September 29th, you were DE-PORTED! Yep, you passed that final hurdle in your year with breast cancer when your port was removed! You have been so brave, so positive, so willing to learn and to fight for over a year.
Thank you for letting me share your life over the last 15 months. Really, thanks for sharing your life, family,friends and horses with me since 1994. It all started with a little, gaited Morgan you were selling. I bought Lilla and became a fixture in your life. Lilla was only the beginning. When you introduced me to "my dear husband", that ensured a lifelong bond. It is time to celebrate the end of treatment.
Hmmm. Mom moved me to a new barn and before I could even inspect my new stall and horse buddies, she gave me a bath. Well, I guess I was pretty smelly and dirty from rolling in the pasture and the creek since my photo shoot in July. Actually, I liked my bath because Mom used hot water, a fun scrubber, lots of shampoo and tons of conditioner. It took over an hour but was sooooo relaxing. Mom calls it spa time.
After my bath, all I wanted to do was go to my stall and rest. Remember, I had had a little stress with moving; riding in a trailer with BIG trucks passing me and arriving at an unknown place. Thank goodness, Mom was there or I would have been upset. Do I get to rest? NO. Mom has this idea that we need to take a walk around the barn to get solar drying. So, we walk. I am snorting and huffing the whole time. I kept neighing but those other horses would not answer. I used my extra, loud neigh, too.
This place is called Cross Creek Stables and the owner is a nice lady I am calling, Aunt Janet. She is a lot nicer than Aunt Kim because she does not yell at me! (Odie that was so not polite...Aunt Kim is good to you. She has helped train you.) The pastures here are HUGE with lots of space to run, really run and so much green grass. Mom said there are no trails like Dupont but we will have lots of areas to explore. Mom moved me because this barn is so close to her house. Oh, my...that could mean Mom will be here all the time. Hmmm. Got to think about this.
There are BIG, BIG, BIG horses in this barn. I mean BIIIIG! One is over 17hands. I am 13.2hands. What is a hand in horse measurement? About four inches. Read this link on how humans measure us. http://www.cowboyway.com/HowTo/HorseHeight.htm At least I am taller than the dog, Luke. Mom calls him a Corgi and says we look alike. Guess that means another series of pictures. Mars is my pasture buddy and is gentle. Mars had Lyme disease before he came to the barn and was covered with bites & kicks from other horses. He told me that he has fully recovered and is happier than he has ever been. I think we may be good buddies. Across the aisle are two horses that make Mars look small. One is 16.3 & the other is 17.1.
Finally, I can tell you about my stall, my very own stall that no one will share with me. Of course, I had to approach it with trepidation, snorting and tiny steps. (Please, Odie, you do not take tiny steps.) There was something all over the floor, HAY by the water machine and a window that looked over the pastures. Oh...there was a whirling machine strapped to the door that kept blowing wind on me. I just stood still and let the wind fluff my mane. (That would be a fan.) The stuff on the floor was deep, thick and soft. At first, I put one hoof down just to test and then another. Man, was that stuff comfortable. ( called shavings) I bet it will make a great mattress for sleeping. Then I spied the best part of my stall, the open door blocked only by a rubber rope. Now I could tell that those big guys were never going to be able to make an escape since they could not scrooch underneath but it was perfect for me. While Mom was nattering to another boarder, I saw my chance and quietly shimmed under the rope. I was ALMOST out, when the other lady yells. Ratz! Busted! No more open door for now.
Hay, enjoy the pictures Mom took on Day one. I feel sure that there will be many, many more. I helped label them. Let me know if you think I am cute!!!
Cross Creek Stables in Mills River, NC
My new friend, Mars.
MY VERY OWN STALL!! Notice the rubber rope.
Yummy hay.
I can see "our" pasture on the right. Lots of running room.
OH, MY! Does this stuff ever feel good!
Walking after my bath. I think this is my best side.
Aunt Janet, these things are just strange. Mom would not let me taste them. (Mushrooms, Odie)
The dear husband and I took an overnight adventure to Valle Crucis last week, located in the high country of Watauga County. This is about a 2.5 hr drive from Hendersonville and there are four ways to approach this area. One is easy and uncomplicated. Did I select that "one"? Of course not. I, also, consulted mapquest for directions...again, not so bright. However, we were not in a hurry; the day was lovely and the scenery was incredible.
