Date: 2011-04-19
To: Prep #5 - Mail Mail Mail
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday and today were big days for my hike plans. I registered for the class of 2012 on Whiteblaze.com and posted my search for a partner. I was giddy! Seriously, I just kept bursting into laughter and my cat was giving me these looks like, ¢oh dear god, I¢m trapped in this house with a lunatic.¢ One of the disadvantages of living alone is that there¢s really no one to spontaneously share these joyful moments with. So of course I called my mother and she put up with me rambling on for a good hour about all my hike related excitement. Then of course we talked chickens and goats. Man oh man, time really is flying! In another 5 months I¢ll be finishing up my Americorps fellowship and be heading back home to VA where I can dedicate myself to some selfish pursuits and preparing full time for my hike. I¢ve been very fortunate to have put away quite a bit of money from my time here. Funny thing is when you live on an island with no stores and 2.3 miles of road, you tend to have very few daily expenses. Well that and part of my job involves working on food security so my garden is quite prolific. I¢m also benefitting from having very supportive parents who have graciously welcomed me back home for the winter so that I don¢t have to worry about finding a place to rent for the 5 months before I hit the trail. I know, I am spoiled and I absolutely know it and am so incredibly grateful.Work has been crazy busy and I¢ve been putting in long hours trying to bring a lot of my projects into their completion stage. The unfortunate consequence of this is that my mind is utterly exhausted at the end of the day but I have all this physical pent up energy to work out. I try to at least head out and do some quick trail loops as the sun is setting but it¢s been awhile since I¢ve had the opportunity to get a really long hike in.But on those brief moments where I get to be out in the woods, feeling the soft pine needle floor under my feet and hear the crashing of the surf on the rocks, it brings out so many emotions. A sense of calm, of weight lifting from my shoulders, of anticipation and excitement, of doubt about the twinge in my ankle or the way my knee really disliked that landing, of longing to stay out there until the last bit of light fades from the sky. And like a kid gearing up for Christmas, I find myself counting down in my head. This is it, less than a year before I¢ll be out there. For me that means things like: Bananas are in season so I should buy a bunch now and start my dehydrating/vacuum sealing process. I still have so much gear I need to try out. I need to plan some shake down hikes. Darn, too much work, can¢t take much more time off. Ooo I¢ll be in VA for awhile in May and have access to some great outfitters. Darn, I have graduations I want to attend. Family and friends must come first. Oh but I¢ll be oh so close to Trail Days. No no no. Brother¢s graduation that weekend. Hmm I wonder if I can DIY such and such¢¦.Yeah¢¦ so that¢d be my mind when I really let it go off wherever it wants. Today was a particularly hard exercise in self control and discipline. My new stove system and kitchen scale came in the mail today! I work from home and it was all I could do not to tear into these and run around the house weighing this and that or set up my stove and try it out. I was a good girl though, and made sure all my work was finished before I played. Of course by that time it was too late to cook dinner outside with my new stove and I thought it wise not to play around with fire inside my rental home. So I settled for weighing my toothbrush, comb, hair ties, stove system with half the fuel, with full fuel, this pair of underwear, that pare of base layer pants. Oh oh oh it was so exciting! And tomorrow I might be able to squeeze in a little time for myself and really try out my new stove system. Lipton¢s here I come.