Date: 2003-12-29
To: Andy BrownÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Bad Day
Miles today: 0.0

Friends in your life are like pillars on your porch: Sometimes they hold you up; sometimes they lean on you; sometimes it¢s just good to know that they¢re standing by. Andy joined the Holland Police Department¢s cadet force late in the summer of 2002. I had been with the department already for about 9 months and Andy was the first cadet hired after me. My initial impressions of him as a worker were positive. He asked the right questions and showed interest and ambition towards improvement. We were working together some December weekend later that same year and the topic came up about spring break. I told him how as a kid my sisters and my parents would usually head to southern Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, or Kentucky and poke around the many caves and trails of the state parks. Karst topography including caves, sinkholes, and limestone bluffs is some of the most enjoyable land to play around in as a youth, or as a full blown adult. So anyways Andy shared his plan to head to the Smoky Mountains and hike a 70 some mile stretch of the AT. When he offered me that passenger seat in his Nissan, I was all over it. I hadn¢t been backpacking in a couple years, but still took day hikes bimonthly with my family and our Labrador retrievers. Little did I know that this trip would actually be a life changing event for me. This is where my dream of spending night after night in the woods looked to become a reality. Growing up I was of the mindset that I wanted to head to the far reaches of Canada and live the life of a trapper. Just me and my dogs alone in the woods. (This was when I was 9, before I thought girls were pretty.) Back to this spring break:Although this trip was only 7 days long, it left me with a need to be in the wilderness. It also showed me that not only is Andy one hell of a motivated dude, but he keeps up with my jokes (and I with his). And he is almost as stubborn as me.I wasn¢t sure at first when he asked me to hike with him on the AT if he was serious. I kinda figured he wanted to go it alone. When he promised me he was serious, I said I was in. He has done most of the planning for the trip, as far as mail drops and planning out a rough itinerary which is to be a rough schematic of the upcoming trek. Over the course of the summer, as we strategized our hike, Andy and I grew better and better friends. He¢s a top shelf dude, always looking to make things better than they presently are. His atypical outlook on life as well as his unique ability to recall every line from Comedy Central¢s South Park will be just the tip of his idiosyncrasies that I will miss. I am confident that I will find other cool dudes to share the hike. (¢Dudes¢ is all-inclusive, non-gender specific pronoun. Remember that ¢Pronouns do what regular ¢Nouns¢ do, but for a lot less money.) But will I be able to crack Vietnam jokes with these fellow hikers? When I return to the shelter in the dark after a trip to the privy and yell, ¢Thunder!¢ will anyone inside return with, ¢Flash!¢? (An alliteration to Saving Private Ryan.) Because if no one inside says a word I will be left with no choice but to assume that the shelter is filled with Kraut (a derogatory term for the German¢s during World War 2. I am half German) and toss in grenades. Will my fellow hikers be able to recite any of Zack de la Rocha¢s uncanny lyrics? (Rage Against the Machine) And most importantly, what if a bear attacks? Andy and I have a system of defense worked out to castrate the beast should he threaten our advance. I will have to now spend precious time training fellow hikers the way of the Samurai. Which is fine, ¢That others may live¢. It is asinine to keep this self defense tactic to ourselves anyway. Look for an upcoming post.Anyways¢¦I have known about Andy¢s ankle for a little over a month now. When he first told me that it didn¢t look good for a February start date, it almost knocked the wind out of me. It was quite a poignant day for me. In the back of my mind, I figured that after a month in the air cast, a month off from work, and his rigorous ice regiment Andy would be good to go by February. Alas no. After watching him hobble around without the cast on wincing in pain, the injury is legit folks.I have no doubts that come April; Andy will be ready to lay down miles. He will be on Springer February 1st to see me off. And even though I will have already climbed Katahdin in July, I will be in Baxter again in October to see him up Katahdin. I owe him that.In closing, a few thoughts:You don¢t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.Success is simply a matter of doing what you do best and not worrying about what the other person is going to do. You carry success or failure within yourself. It does not depend on outside conditions.