When Mike joined us for two months of hiking he used the time to figure out what he wanted to do with his life moving ahead. He was not just contributing to Cindy’s therapy, he was involved in some of his own. Our good friend Jerry is now out with us for a much shorter time, also for a bit of his own therapy as well as contributing to ours.
Last May the deaths of Jerry’s two parents and his former partner Claire occurred on the same day. He was moved by the support network that developed for Claire over her last months. Fortunately he has two wonderful daughters to help him through his trying time. Additionally, he wanted to be part of our network out here both as a help to us and to fulfill a need at this time of his life.
Andy of Dale Brothers Brewery
Jerry confided he did not know what to expect coming out here and was pleasantly surprised at how happy Cindy is. He wondered about How prolong Cindy’s down times might be; I informed him that nothing is prolonged. Rather, every day he might see some down time for Cindy just as every day he can count on seeing Cindy happy.
I joked about how I don’t want Jerry to compare notes with Mike. Mike came out when we were hiking our highest miles, sometimes over difficult trail. Since we picked Jerry up at the airport we’ve spent the night at a Sheraton, went out to eat breakfast, went to Costco for supplies and hit up Dale Brothers Brewery. We did walk 3 miles from a post office to the brewery to make sure we got our daily exercise in. I can only imagine what Mike is thinking if he is reading this. Um, sorry about that Mike.
The fact is Cindy can’t hike now like she could even two months ago. We’ve adjusted our goals accordingly. Climbs up steep mountains? Perhaps not. Walking to a nearby brewery? We can do that! We also “roughed it” by actually sleeping in a campground last night.
Now I’m creating and sending this post as we all relax at a Starbucks, though we will be hiking on the PCT later today. No, really, we will. Here we met Roger, who originally hailed from South Africa. He commented on the difference between our society and others, citing a study that claimed Americans have more “associates” than anywhere else but, on the average, only two “friends.”
I know we are fortunate enough to surpass that average in large part because of the hiking we did with groups of people in our twenties. One such group was the Continental Divide Expedition in 1985. Mike was part of that expedition, as was Jerry. In another couple of weeks two more good friends from that group will be hiking with us, Dave Kinney and Kirk Haselton. They will contribute much to our therapy out here; perhaps we will contribute to theirs as well.
Sheraton? SHERATON!! You NEVER took ME to a Sheraton! Oh sure, the Best Western on the Columbia River, and Denny’s in northern CA, but not the SHERATON. And I carried my swimsuit all those miles, waiting patiently for the hot tub. I even had wet shoes half the time (shut up, En), not to mention trying to keep up with Cindy across Sandy Creek.
And did I complain? Noooooooo. I was happy to have wet shoes. And who needs the SHERATON when you have potato chips and gorp. Lots of gorp. Several pounds of gorp, jammed into the back of a Scion TC, next to the maps, the cooler for gourmet peanut butter, the dead socks (smells like “hiker”), and the half eaten granola bars put out to feed the mice hitching down from Canada to beat the snow.
And all of this under a lovely canopy of burrito brown as we flapped our way along the backroads and bi-ways of the new west, searching for the “answers to life’s persistent questions” – “is there a buffet” and “do you have wifi”? At least we made it over the creek with a smile (did I mention Sandy Creek?). (actually, it was more like the brink of Niagara Falls – shut up, En, it was an adventure).
We had climbs, descents, upsets, and welcome relief. We also learned some things, and that’s usually good. Perhaps Cindy’s journey is creating a context in which we can all find a little introspection, and a bit of therapy.
Thinking of you folks, as I sit here at home wondering if winter will ever arrive. I do miss the hiking, the moments of solitude in a big, vast wilderness. Even huddling together in a little motel room. Of course, I would have missed it a little more if it had been the SHERATON.
Take care, Mike.
That was classic, Mike! For readers out there, EN derives from ENtourage, as in Cindy’s entourage. Mike fancied himself the head of Cindy’s entourage. Of course, if that was really true he would have been at a Sheraton with her 🙂 .