Our day started in Black Mountain, where we had lunch at The Black Bird Restaurant. The food was yummy but the best part had to be the "shoestring fries". Everyone knows I would rather eat french fries than any other food group. So when offered an opportunity to try different fries, I do not hesitate. OMG!!! These are some of the best fries in WNC. (Well worth the drive to Black Mountain.) While seated with a window view of the street, parking and the mountains, we watched some entertaining driving and attempts at parking. Most of the attempts were by elderly ladies trying to parallel park. (Now, I need to mention that there is no way on this earth that I would attempt to park the Cadillac in a parallel space unless I could drive right into it. I have done that by jumping a curb and other methods that have sent the husband into fits of laughter.) So while I laughed, I knew that could have been me. One lady took ten minutes to drive over a curb;back up; get out to check; get back in and try again, again, again and again. Finally, she moved and selected a "pull-in" space. Her friend, driving a rather battered car, just pulled into a parallel space and got out with her walker leaving the car almost in the lane of traffic. Black Mountain is a small town with interesting shops
Our room was the dormer room which was very spacious.
The inn's flower and herb garden
This inn is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been well maintained and updated. Our room had a card addressed to us with information and a gift bag of magazines about the area. We had planned to dine at the inn since the site mentioned exquisite meals. Dinner was INCREDIBLE!!! Place cards were on each table in the form of a story about the evening meal and other pertinent facts. The chef is from a long line of French cooks and the daughter of the inn's owners. The entree' was baked trout with pasta (portabello mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, spinach, in a white wine sauce). The featured wine for this meal was an outstanding Italian Soave. Carrot soup (cinnamon,nutmeg, curry, orange, onion, white wine, olive oil & butter). Salad (mixed greens just picked, local goat cheese, cranberries, walnuts with a balsamic & molasses drizzle) Now after indulging in three courses, there was still dessert which I declined. Our server,Velva, informed me that there was no way I would not be tasting the ice cream. Velva is a professional and customer service is in her DNA. Ice cream. Think slow churned, soft serve consistency and real carmel gone all soft and creamy. This was so good that we requested the ice cream for breakfast!
Next morning, I had tea for breakfast. Dear Husband was able to "make room" for breakfast. The menu featured broiled grapefruit and Belgian waffles. PLEZ!!! We wanted to see The Original Mast Store, which was two miles from the inn. Interesting, old building and too crowded with merchandise. http://www.mastgeneralstore.com/Communities/mast/index.cfm/original-mast-general-store/ I like the one in Hendersonville, just fine. The Original was a working hardware store and post office. Headed toward Boone, home of Applachian State University, and were astounded to see that Boone is a large, crowded town. From childhood memories, Boone was small with few restaurants and mostly tourist trap shops. Did drive by Tweetise Railroad but it is only opened on weekends during the off season.
Decided to take the Parkway to Little Switzerland where we would have a snack and check out the bookstore. Taking the Parkway was a beautiful drive with few cars and the clearest day. You could see forever. We had two stops for construction and boy, is the Parkway in need of road work. http://www.littleswitzerlandnc.com Little Switzerland is tiny but the views will have you thinking..."Sound of Music". There are 60 year 'round residents.
Are these flowers awesome or what? While visiting one of my favorite friends recently, she took me to the community garden. The garden is available to anyone who wants a plot for vegetables or flowers. The main attraction is the proflieration of dahlias. Every color combination, all sizes, shapes and all lovingly maintained by one man who was a botanist many years ago. Dahlias,though beautiful, require a lot of TLC prior to blooming, during season and during storage time. You will need rebar for staking, which should indicate how tall and strong these beauties are.
Oh...everyone (visitors included) is encouraged to cut flowers. Scissors are placed in the garden for that purpose. The only time the flowers were off limits was during a photo shoot. Not just any shoot but one that will be featured in the March 2012 issue of OUR STATE. The dahlias will be on the cover. How about that for an introduction to spring? (OUR STATE just happens to be my favorite magazine!) Where is this garden? Highland Farms Retirement Community in Black Mountain, NC
After a long bath on a hot July day, Kim and I did a photo shoot with Odie. He has come a long way since the first picture back in January. Don't you agree?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Movies worth watching:
THE KING'S SPEECH...*********** movie of the year!!!
THE HELP...***** runner up ...Jessica Chastain is a lovely surprise. Read the book.
THE DEBT...***** total 5 star shocker: Helen Mirren & Jessica Chastain are fabulous
SECRETARIAT...********* any thing HORSE is excellent...no sad endings
new JANE EYRE (or any of the "old" ones)...my fav book
all three of the THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO...with subtitles...***** a wonderful Swedish surprise...don't waste time on the American version; learn to read and enjoy. Read the books first!
