Date: 2015-03-13
From: End of the Dam Driveway

To: Aw Shuck Shacks...Into the Wild and Real Again... 
Miles today: 4.7

Late edit/journal entry. Duo headed out late afternoon to get a start on the Smokies. Shuck Shack Fire tower might have been the place to setup for a view the next morning, hope the weather was cooperating.The following missive is a gift of composition for the couple on the trail... a scattering of Atlas Shrugged, 1984, various South Park episodes and Last night's FOX News broadcast (my pathetic tribute in the style of Phillip K. Dick). The message is: "Don't hurry yourselves.. it ain't gettin' fixed out here any faster than you can walk..."Anyways... something other than celebrating the Dude exiting the Women's room at the modern (Fontana Dam Facilities) outhouse.... a quick read ...it might might mean something today, or years from now. Here goes... strap in for a wild ride....(Editors note: Bear with me... this fictional story begins with a bad dream, then waking to the realities of the trail as I can discern from others' experience. Fiction mixed with facts and crumbs left along the way. Like my jokes... sometimes hard to swallow follow.)________________________________________________________________________ Mild Fiction Starts Here with the Orwellian Nightmare Backdrop: ... Called to duty amidst sounds of basketballs hitting hoops and squeals of kids by the pool ... at the federal Fontana Guest Lodge ... hot tub area.Dateline 3/13/2015: Johnny D. ("Dude") Galt, aka "Smokey-Bound Dude" and his fiance' "Girzly-Bear" checked in for HQ updates with their i-Phone earbud implants at lunch time to see if the latest shipment arrived. Government-subsidized pantaloons, rations of fluoride-laden water, GMO Corn-Holios, aerosol cheese, weekly vaccination kit, and daily Monsanto-vitamin supplements for the Pre-23 Operative class were supposed to be fixed-wing drone-deployed or doorstep-dropped by Amazon.com quadra-prop. Alternatively scheduled by Health Care-First.gov for immediate ground-force delivery. (Fist-First, or Open-Fist, ...as the Uprising referred to it before internet access was shut down for the general populace.)The couple were busy in their daily grind, but enjoying an early day off with Friday on call. They had flex-time allocation till 3:00 pm, cut short with last minute orders to deploy before the bears in the next mandated park shelter would arrive. Caged insurgents at the shelters again most likely (Home-schoolers or worse, ...the last of homeless SoBos straggling across the NoGoZone (2014 Water Balloon Massacre at Damascus Trail Days).The Human Resource team failed to post the IRS-prescribed health-screen paperwork, so for now they would be on their own. They used their wrist scan in the Rustic Canteen for provisions instead. While they lingered in the last comfort of central heat for a while, they downed a cup of Zappa Fresh Grounds, giving a careful wink with obligatory "heil" sign to Frank the Bartista...grabbing a copy of USSA Today on the way out for cheap "field" toilet paper. Might as well wipe with propaganda, the Dude thought. He preferred the NY Times for volume and additional texture, but he was packing light today.Frank was an old friend. He knew too well what was going on, but "we all have to eat," he had gristled through his teeth more than once. A wink was enough and all they could safely muster with probing cameras and other Ops around. Orders were to head north from Fontana Dam and that was that, whether you liked it or not.Priority Message came in from Headquarters of Das-Groper String/Homeland Inn-Security: "Request TSA Attache' at Fontana Federal Staging Facility. Please advise. Groping may be required with or without release from Das G-String. Stop. Federal TSA Announcement: 13 MAR 15, Friday... Unlike last April 1st activities, current Groping Initiative will be drilled and live.Major-General Orwell is en-route with dual twerks (South Park team currently juggling violent flanking forces). Covert Ops shall head-first and back-forth into operation "Midnight Paradigm." Seconds and thirds will not be referenced here or included in classified contact reports.Be advised: All federal forces will act without restrictions or hesitation repeatedly. Avoid penetration of Mollie's Ridge as this is a quarantine area. Initiate first contact at Russel Field or shave close at Little Bald with assistance from disposable team Gillette. To prevent conflict with dual twerking units engaging at rear flanks, do not yield at the Devil's Tater Patch. ... Repeat, do not yield at Devil's Tater Patch. Best outlying extraction zone is Chestnut Bald with Crack Team Charlie. Stop." Mild Reality Begins Again Here and There... with Girlie and the Dude fast asleep Distant now is the noise of jobs and the fiat world...some can hear the silence healing...Rattlings of false obligations and force-collective priorities melted in their brains at night... with every unconscious pulse of blood. The toxins of hive-mind exiting every cell, to be flushed in the morning's first pause outside of camp. Slowly,... but as sure as sore muscles turn to healthy trail-leg and body...even the soul heals at night in the deep quiet of Appalachia.They both awoke with frost clinging to the inside tent walls, shocked from a long cold night... cracking sounds from another distant thunderstorm."F..ing raining again," they thought to each other, without having to say a word..."Thank god, we're on the trail," she said to Dude out loud.... "What a nightmare. I dreamt we did this for a living.""Sorry to disappoint you, but today's just another walk in the mud. Hey, do we have enough battery on the camera?" he consoled..."Yeah..., cranking that charger would wake the ApneaApe and SheSnoresAlot in the shelter anyway," she replied.... they both seized silent innocence of the moment without worry of the future ahead, busied in routine.No time for warm oatmeal. They shook off the cold of the morning, took a leak, and broke camp. With a quick but quiet hug for the road...a thoughtful squeeze and pat here and there..., they hoisted packs and slogged on into the mist of the open bald.Into the thick crisp air... a slice of wet wilderness ahead.Together and alone with sticks in each hand... end of creative fiction and missive_________________________________________________________________________Don't wake up till you're ready...enjoy the trees and the companions on the trail....be well. We're holding Orwell's Bad Dream at bay out here for you...