Date: 2011-06-18
To: Raincheck
Miles today: 0.0

I thought I¢d reflect a little bit on a good friend of mine, a ¢07 NoBo named Mike Redding. Let me start by copying in some snippets of text I wrote back then for a newspaper blog I did up in Northern Michigan. Here it is¢¦¢¦¢People in their 40s are stubborn, set in their ways, and unlikely to change. Since they are at the apogees of their lives, they tend to transition into a more contemplative state of mind and consider things. It's a time of introspection, retrospection, and a little bit of looking at the looming future, even though it is not as daunting as it was when you were 20. They hope that the habits absorbed, customs learned, knowledge gained and attitudes adopted in their lives are solid and positive. At this age the conventional wisdom says that it's much easier to grow a span of acquaintances than it is to forge new friendships.I agree, but feel lucky that I have managed to find a friend, a good friend, during my time here in the UK. I have plenty of wonderful work colleagues with whom I laugh, run, seethe, brood, spar and otherwise collaborate. Many good people. But a friendship is a more special thing. I met Mike Redding when I first arrived in the UK in June of 2002. I had taken over leadership of the Counter Terrorism Analysis Division and had to give a briefing to a large group on my long-term strategy and associated planning and budget requirements for the division. Excruciatingly painful bureaucracy in its purest form. Mike, a senior civilian, retired military, was the guy in the back that asked all the difficult, deep, and probing questions. It had sort of a "stump the dummy" feel to it. I was not amused. Prepared, but not amused. In fact, I thought the guy was a total asshat. The session had an edge of confrontation to it, but was still, oddly, kind of fun. Then we got to know one another. For the next couple of years, a professional relationship based upon good-natured bluster, competence, ribald jokes, sea-stories, appreciation of music, mutual respect and an overarching and shared imperative not to take things too seriously, developed.Mike has had an eclectic career to say the least. He's done a lot of things. Late last year, as he was finishing up a major project (and recovering from reconstructive knee surgery), he saw the opportunity to take a sabbatical of sorts. He decided to do something he had been dreaming about for years: Through-hike the Appalachian Trail from South to North, starting on Springer Mountain, Georgia and ending on Mount Katahdin, Maine. A total of 2,174 Miles.I still don't know how he convinced his lovely Irish bride, Catriona, to support this bold plan, but on April 3rd, five months after having his knee rebuilt, he began his journey Northward by uttering, "I'm going for a walk now."¢Break to the Present Day.And so now it is nearly four years later. When I wrote that post, Mike was up in Vermont. He subsequently finished in September. You can, and should, read his entire journal, here: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=5624I¢ll never forget the night down at our local, The Ship, having a pint with friends; and he walked in a few days after summiting Katahdin. He looked emaciated, scraggly, weather-beaten, and tired. But what you really noticed was an aura of pride, accomplishment and unbreakability. ¢Friggin¢ epic!¢ was my silent response to his entrance. And it was then that I decided to make my quest real. It is easy to write and talk. It takes more to execute, to actually do the thing. And I probably wouldn¢t be doing it, if it weren¢t for, in large part, Mike.Wisdom comes in from many directions. I like Confucius¢ approach. He says there are three ways: Reflection, Emulation, and Experience. For me, the AT represents a nexus of all three. I¢ve been reflecting on it for a long time. I look to Mike as someone to emulate (not imitate), and now it is time to just do it. Experience it. I hope I come back from wherever and whenever my journey ends, all the wiser.