Date: 2018-01-07
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Miles today: 0.0

The first recollection I have of the words ¢Appalachian Trail¢ came from my Dad¢s mouth.  Somehow, those words made it through the fog of my self-centered, oh so intelligent, seventeen year old, girlfriend-focused mind long enough for me to tuck them away.  Dad had a dream of someday hiking the Trail.  Unfortunately, the Dad who had dragged the whole family on occasional camping trips and who amazingly helped with Boy Scout outings and meetings also had an addiction.  To tobacco. Dad didn¢t have an easy life growing up.  One of ten children living on a hardscrabble farm, he was lucky to get even a high school education.  As did almost every one of his brothers, he joined the military upon graduation, specifically the Navy in his case.  I don¢t really know the whole story of how he met and courted Mom, but I imagine it was during his Navy days that he visited her family in Newport, Rhode Island.  Mom¢s step-dad was from the same small town as my dad and had relocated to the area.  I suppose what happened is that while Dad¢s ship was in port, he visited Mom¢s family.  Somehow, and at some time later, marriage ensued. Dad was tall ¢ 6¢3¢ ¢ and slender; he never weighed over 180 pounds in his life and usually weighed 160 or less.  But he was tough.  Years of working on a farm ¢ milking cows by hand, growing and harvesting crops ¢ had strengthened him, made him ¢rangy¢.  I¢m sure that when I was seventeen and he was forty, he could have completed the trail, though he probably would have set a record for the slowest thru hike ever.  He wasn¢t one to get in a hurry.But it was never to be.  When he was approximately the age I am now, Dad passed away of lung cancer.  So, am I hiking for Dad?  In his memory?  No, not at all.  But I did learn some lessons from his life.  First among the lessons was the power and danger of cigarettes.  I smoked exactly two cigarettes in my life ¢ and accidentally set the woods on fire both times!  Alright, God.  Message received!  Second, and most importantly, I learned that some adventures, some dreams, are not to be put off.  I easily could have worked another three or four years.  Although sometimes frustrating, my job provided a sense of purpose along with the income.  But, I somehow feel that now is the time ¢ if ever ¢ to face the challenge that is the Appalachian Trail. So in early November, I retired.What is possible at sixty-two might not be achievable in even a few more years.  And, as I recently texted to a friend, this decision provides the opportunity to proceed at my own pace with no boss and no schedule; to eat all I want and still lose weight; and to aspire to overcome some pretty awesome physical and mental obstacles to achieve success.  I certainly don¢t want to retire only to watch television!  Have you SEEN what¢s on the tube?So the answers to ¢Why would I¢ are, in no particular order: challenge; purpose; achievability(?); the pursuit of something bigger than I¢ve ever attempted; fitness (I¢ve already lost 35 pounds); and maybe a whiff, a hint, of sentimentality for an opportunity missed forty five years ago.  I¢ll also have time to think about the future and what retirement means.