Stay tuned... Nepal, ODIE!!!,books not to miss,more
My Sister's Big Adventure...June 2011
In June 2011, my baby sister did a trek on the Appalachian Trail in the state of Virginia. The first post is mine based on info from Sister. The second and photos are from Sister's story.
Sister’s adventure as told by Sissy
DAY 1
Just had a call from Sister. The group did the 10 miles from Lewis Mtn to
Big Meadow in 5 hours!!
Sunday, our intrepid hikers dined at TGIFridays in Charlottesville
and then gathered some supplies. Sandwiches from Arby's were
dinner. Lewis Mtn was a rustic retreat which provided clean cabins,
shower, linens & lights. Sister said the sheets were delightfully
clean & crisp. When the lights went out, the scurrying &
scratching noises began. Sister had a mouse in her room; Shawn &
Robbie had an entire family of mice racing up and down the walls. After
discovering the two entry points, Sister stuffed them with washcloths &
towels but was still miserable worrying about a mouse attack. This morning,
upon removing the cloths, she saw that the mouse had gnawed away all
night. A little forest adventure for the city girl.
Left Lewis Mtn around 7:20
am and arrived Big Meadows a little
after 1:00pm.
They were not speed walking and spent time enjoying the incredible scenery.
The ferns were the size of humans and provided some relief from the
heat/bugs. Encountered several thru-hikers with whom Shawn shared lots of
treats(trail magic). Everyone was friendly, sharing some info but
terribly smelly. Remember thru-hikers do not have the luxury of a nightly
shower like Sister's group. All of you know Sister, so selecting nightly
stops with a shower is no surprise. The most difficult part today was the
ascent, about one mile, into Big Meadow. The two things Sister could not
live without on this adventure...her trek poles & her platypus beverage
container. What??? This is a bladder that you fill with water and
it has a spout which is accessible from your backpack. Saves you having
to remove your pack to get water bottles. Think...rednecks at NASCAR
wearing beer hats with tubes directly to their mouths.
Upon arrival at Big Meadow, Sister had a beer, bowl of fries & blackberry
cobbler. Now this was around 1:30,
which would say "lunch" to me. I asked what dinner would be and
in true Sister fashion, she replied that this snack would be enough.
(Believe me, Sister and I are NOT related when it comes to our eating
habits. I would have been planning my next two meals.) This
afternoon may include a two hour hike to look at the waterfalls. Is it
possible that they have that much energy left? What happened to a nice
nap and a book?? Are you starting to see why I was not included on this trip?
Sister's trail name is Sparky. No one uses their real names on the trail.
DAY 2
Someone asked yesterday what would be the half-way
mark on the AT if you started in Georgia.
Not knowing the answer, I went to the trusty Internet, thinking it would spit
out a quick answer. NOT! Do you know I had to use MATH & a
calculator to figure the answer on my own? What is wrong with Google?
Anyway, here is your information. The AT is 2157 miles. Starting in
Georgia,
the half-way would be 1078.5 miles which puts you 45 miles into The KeystoneState,
Pennsylvania.
Have to make a correction to this calculation, thanks to my college roommate,
whose husband, SKID, is doing the entire AT. The
length of the Trail varies from year to year. They open some new parts,
close some other parts, and reroute some of it each year. This year's
mileage is 2181. True halfway is still early in Pennsylvania, but it's
traditional to celebrate halfway in West Virginia at Harper's
Ferry.
Sparky & gang arrived around 2:00pm
at the Skyland Resort. Sister did break down and eat dinner last night
and a big breakfast this morning at Big Meadow. The lodge even packed
them lunches for the trek today (big sandwiches, cookies, fruit &
water). The other gang members are Sassafrass(Shawn), Triangle(Robie,
Shawn's sister) & Scout(Joe, Shawn's cousin). All three ladies are
now wearing their Johnny Depp/pirate tattoos.
Today was really hard with uphill most of the way,
very rocky, roots and filled with talus. Talus is a sloping rock
formation that appears to have been split into several boulders and you have to
maneuver through/around/over this creation. Acres of mountain laurel were
blooming and one inquisitive deer got close enough to let them see its
whiskers. Yesterday, they encountered a bear and a deer at close range.
They have met many thru-hikers who have shared
trail tales. Some names were entertaining...Rusty Bumper, Zigzag, Ranger
Bob, Full Time. Skid will be interested in the thru-hikers you
mentioned - he knows Full Time, Zig Zag, and Ranger Bob. Good to know
where they are. I actually met Zig Zag while I was on the Trail - she was
just Rebecca then (no trail name yet)! She was also one of a group who
ate dinner together when we were in Hot Springs. I also met
Full Time at one of the Trail Magics I did. Nice guy!! When I'm
meeting Skid, I try to go early whenever I can and do magic until he
arrives. I know only too well how nice it can be to have some surprise
cold beverages and fruit or other food you didn't have to carry.
