Date: 2012-07-18
From: Water Street, Falls Village, CT

To: Us 44 - Salisbury
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

SOS planned a short day today for two reasons..one was the high heat and the other was the huge storm that was supposed to be coming in this afternoon. So we packed up and stopped at the Cornwall General Store on our way out of town. We wanted to get a 2012 copy of the AWOL AT guidebook for Boots and Melody, our new hiker friends from Switzerland. When we got to the start stop, there was our new friend Starcraft (Joy) packing up her camper. She and her husband Spot (Ron) are doing the same thing as SOS and I ... only in a camper that she drives from place to place. She is a knitter also but is much more accomplished than I am! SOS headed out to the trail and I headed north into new territory...Salisbury, CT. We got a call from Melody saying they would be hiking into Salisbury so I told them I would find them there and give them the book. When I got into town, it seemed like they would be easy to find because most of the town is on one street. I walked to the grocery, the library, the coffee shop, the bread store, the general store, the history exhibit, the post office and did not find them! On my second trip to the library, I ran into Comanche who hadn't seen them either but wanted me to walk to the grocery with him...so I did...and who was sitting under a tree outside the grocery but Boots and Melody! They had been looking all over for me and had left me a note on my windshield (everyone recognizes our car now even though I never did paint Trail Mama in pink on the side like GQ and Maxis wanted me to!) Also under the tree were two new hikers that I hadn't met. I passed out tangelos (Cuties) that I had bought earlier at the store (every hiker loves fresh fruit). Finally the one man said, I need to go meet Starcraft at the library...and I said...oh, so you are Spot!...and we finally meet! The hiker with him is Tex..from Texas, of course. They have been hiking together for a few weeks. They did a 25 mile day yesterday in all that heat! SOS showed up a little bit later as he had hiked the .4 mile into town instead of having me pick him up. We bought some lunch at the deli in the grocery and ate under the tree while talking to the hikers who were gathering..Trekking Pole came along and was so excited that he got to help some fireman put out a fire on the trail that Boots and Melody had seen and reported. I went back to the library which has AC and the tree does not...:-)and SOS waited on Boots and Melody to sort their resupply and pack everything back into their packs. They love to cook and fix 3 hot meals a day! Back in Switzerland, Boots grew up with a chef for a father so he spent lots of hours in restaurants and now loves to cook. They had purchased lots of fresh fruits and vegetables so will be enjoyed some good meals down the trail. SOS picked me up at the library and we drove Boots and Melody back to the trail so they could hike on to a shelter...we told them to stay away from trees with the lightning that was expected..:-) They told us again that they expect us to visit them in Switzerland and we would love to! Back we went to the bread store. I had talked to the baker earlier and he recommended one kind of bread that he was baking but the bread wasn't ready quite yet. I told him I would return. When I returned about 2 hours later, there was only one kind of bread left...they others had all been sold ALREADY!! Bummer!! I bought the rustic multi grain bread and it is delicious so I guess this turned out okay. On to Great Barrington, MA. where we checked into the Travel Lodge (with one of my trusty coupons:-). Now we are in McDonald's doing the journal and planning tomorrow. SOS will hike from CT. into Massachusetts...another state will be done with only 4 left!! Road Name of the Day: POINT OF ROCKS ROAD I picked this road name because it seems like everyone in New York and Connecticut have wonderful rock fences...you see them everywhere. Some are nice and even and some are just piles of rocks in a row but all are so pretty.SOS here:Trail Mama's road of the day reminds me of how many times I have thought as I hiked the trail I need to tell about the rock fences and the cairn I have seen as I hike the trail.As I hiked through NY, NJ and CT - daily, I have seen numerous stone fences in the middle of nowhere that appear to have been there for decades. I wonder who built them, when were they built and how were they built. What I do know is that the stones to build them are literally everywhere on this section of the AT and did not need to be purchased from any store - all they had to do was harvest the stones from the surrounding ground.I cannot imagine the backbreaking effort it took to build the fences. Each stone had to be picked up and moved to where the fence was built. In some ways I see this effort as man emulating God and creating something that would not be there without a man's effort. There had to be satisfaction with the completion of the fence and unlike a wooden fence will last long after the builder is gone. You can see a picture of one of these stone fences in the list of photos dated July 10, 2012.Another stone phenomena you see along the trail is cairn. Cairn is a pile of stone that can be a trail marker or memorial. When you get above tree line in NH cairn is used to mark the trail since there are no trees to paint the white blaze on.There is something magnificent, permanent and at the same time fragile about a pile of rocks. I wonder who started the pile and who was the last person who put a rock on the stack. I found myself drawn to adding a rock as I passed each cairn and become a part of the pile and akin to those who added to the pile before me. I then wonder how long that pile of rocks will remain undisturbed and my rock will be a part of the memorial created in that spot. I now have some understanding why the Isrealites built altars where God played a significant part in an event that changed the way they view God like crossing the Red Sea on dry ground. You can see a picture of cairn in the list of photos dated July 9, 2012.My life has been enriched by meeting one of my wife's best friends - Norma Rice Michael. Trail Mama and Norma were friends for decades. Norma's mother was Trail Mama's father's secretary when he was superintendent of Southern Wells, a school district in Wells County IN. I first met Norma and her husband, Larry, and her daughter in April of 1987 when Trail Mama and I flew to Phoenix for spring break.Norma and Larry drove out to Tempe AZ to take us out to eat. I remember that they did everything to see we had a great time in AZ, including what would become a traditional annual event, the incredible rib dinner that Norma and Larry prepared.Norma loved to cook and many times Judy and Norma would attend a cooking class when we went out to AZ for spring break.Norma loved crafts like Trail Mama does. She had material for making quilts in every nook and corner of their home in Phoenix. What Larry would learn after she was gone was that she had also rented a storage space to store even more material to make quilts.One the most special things about Norma and Larry is they loved Trail Mama as much as I loved her.Norma is one of Trail Mama's biggest disappointments in that she is no longer living and Trail Mama dreamed about all the things they would do together when she, Trail Mama, was retired. It was not meant to be.Norma will always be a memory and will always bring a smile to both our faces. I for one can never look at a quilt without thinking of her.When you have a friend take time to be with them and make memories with them. Live your life with no regrets.Trail Mama and I are still blessed to have Larry as a part of our lives and now his Judy. For you see, Some men our lucky to have one special lady in their life - but Larry has had two, Norma and now his Judy. Maybe that says something about Larry and how special he is. I miss Norma and treasure the fact that I knew her - thanks Trail Mama.