Date: 2008-03-27
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Miles today: 0.0

The holidays are over, and the final week before we hit Springer is flying by swiftly. It's amazing: I spent most of the month of February waiting for the month to end, and once March finally rolled around, it was as if time just sped up a notch or two, and here it is, nearly April already. I spent Easter with my family, which was wonderful. My sisters and Mom and I stayed up late after church on Saturday night, making chocolate goodies and playing insane slap-happy card games until three in the morning. Sunday morning, the local paper had an article about Lee the Horselogger (go to leehorselogger.com), a man who used to be a logger in Montana until he was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2005. He spent time reevaluating his priorities, built himself a covered wagon, and in 2006, with the three horses drawing the wagon and his two Great Pyrannese, he set off to visit his old sweetheart in Maine. He is currently on his way back west, headed to California, and then up to Alaska. On Easter morning, he was in Lodi, Ohio, which is close to my parent's house, so we gathered some goodies and set out to find him. Unfortunately, he was asleep when we arrived, but he had some friends who have been traveling with him since Pittsburgh, helping him out, and we spent awhile talking with them and petting the dogs...wonderful folks, whose name I have sadly forgotten. I wish I'd gotten to meet him...this spirit of adventure he shows, the way in which he chooses to seize life in such a visceral way in spite of his disease, is such an inspiration. It reminds me not to let anything stop me in my dream-pursuits, because life is, after all, so terribly brief. A good lesson before departure.Right now, I'm sitting in the living room, looking at my backpack, which is pregnant with everything I really need to live. I've been on the road so much over the past few years that I've gotten very good at leaving...and every time I leave, the "stuff" that I'm leaving behind matters less and less to me...I usually pair down my possessions before I go, and this time, with my car sold, no cell phone, no apartment of my own, all I'm leaving are a few bits of clothing, my art (the dead things and the paintings) and my books. Poverty is the ultimate liberation, in so many ways....these mad journeyings are so much easier to orchestrate when you have nothing to lose. This is the good life.One thing, I shall miss the people I leave behind. There is so much for which I'm grateful, so many people who've smoothed the road towards Springer: my parents, who planted the wanderlust in me as a child with their stories and pictures of the cross country bike trip, and their endless support for my impractical dreams; Jim, my fiancee, for his willingness to be abandoned while I'm pursuing Life, and for handling the food drops and logistics; Mr. Eastman (the other Jim), for providing the Epipens and antibiotics that offer a safety net; Julie, for being the wheelman; Vera, for fiddling with gear, offering to transcribe, and generally being my resident go-to hiker; and everyone along the trail, from the Grahmns to Joe and Rebecca, who've already opened their homes to us and offered their assistance before we've even hit the trail.It's going to be one heck of a ride, guys....stay tuned!