Some of these thru-hikers are keeping an account
of the daily adventures on trailjournals.com
Hmmm. Not sure I would want a netbook in my pack for more weight.
How would you charge the battery? Did you know if you are doing the AT
wearing Merrells that your shoes will be replaced free when you have 1,000
miles on them? You will receive the exact shoe at one of the postal
drop-offs. Merrell Shoe figures you will have exhausted the life of your
shoe by 1,000 miles. Sister is wearing Mephisto boots and the other three
are wearing Merrells. What?? You thought the Zappo Queen would fail to
ask what kind of shoes everyone was wearing? Do you think those shoes are
made in a really cute style? And, yes, I have cute riding shoes!
Skyland Resort got the "beautiful/awesome"
award from the gang based not only on the lodge but on the surroundings. Sister
said there lots of horses at Skyland and I should be riding the trails up
there. This is the most posh of the three lodges. Snack today was
beer & fries. Tonight is a real dinner and Sister has already decided
on trout and blackberry cobbler. Whew! Am I glad Sister is
eating. Guess she got hungry from all the work. I knew Sister was a
true Ray...family trait...so, eat!
Tomorrow is the longest, almost 10 miles, and most
difficult portion of their hike in the woods. They will end the hike
where the car is parked and then onto Charlottesville
for the night. Are they having fun? Absolutely!!! Most amazing fact
for today...no one has had to pee while on the trail either day.
I really have to stop so I can finish BECOMING
ODYSSA before Sister gets home. You know this is one of the books which
inspired Sister's AT trek. Jennifer PharrDavis
is a Hendersonville
native and did a solo trek of the entire AT at age 21. In 2008, she
became the fastest woman to hike the AT... 57 days...that's 38 miles per
day. Geez...I need 2 Aleve just re-reading that!
DAY 3
Alas, I have little to report. Sister and
her gang completed their trek at 3:30
this afternoon...too tired to talk, too tired to think.
Spending the night in Charlottesville
and home tomorrow. For the "bama fans", Sister should be home
around 5:00
pm.
One note, dear Shawn's luggage was left on the
tarmac in Charlotte
(Sunday) but she was able to pick up her stuff this afternoon at the Charlottesville
airport! Go, US
AIR!!
Sister’s, a.k.a Sparky’s tale
On Day 1 our first group of thru-hikers told us it takes 200
miles to get your 'trail legs'.
We didn't understand what this meant until Day 3 when we realized that
simply hiking 200 miles would be a feat unto itself.
Last fall, hiking less than 10 miles per day for 3 days sounded like something
'anyone' could do. As I read more, I wondered how in the world it could take an
individual up to an hour to hike a mile. I mean, I can walk a mile, on a
sidewalk or street, in 14 minutes
and there are plenty of folks who can do so in less time so it was a stretch
for me
to imagine 1 mile in 1 hour. The addition of hiking boots and a backpack
began to
change my perspective. I guess only “husband” and Shawn really know what went
into
the decision of which pack to purchase and what to put it in so that I could
make
this tiny trek. What I can say is that, with 4.6lbs of water, I was
walking each
day with 21 lbs on my hips and shoulders. That in itself is a game changer.
Folks said
I should have carried less but even now, I'm not quite sure what I could have
left behind.
I don't think 2 extra pair of socks/ underwear were really wearing me down.
Bear in mind that unless you throw your clothes away - you are carrying the
same load
each day. Yep, you may drink ALL 4 lbs of your water but as the day goes along
and your shoulders get fatigued. ‘They' don't seem to care about the 2 or 3 or
4 lbs that you have deleted. The pack, itself, becomes a burden. One day,
just to make their point, my 3 comrades put 2 large rocks in my pack (right on
top, on the inside) and then asked me for
some Aleve - HA - what kidders!!!
I thought I could just sit down and reminisce about last week but as I began to
revisit my photos and memories I found myself getting all teary-eyed and
realized that this adventure, although brief, was a big deal for me. You
cannot know what your few emails about Skid’s and Pat's progress on the trail
meant to each of us. Once we took our first
step - their few words made a world of difference.
Shawn probably said it best when, at the end of Day 1, she said the trip was
'magical';
try as I might, I cannot think of a better one-word description. We saw
deer - up close and personal; a fawn that would make Bambi blush, a real-live black
bear just yards from where we stopped on the trail to talk with a girl with a
really cool dog (a Vizsla) who just happened to mention that there was a bear
on the trail! You've heard about 'my' mouse but you didn't hear that Joey
had 2 or 3 mice in his cabin and they were running up and down the walls - OMG!
