be sure I¢ll use it. My son Jack also thinks it¢s a very cool and right¢on name. You may or may not know but in the aviation world a ¢fly by¢ clearance is something that is sometimes given to a returning hero or VIP (which is actually what you guys are.. having hiked some 2200 miles) The chance to buzz the airport with a ¢fly by¢.   And what is also cool for me, and perhaps I didn¢t tell you, but we flew closer to Mt Washington than I¢ve EVER flown before and at a lower altitude than I¢ve ever been in that area before. It was really a ¢fly by¢ of Mt. Washington for you guys we did on Monday, thanks to a perfect set of circumstances that came together for us. It will go down in my flight log as my ¢fly by¢ day.   So thanks guys.   I¢m fine if you want to write this up on Trail Journals or wherever. Anything that¢s real and full of life, love, and fun deserves to be shared. I would also love to talk to you sometime about your hike. One thing I do well is ask great questions and while we were flying and later I thought of many I would have liked to ask. Keep me posted on where you go when you leave NH and hope to stay in touch. Cheers matesIT'S ME AGAIN(not one of the emails, just more of the entry)Well, that is the long and the short of it. If you missed yesterdays entry, please go back and read. It is amazing how many people about Hanover and Dartmouth have been reading my backpack and asking about the aneurysm information. I am in the business of raising awareness(not $) and these sites are your best resource directly link to brain aneurysms. Do as you will. www.bafound.org www.brainaneurysm.comNow, back to THE Gathering, we'll be leaving Hanover soon. (I hear Deb saying "Thank God.") It is wierd to know that I have no "HOME" right now, just stuff in storage. I wonder how many other Thru-Hikers feel this way?ON ON