Date: 2010-01-24
To: Post hike adjustments.
Miles today: 0.0

After all the roots and rocks, after the ups and downs and tilted terrain, newly christened Thru-hikers get to face a new challenge ¢ post-hike withdrawal.That time when all we¢ve known and embraced eagerly is taken away ¢ despite its difficulty, splendidly trying at times, the absence of the journeys stimuli leaves a void and that hits each of us differently. Post-hike adjustments are common ¢ some call it Re-entry, others label it as returning to the normal world, whatever the name, we all receive an introduction in the days and weeks (and next seasons) after the trails final terminus.For me, adjusting to indoor life with its indoor air influenced by fabrics, carpet, linens, and last night¢s dinner aroma instead of evergreens, moss and flowers was wholly unsatisfying. Can you remember that toasty scent given off by beds of pine needles roasting in the midday sun? Anyone following my shenanigans along the AT over the years know my love of what I¢ve coined Christmasland ¢ the summit balsam fir and spruce trees and their holiday aroma. LLLove it.I missed living in fresh air ¢ sleeping in it, taking it in by huge lung fulls and swallowing it like double fudge chocolate cake. This addiction has resulted in patio doors left ajar and bedroom windows forever cracked regardless of the weather. Twice now my fresh air dependence has forced me to pull out my wallet and park a convertible in the driveway. Rolling down windows, opening a sunroof is helpful, but an unobstructed, limitless roof of blue sky and endless headroom has no comparison. Some of you may be stronger than I to fight off these feelings ¢ as for me though, I¢m a weakling to the Siren song of a fresh breeze resulting from my hikes. A thru-hike messes me up, it shows me what¢s possible through the gifts that only nature can deliver and then never let¢s me forget its kiss. Nature plays hard to forget. (No wonder we refer to her as a woman.) Ever so often, here at home, I¢ll be in the backyard and a breeze with its invisible, subtle scent will appear for the briefest of moments and I¢ll think ¢The Trail.¢ They say that smell triggers our strongest memories so it shouldn¢t come as a surprise, should it? Those magic moments of AT air that waft its way to my backyard touches my heart ¢ what an incredible longing for more of a good thing. While visiting the normal world, the cockpit of my convertible serves as a tonic ¢ my self-prescribed fresh air therapy. Until my shoes can take over the responsibilities again, my roofless wonder helps me tolerate all things not trail. Seems you can¢t turn on a TV these days without being bombarded by advertising for this drug or that medication ¢ hundreds of millions of dollars promoting ¢Ask your doctor.¢ Wouldn¢t it be nice if your physician would simply prescribe ¢Take one convertible daily if post-hike pains persist,¢ it sure works for me.This fresh air withdrawal always grows worse around this time of the year when it hops on the back of cabin/ thru-hike fever. If you don¢t get handcuffed to the bedpost, your fate will likely have you answering to a trailname for another five months. Anyway that¢s my post-hike baggage, maybe yours is a desire to pee in your backyard? Or anywhere, anytime when the urge hits you? I knew a woman who after her hike couldn¢t stop sleeping in her hammock outside ¢ played hell with her sex life. Or maybe you can¢t seem to remember to put on different clothes each day? Or wear deodorant? Or police yourself from consuming entire pies?Fresh air is a serious affliction akin to the sweetest lips¢¦Oh woe, for I am her love slave.Fortunately, I don¢t have to hang on much longer, in just a handful of weeks my hiking shoes will once again become my fresh air vehicles and the convertible will sit idle, abandoned for more precious blue sky¢s.