Plants that made me want to cry: acres and acres of fern,
some as tall as we and NO YOU have never seen anything like this, I'll
guarantee it. Mtn Laurel for miles. MILES. We walked under it and at
times it was on both sides of us for the longest as we made our way thru it.
Wild columbine, fairy flowers, all manner of wild flower - trillium and
galax out the yazoo and poison oak that was so healthy you almost wanted to
photograph it. We were lucky enough to hit it maybe a week after some
trail maintenance had been done so lots of areas had seen the weed-eater - which
was EXTRA cool. There were places where the trail was only as wide as
'my' foot and other places where the trail was wide enough for 3 of us to walk
side-by-side (but these places were few and far between). Most of the
trail was 'about' 2 feet wide and often you were
brushing against growth with your legs and sometimes your arms and face.
We were a very egalitarian group - we all led and we all took up the rear
depending on our energy at any one time. Until the last day when I seldom moved
from last place and was just happy to be following someone.
No one can imagine how much we laughed on this journey. Shawn has ALWAYS
been able to make me laugh - it is one of her many gifts. Sometimes, when
we are having bad days one of us will call the other one and just say, 'make me
laugh' (believe it or not - I 'can' be funny) and we do but these 4 days were a
laugh riot.
Shawn is the world's greatest cookie baker and she had
brought each of
us 1 dozen chocolate chip cookies in our own ziploc bag. On the drive
from Charlottesville to Thornton Gap,
where we met the shuttle driver, her sister Robie ate her ENTIRE dozen cookies
- this after we had eaten lunch at Friday's before leaving Charlottesville.
And so the laughter began and it did not
end... we could find ANY and EVERY reason to laugh and just when you
thought there was no way you needed to 'pee' - the laughter would begin and you
would have to exert that extra ounce of energy to squeeze, yet another, muscle
really tight!
The places we stayed were all very clean (okay, there were mice in the cabins)
BUT the linens and towels and bathrooms were very clean. The food at the
lodges was really, really good and the staff were beyond cordial to everyone.
Someone has taught them that regardless of smell - we are their
meal-tickets. There are lots of folks who actually spend weeks at these
lodges during the summer, obviously they love the ambiance and I can see why...
One week ago today, as I type, we were in Charlottesville purchasing last
minute items to
load in a rental car for the trip to the Shenandoah National Park. In the
few pictures I am
including you will see the infamous piece of luggage that came from St. Louis
(with Shawn and Robie) but then spent the week in Charlottesville because it
was left sitting on the tarmac as the small plane we were in from Charlotte, NC
to Charlottesville, VA backed away. Our flights intersected there and we
were informed that the flight was overweight! Instead of leaving behind a man
who volunteered, US Air decided to lighten the load by off-loading luggage and
Shawn's bag (containing - among other things - our first class, first-aid kit) was
left standing on the tarmac. It was a surreal moment and one that got me
thru many difficult moments on the trail - I would get a visual of that bag and
start laughing. I mean there was NOTHING funny about flying off without
it except maybe the fact that Shawn was much calmer than I was coupled with the
fact that US Air could not deliver it to us since we would have been completely
unable to drag it behind us as we navigated the trail. SO - like the roaming
gnome, the bag had a vacation in Charlottesville,
while we tackled a tiny portion of the AT.
Picture 1 is MORNING 1 with Robie sporting orange, Shawn in yellow and Joey (in
basic blue - ha!) Shawn and I have been friends since 1989 or 1990 (I can't
remember) when I hired her to work with me at SchaefferEyeCenter
- she is younger than I... (enough said) She moved to Missouri
6 or 7 years ago where she and her husband now live close to her sister Robie
(who will be 49 later this month and has THE MOST UNUSUAL laugh I have ever
heard), her mother and their cousin Joey - who will be 50 in August. Joey
had this 'itch' to hike on the AT to celebrate his 50th and this may well be
how this whole thing came into being last summer. Joey is one of the nicest,
calmest, most-levelheaded men - I have ever encountered. He managed to
take poop from all 3 of us for 4 days and was just plain fun to be around.
We could not get him riled. He is diabetic so when I wasn't
worrying about anything else I found that I could
easily worry about him, his feet, blah, blah, blah... Joey didn't worry
about ANYTHING.
The fact that he gave himself injections at the end of every meal, by simply
pulling up his shirt and injecting himself in his abdomen was bizarre - I mean
he did this in every dining room, without fail so I found myself always
checking behind him to make sure he had this little pouch thing that held all
his apparatus and yep, he always did.
