Date: 2017-06-12
From: East Montpelier, VT

To: Home-Charleston WV
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Although I had planned to write several entries while I was off the trail resting, I found that I was too busy having fun to write.  When my friends Kathy and Frank dropped me off last Tuesday night a wave of real happiness washed over me as I came in my front door.  After weeks of being in the woods, grungy hostels, and cheap motels my house seemed so clean, so beautiful, so serene.My main task the next day was to get my wrist checked.  I got up early, took a shower, and headed to Med Express.  It was a clear warm day in Charleston, and the city looked radiant to me.  My positive reaction surprised me because I often think I should leave Charleston.  But that day the city just charmed me.  I felt so happy to be here.The Med Express x-rays showed something, but the doctor wasn't sure it was a break.  He referred me to a walk-in orthopedic clinic that was open that afternoon. I arrived at the clinic half an hour before the posted hours, and the waiting room was crowded and noisy.  A television was playing loudly, and the waiting patients were talking more loudly to be heard over the sound of the television. Nearly every seat was taken.  Three toddlers in casts were playing boisterously and occasionally crying.  The noise level was overwhelming - especially in comparison to the woods where I've spent most of my time lately.  Finally, after waiting an hour and a half, I escaped to an examination room.  A nurse interviewed me, then took my x-rays.  Shortly thereafter a physician's assistant came in and told me I had a "nondisplaced fracture of the left distal radius."  I would have to be in a short cast for three weeks, then in a splint for three more weeks.  I chose a pretty shade of purple for the cast.  It was actually a relief to get the cast because it's now clear that the wrist can't be used right now, and the cast prevents me from even trying.  Also, my wrist is somewhat protected from further injury.Much of the day I felt unbearably sleepy and yearned to lie down to take a nap. I never got the chance.  Getting a haircut, having dinner with my friends Susan and Doug, and packing for the weekend took the rest of the day.On Thursday I got up at 4:30 AM to get an early flight to Vermont.  My college roommate Meg picked me up at the airport in Burlington.  It was the first warm and sunny day of the spring/summer in Vermont.  We took advantage of it by heading to Splash!, a restaurant at the boathouse on Lake Champlain.  The food was excellent and the view superb.  From our table beside the water we saw a long breakwater, a small lighthouse, big beautiful boats, the lake, and the Adirondack Mountains on the other side of the lake in New York.   After lunch we headed to Meg's house in East Montpelier.  We had a relaxing evening there with her husband, and I got to bed early.  I didn't wake up till 8:30 the next day.  On Friday Meg and I drove to Middlebury, stopping at an outfitter along the way to look for a sunhat to replace the one that got permanently wrinkled and melted in the dryer.  No luck.  We arrived at our class reunion registration headquarters in time for our shift as greeters.  While we were there our classmate Moore (trail name Morph), who through-hiked the AT in 2003, arrived.  We talked about the trail, and he taught me the thru hiker's prayer: You keep lifting them up, I'll keep putting them down.  From there we went to our friend Cecelia's house.  Cecelia married one of our professors right after college graduation and has lived in Middlebury ever since. Even so, she hasn't attended reunions, and we haven't seen her very often. She invited her old roommate Ruth, our friend Grace, Meg, and me to stay at her house.  Ruth and her husband came, but Grace couldn't.  We figured we hadn't all been together for 30 years.  We had a long dinner that night and got caught up on those missing 30 years.  Saturday was another perfect  summer day, warm and sunny.  Meg and I went to the Middlebury Museum of Art to see an exhibit of Sabra Field prints.  They were wonderful.  Then at 11:00 we met Moore and several other people to hike up Snake Mountain.  This was a gratifying hike.  It's neither long nor difficult, and the view from the top of the mountain is beautiful.  The mountain overlooks the neatly-divided fields and farms of Addison County, a scene of pastoral loveliness, with Lake Champlain and the mountains of New York in the distance (see photo).  We sat at the top and ate our picnic lunches.  There were other activities that day, but the hike was the highlight.Yesterday Meg and I stopped at the Vermont Book Shop on the way out of Middlebury, and I bought several books that seem like candidates for bedtime reading on the trail.  So far I haven't had enough time to read in bed on the trail, but I'm hoping that as I get more skilled at hiking I will have time.  Not having enough energy to read before I sleep is one of the worst things about being on the trail.  I've been reading myself to sleep ever since I first learned to read around age 7.  On the other hand, being so sleepy that I fall right to sleep and don't wake all night is one of the best things about the trail.  I had an uneventful trip home from Vermont today.  Tomorrow I'm headed back to join the Expedition members in Catawba, Virginia at mile 708.3 of the trail. After nearly a week not hiking I feel well-rested and ready to go again.  On Wednesday my friends Glenn and Susan will join me for the hike up to McAfee Knob.  They'll be the first of my friends to hike part of the trail with me.