Date: 2004-12-17
To: panic!
Miles today: 0.0

It is 8 days before Christsmas and I'm in a panic! Not because I havent done my gift shopping yet, although its true I haven't. I'm panicked because It's hitting home that I have a little more than 3 months before I head out of Florida towards the trail and there seems SO much to do before then. Dozens of loose ends keep popping into my head that have to be taken care of before I can leave this life to go spend 6 months in the woods.   There are the phone and the internet services that will need to be suspended. Arrangements have to be made to have all other bills paid automatically; truck payments and insurance, credit cards, life insurance, possibly the health insurance, etc etc. And I have to make sure everything's been budgeted and accounted for so the bank account doesnt dry up when i'm off wandering through say, the Meadowlands in NJ. There is the matter of the cell phone and having to choose fairly soon if I'll take it with me this time. If so, I have to make arrangements with work and with Nextel to have it transferred to my name so that my company doesnt pay for those silly calls I'd want to make from places like Clingman's Dome to gloat at all the friends back home.   There is the matter of getting in shape. I decided to wait til the first of the year to start seriously training and I dread the idea. Fort Lauderdale is a horrible place to train for hiking in the mountains, it's flatter than a bowl of milk. The first time around I did nothing at all to get ready and I paid a handsome price for it in terms of physical pain and suffering the first month out.   There is also a psychological downer regardless how much one believes in "hike your own hike", of being left in the dust. You just want be able to keep up with people who you meet and want to see again. The best I've been able to do down here is an 8 story building we are working on that has 3 sets of stairs. Up, across, down, across, up over and over and over again. This is good for aerobics but it does nothing to train for the downhills which I feel does the real damage if you aren't prepared for it. So many folk, myself included walk into Neel's Gap in the past crippled at the knees. I have got to find some kind of incline to shape up on. Second-best has been walking around the neighborhood with a 50 lb load. This is great to strengthen the ankles but there are drawbacks:   Number one, walking on concrete sidewalks under load is a jarring experience for the whole body, literally. Number two, I feel just plain stupid. This is a city, your neighbors begin to wonder where you head off to every evening loaded down like a sherpa.   There is the actual trail planning and packing which I have been doing for over a year now, incredibly. Mail drops have started piling up but not fast enough. I've got them ready only as far as Rockfish Gap, the beginning of Shenandoah. This whole process has been agonizing only because I know I don't need to pack or maildrop ANYTHING. The first time around I spent a lot of time yelling at myself (you have a lot of time to do this) for doing any maildrops. Food and supplies are readily available along the whole trail. And yet there are 11 boxes boxes all wrapped up in Priority Mail tape crammed in the closet and another 60 days supply sitting on my sewing desk, waiting for a destination.   There is making sure things roll smoothly around this household while I am gone. My daughter is in college and she has needs. The truck has to be started at least once a week. Hurricane supplies have to be replenished and instructions left behind on What To Do. We had 3 hurricanes roll through here this year, and next year it might be 2 weeks before I hear one has wiped out the house. My guys at work have to be to be trained and equipped for whatever gets thrown their way without me around for half a year.and... ARGH! I just thought of something else! Nevermind, for another post.   I can't wait until all I have to worry about is food and water, staying alive and dealing with blisters, rain, and smelly snorers, myself included.Merry Christmas everyone