If you ever get REALLY bored you can go online to "hikelodgetolodge.com"
and read a description, written by someone who obviously took a Valium or
something to take the edge off reality at the end of each day. Believe
me, we had read these descriptions prior to arrival and revisited Day 1 on Sunday
evening - trust me, if they asked US to re-write these descriptions, fewer
folks would be on the trail! This particular area is supposed to be one
of THE easiest sections and I believe that. What I can't conceive is how much
more difficult other areas must be... The write-up about Day 2 mentioned
something called 'talus'; when I was discussing this with “husband”, he said,
that means 'bone'. Well even "I" knew we weren't going to be
walking on bones (at least not that we could see) but in retrospect it could
have meant bone as in, 'you may break one - or two'!
Talus equates to large rocks - note the picture. You can see Robie and
Shawn attempting to carefully navigate over these rocks (without hiking poles -
I was the only one with those) and naturally it felt like it was about 100 degrees
as we walked over 3 large areas of this talus. Our focus was on trying to
maintain our balance but we later learned that we should also have been paying
attention to the distinct possibility of snakes - they happen to love these
areas! AND don't let me leave this pic without pointing out that the
talus went up the side of the mountain on our right and down the side of the
mountain
on our left - so pretty much while you were 'in' it - it was ALL that you could
see.
Picture 3 is a shot or Robie, Joey and Shawn signing (or looking on) a banner
that a thru-hiker, by the name of Full-Time, was carrying in his pack. (I
cannot imagine carrying ANYTHING you couldn't wear or eat but what do I
know...) We met this man along with Ranger Bob (hiker name) and Zig Zag
(a female) who were traveling together within the first few minutes of our
first morning. (These three were friends of Skid.) We would leap frog
with them ALL day and then when we came upon them on the second day as we
walked up to Skyland Lodge you would have thought we were meeting long lost
friends (and we were!) Full Time has been a Scout leader for 34 years and
lived in a town of 400-something in Ohio.
He was looking forward to reaching the 'psychological
half-way point' of Harper's Ferry next week where his entire scout troop would
meet him along with 40-some people from his home town (IMAGINE - 1/10th of the
population was making the trek to VA to greet him!) and his scouts were going
to hike the next 50 miles with him!!! He was SOOooooo nice and cute and
funny AND had lost 40 lbs so he kept having folks send him smaller clothes
along the trail.
He had allowed ONLY folks from his life and hometown, who had already met him at
different points on the trail to hike for a day or two - to sign his banner but
he told us he wanted us to sign it as well cause we were so much fun!!!
That's because he did NOT see us on Day 3... The one thing that I
found that I could actually be jealous about when talking with thru hikers is
their ability to eat as much as they could - one guy told us
that one day he ate for 3 hrs straight and another said that he could easily
eat 6000 calories... Trust me, gaining weight on this adventure is NOT
going to happen - just lacing up your boots and putting that pack on your back burns
up whatever you eat for breakfast.
The 4th picture is of the 4 of us at dinner (well actually dessert) at Skyland
Lodge in preparation for our final day on the trail. I am holding up
(what could best be described as a Pyrex dish of) blackberry cobbler.
Both Big Meadows (which I swear was served in something bigger and I
shared it with Joey that day - but this day
I had thought about it ALL day and warned him that I was NOT about to share -
G-d had the last laugh cause it was smaller...) and Skyland served this cobbler
and it was ORGASMIC - I'm just saying - it was TO DIE FOR! You might be able to
discern that Joey also had blackberry ice cream ON his cobbler but I'm a purist...Shawn
and Robie ate chocolate and another picture, which I did not include, shows
Robie literally LICKING
the plate. If you look closely you might note that my face is beginning
to swell - since I had been bitten by one of the many 'bull gnats' in the area.
These suckers bite you - you may or may not feel it at the time and then
you may or may not react. Lucky me - I am allergic to their slobber so...
what started as a little swelling under my right eye ended up with me
looking very much like a pig the next morning.
The next picture shows us as we were heading off for our final day. I was
'hopped up' (if you can be hopped UP) on Benadryl and after over an hour of
holding an ice pack over my eye I had a slit thru which I could see and if I
needed to see my feet (which was an absolute necessity since we walked on rocks
about 90 % of that day - smaller rocks than talus but rocks that require you to
pay attention to every freaking step) I had to turn
my head/face DOWN. Couple this with the fact that I haven't taken
Benadryl in years cause it 'used' to make me so sleepy and you can only imagine
how much the other 3 loved having me with them... This was the longest hiking
day - 9.5 miles, I think - several straight up ascents followed by (you guessed
it) straight down descents
(what goes up...must come down... spinning wheel - got to go round... yep, I
made a song about virtually everything the first two days - day 3, it took
every ounce of energy to just keep pushing ahead). It was interesting to
note, the following day at the airport, that this day - June 8, 2011, was THE hottest on record for the
area and although it is cooler in the mountains this 'coolness' is relative.
