Date: 2009-07-03
From: Lott Rd, Unionville

To: The Mayor's House
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up around 4 am to a noise. It sounded like someone was fixing the basement toilet. They were taking a long time! I wished they would hurry up so I could go back to sleep. That did not happen... A little later on, it sounded like someone was making breakfast. At 6 o¢clock, a multitude of hiker watches starting beeping simultaneously. One by one, they shuffled sleepily up the stairs to the breakfast table. The mood was so different than the night before! Everyone was quiet and businesslike. We had been told to stay out of the kitchen because we would get in the way of the production. We had to find a seat, wait for our cup of orange juice, cheese omelet, potato pancake, sausage patty, and half a bagel, eat, and leave to make room for the next hiker. Most of those that had finished eating moseyed over to the living room and plopped down in front of the television. The mayor, Butch, and Bill, did not seem to mind this slothlike invasion! In fact, we were told that we were bringing meaning and purpose to their lives!   In exchange for dinner, a shower, a roof over our heads, free access to the television, 25 cent beers, and breakfast, the mayor only required one thing from us: to watch 2 inspirational videos that he had prepared for us. After dinner, we were to gather in the living room, listen to the mayor¢s introduction, and watch a video on Paul Potts- a homely-looking British former cellphone salesman turned famous opera star as a result of his audition on Britain¢s Got Talent, followed by a video made by a loving son of his father who had hiked the entire AT and celebrated his birthday atop Mt. Katahdin. ¢If this doesn't light your fire, then get the f*** off the trail, because you don't belong there,¢ the mayor told us. He wanted us to succeed and he wanted to be a part of our success. He wanted to instill in us that if we had the energy and drive to hike 2200 miles (he told us multiple times that we were idiots- that it was the second dumbest thing he could imagine doing), that we could take that energy once we got off the trail and spread it around in doing good for the world. We could be the little pebble in the center of the waves. He told us that his cook, Bill, had been on his deathbed- lonely and miserable in a nursing home. The mayor rescued him, gave him a room in his home, and set him to work. Because of us, he has new life and a purpose for living, and his feisty personality is once again shining through. I was amazed and stunned. How could we, who are doing nothing but walking and consuming, affect others so deeply?      Butch was taking an inventory of everyone¢s agenda for the day. Some hikers were slackpacking and had to be driven north so they could hike back to the mayor¢s for a second night, some were heading back to the trail, and some were taking a zero day to heal their injuries. Salty Dog was one such sick hiker. Weak, dizzy, and disoriented on the trail, he had to find a way to get to a doctor. Numerous tests had come up inconclusive. He would have to go back on Monday. Pusher was suffering from shin splints. I hoped to take a zero as well as I was exhausted, my eyes were hurting and blurry once again, and I really needed some rest. Butch had no problem with me staying. I got to watch some of the Federer vs Haas semi-final Wimbledon match, which I was really happy about (of course, I most wanted to watch the finals!). Then I went back to the basement floor and took a nap from 11:30-1:30! That felt really good!    For lunch, I went with Kog and Fly-By to the general store where I got a turkey sandwich and a birch beer. The lady at the counter expected the gentlemen to pay for me, but they declined... I had a snickers bar for dessert. ¢Don¢t you eat enough of those on the trail?¢ Fly-By asked. I told him that, actually, I only eat them in town. While we sat in the rocking chairs on the porch of the store, rain started coming down. It got cold! And Kog and I realized we had set our shoes out on the mayor¢s deck to dry!   After the rain let up, we made our way back to the house. Someone had rescued our shoes and put them under the table for us! How nice! Butch asked me what I was doing tomorrow. ¢Hiking... I¢ll probably do 17 miles.¢ He asked me if I wanted to go to a party. It was a fourth of July party hosted by a former thru-hiker. I asked him if I would be able to see the NYC fireworks from the mountain I would be ending my day at when I hiked out. He said no. Later on in the evening, he showed me the newspaper and pointed out two options for seeing the fireworks after the party. He wanted to make sure I got to see some! Part of me wanted to get moving again and try to narrow the gap on a couple of hikers ahead of me, but I felt like I would be letting Butch down if I didn¢t go to the party and fireworks... What to do...   A new crowd of hungry, smelly hikers started straggling in, and the cycle began anew...