Date: 2018-04-06
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Miles today: 0.0

Thanks to Colin¢s Dad, Miss Understood and Pete for the fine suggestions of reading material for my hike. I have downloaded several ebooks and can check that box off my prehike checklist.  This has been a week of celebration following my second retirement on Monday. I started cutting back my work hours in 2013 and fully retired from the CPA firm I helped found in 2016. We moved to Burlington and I had no intention of ever working again. Last year, I even engaged a local CPA firm to prepare our own tax returns. They were falling behind. I knew their software and agreed to help them out. In a weak moment, I even agreed to work half-time this tax season. Never again! They are lovely, kind people, even the office dogs are nice people (this being Vermont), but having adjusted to retirement, I found that working just sucked the joy out of my life. I couldn¢t get to the Y as often as I liked. I couldn¢t go for daily walks. My sleep was disrupted by tax season dreams, which are kind of like the film Groundhog Day - staircases that never end and don¢t lead to the right floor or losing my car in a parking lot that stretches on for infinity. It¢s over now and I am enjoying a second round of post-retirement euphoria!  I wish I could say that my euphoria coincides with the end of winter. There are a few snowdrops and crocuses (or croci, if you prefer) blooming. The black vultures, starlings, and robins have returned. But it is still wicked cold down by the lakefront when the wind is factored in. We actually had a trace of snow yesterday and more is forecast for this afternoon. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year, promising six more week of winter. It¢s now been nine weeks. Will Jadis the White Witch, the Ice Queen, reign forever in Narnia and Aslan never return? My faith is severely tested.I had a client who was a retired Reform rabbi. We became friends, and among other things, he taught me how to swear some in Yiddish. He also taught me a lot about how to handle client inquiries. First, he said, never answer a question with an answer, unless it is a simple factual matter. And never, he cautioned, answer a question with a question, because they will think you don¢t know the answer. Instead, tell a story. It¢s nice if the story relates to their problem, but it doesn¢t have to, because they will think it does. They will go away thinking that you are very wise. Rabbi Sandy also taught me the German word Schadenfreude, meaning finding pleasure in another¢s misfortune. I knew the concept, but not the word. If Sandy were here now, I would ask him if there were a word to describe learning a lesson from another¢s misfortune, with empathy for their pain. I asked a German scholar today after morning prayer, and he responded, ¢The Germans would never allow such a thing,¢ but suggested Mit Freude Lernen, roughly joyful learning. It¢s not quite what I had in mind.A fellow thru-hiker this year, Hungry Cat, started in Georgia on February 26 and has been moving very well, reaching Damascus, Virginia last Friday in under two months. I did that in 2005 when the Appalachian Trail Conservancy held its biennial meeting in nearby Johnson City, Tennessee. It¢s pushing, especially since Hungry Cat did it in winter. Unfortunately, Hungry Cat has been in Damascus for the past week, nursing some nasty heel blisters. I feel his pain both from the blisters and also in spending a week in Damascus. I arrived a week ahead of schedule in 2005, and like Hungry Cat, got to know the town entirely too well, even to the point of visiting Frank¢s Barber Shop and getting one of the two approved haircuts ¢ either short on top and short on the sides or long on top and short on the sides. If you¢ve ever watched Andy of Mayberry, think Floyd¢s Barber Shop. One bright spot for Hungry Cat is the cinnamon buns at Mojo¢s, new since I was there. I don¢t know Hungry Cat, but after following him for two months, I feel like he is a friend, so I find myself walking on the balls of my feet to avoid putting pressure on my heels. He blames his blisters on the ¢waterproof¢ boots that he¢s worn up until now. Even though he¢s used liner socks, changed socks regularly and aired out his feet at breaks, moisture builds up in boots with membranes like Gore-Tex, and they are slow to dry. The boots become foot saunas. Hungry Cat is switching to breathable trail runners, something I did 15 years ago. But guess what? I had convinced myself to start my hike in three weeks wearing my ¢waterproof¢ boots that I¢ve worn for two winters here. I wanted some protection against the rocks of Pennsylvania. Hungry Cat¢s tsorris (thank you, Rabbi Sandy) is the lesson I needed. Three days ago, I switched my green Superfeet insoles from my boots to my lightweight Scarpa Rapid approach shoes and slipped them on with my favorite FITS socks.  I have a pair of LL Bean Wicked Good Sheepskin Slippers that I wear indoors, and that¢s what it felt like. Oh, happy feet! So, Hungry Cat, I¢m sorry for your pain, and I¢ve learned from it. There must be a word for this.  I also realized this past week that Guthook¢s Guides for the Appalachian Trail app had not updated user comments since mid-January. The user comments are sometimes the best information about town services, dry springs, and reliable shuttle drivers since the comments are posted in almost real time. I emailed Ryan Linn ¢Guthook¢ and even though it was Easter weekend, he offered several suggestions that didn¢t work and finally suggested logging out and logging back in, the digital equivalent of banging a TV on the side of its console, which did. We were both surprised and I, at least, was delighted not only to have the app fully functioning again but also by Guthook¢s incredible service.