When you don't start hiking till 8:42
in the morning
you have missed 2 very pleasant hours and each time you are walking IN the direct
sun - you are really IN THE DIRECT sun. I cannot forget to give credit to
the birds that 'sang' us all the way to the end. Early mornings in the dappled
sunlight with multiple birds singing their own special songs was like being
INSIDE a Disney movie. Day 1
I amused the other 3 with my Snow White rendition and the hits just kept on coming.
Many hikers wear iPods for obvious reasons (like not having to interact
with idgets like us) but also perhaps to keep them from thinking about blisters
or pains or just to keep them moving. Personally, I'd rather listen to
the birds. You might go thru a small
area and not hear them but just when I thought perhaps I wouldn't hear them
again that day, back they would come and sing - they did!
The last picture I included is of a group of 3 guys who are part of the 'group
of 30s' (or some such name that 30 yr olds have given themselves). They
all began their thru hike adventures at different dates in April and already
close to the half way mark on the trail. They meet each other on the
trail and may walk a while together and then go their own pace and then when
they encounter one another at watering holes/taprooms
and the like they catch up, eat and drink all they can and take off again.
Meeting other hikers and hearing their stories was, without a doubt, the
highlight of the trip (along with the bear!) I took every opportunity
from Day 1 to give away food from my pack with the hope of lightening my load.
It never worked but I gave away ALL my food AND my toilet tissue. (And
yep, on the last day I finally had to pee on the trail - well, actually
OFF the trail but you get the idea.) I would have given away my clothes
if I thought the folks would mail them to me from the next town! These 3
were particularly interesting in that we spent 3 hours, sitting at a table on
the patio at Skyland, drinking beer and asking them every conceivable question
about thru-hiking. Every question that 'we' could imagine. These
guys all came in at different times and once two of them joined us
by the end of the day for us, there were 10 at the table... On the left
you see Grimey (one of the dwarves, I assume) who is an engineer in his real
life, Oggie - in the middle and yes, HE spelled it for us - not oooggie but
Oggie. Cute young guy from the Milwaukee
area who ate slaw with his hands - hhhhhmmmm. Goldie is on the right with 4
UNIQUE gauge earrings - (one made from buffalo horn that looked -I apologize
for the graphics but it looked like a giant booger - until you got close enough
and then it looked like
a giant booger made from horn...) and a long, skinny braid - all that was left
of his hair when he was shorn early on. Their stories SHOULD be a movie so I'm
wondering if there is a movie out there of REAL hikers and their real stories. We
had a ball buying them beer, picking their brains and giving them snacks from
our packs. Goldie, a vegetarian, who prefers to be a vegan ate everything
we put in front of him (and there was a PILE) before leaving the table - he
didn't want to carry it with him on the 10 additional miles he planned to do
that evening. He actually passed us on Day 1 or Day 2
and gave us quite a scare in doing so because he came up behind us without
making A SOUND. We mentioned this during our sit-down and he told us that
he has been hired thru the years to track animals for people exactly because he
is able to walk without making ANY noise. He also looked quite scary
until you talked to him and then he was
seemed to be the polar opposite from his 'look'.... hhhhmmmm...
either he is a serial killer or the nicest guy you could ever hope to
meet.
The last picture is the infamous 'roaming' luggage... if only it could
talk I would love to hear the stories 'it' would tell...And know that I haven't
mentioned the interesting folks I sat beside on 2 legs of my flight - one an
Air Force Medic who has already completed 2 brief tours in Afghanistan and Iraq
and is headed back again in December and another,
married to a woman from Trinidad/Tobago.
Someday soon I hope I can really consolidate my thoughts and write down what I
learned or as Oprah would say, "what I know for sure". At this
point I can say that with one exception - everyone we encountered on the trail'
seemed' very nice and was, even briefly, interesting. Some were very fun
and funny and I look forward to following
their adventures on trailjournals.com.
"One day at a time" and "putting one foot in front of the
other" mean more to me now than they did a week ago; the latter being literally
how I made it back to our car on Day 3. I know that I am stronger than I
look or appear to others and that when you are really tired and really
perspiring you can't cry
cause you don't have the liquid or energy needed for tears. I believe
that if someone would 'carry my load' (ie - slackpack) I might attempt another
section of this beautiful trail and even if that doesn't happen I hope I never
forget the sites and sounds along the portion I walked. It was truly magical.
No question about it, dental appliances, a.k.a braces, have improved since the 1960’s. Well, really since the time of B.C., when the whole concept began. Actual applications, as we can relate, were in the 1800’s and what people endured for a charming smile was truly torture. Braces were complete bands around the tooth until a “glue” was developed in the 1970’s that would bond a bracket on the exterior of the tooth. Wires were many and varied but the advent of elastics was not until the early 1900’s. You may thank Calvin Case for elastics and all the problems involved or perhaps fun.
My first memory of braces was near age 10 and that dear reader was 50 years ago. First there was a series of impressions, a mold of your teeth, to determine what, where, how your braces would be placed. A metal, impression tray with a handle was filled with some sort of “goop” akin to cement. While this “goop” was soft, the tray was shoved onto either your upper or lower jaw quite firmly. As in, pushed into place and held there for the amount of time it took to solidify. No amount of wailing, gasping or tears would remove this tray until the orthodontist determined an impression had been made. Now, if you were unruly or had squirmed or shifted your mouth, the process was repeated. Upon removal of this tray, I quickly looked to see how many teeth had been extracted in the process. None. However some of that “goop” was attached to parts of my mouth and teeth. Brushing would help but nothing could remove the feel or the taste. That was visit one.
On visit two, you might get your bands. These were a lovely shade of gunmetal gray and surrounded the teeth involved. On the third visit, the torture continued with wires added. As if this were not enough pain for a young child, the fourth visit was the “twister” or the tightening of the wires. Finally, after some time with the wire torture, the rubber bands were introduced. You had to carry a packet of these miniscule bands everywhere because they were forever breaking, popping off in mid-sentence or being swallowed. Oh right, it was funny in class but also, tres embarrassing. If you were truly doomed, you would be fitted with headgear or what I would call a “headstall”. (Even my horse does not wear something this terrible.) My dear sister had to wear headgear at night and did not sleep comfortably for the entire treatment period. Nightmares, yes.
Who dreamed up this pain and why were my parents paying for it? Did they hate me? No, I had inherited my father’s family's teeth, too few. As in twelve too few and very small facial bones. When I think of the years of orthodontic treatment, I know my parents loved me very, very much to support the reconstruction of my mouth. After braces, came partials or bridgework that could be removed. Imagine wearing partials during college; isn’t that what old people wore? Didn’t they soak their partials in a glass by the bed, too? The worst was my first year teaching when one “fake” tooth on the upper partial broke. OMG!!!! I could not go to work that day until the tooth was glued back in place.
Finally, when I was 30, Dr. Bob Harris did a procedure called the MarylandBridge which not only changed my life but his, too. Dr. Harris was a new dentist in practice with Dr. Pearce Roberts, who was the end all to dentists in Asheville, NC. My mouth was Dr. Harris’ first big project and an extreme success. This “bridge” was both upper and lower with a permanent placement which was not an implant. At the time, we thought this might last 15 years. 30 years and counting…always select a perfectionist when you want the job done right!! I might mention that Dr. Roberts had done some mercury fillings when I was 7 years old to close teeth which had formed incorrectly. I still have those fillings with no leaks. Again, a perfectionist.
So why am I doing braces again? My teeth have shifted & separated; both jaws are misaligned; major TMJ, and my bite is a disaster. Not to mention the cosmetic issues. Will insurance cover this? NO!! If I had had jaw surgery and replaced my bridge work, then I would have been compensated to some extent. How crazy and incredibly painful would that have been?? So, braces were the logical solution.
Is there a difference between the 1960’s version and the 2011 version of braces? PLEZ! OMG!! LOL!! I guess the price would be comparable but the pain would be so much less. First visit was a series of X-Rays and “before” photos. When you see your mouth in living color and your teeth looking so “sad”, there is no question that intervention is necessary. There are NO, I repeat NO IMPRESSIONS at any time. You are presented a selection of braces based on your needs (and financial situation). A treatment time line is suggested. No pressure. You can leave without a commitment.
I stayed. This was an excellent decision. Dr. Roeder and staff made all the arrangements; all I had to do was be on time for my appointment. This is a lovely office with a lot of “stuff”. Most of the patients are tweens or teens so the office lobby needs to appeal to them with games and Internet. There is a Senso machine area; televisions tuned to whatever channel; computer check-in, magazines, a board with the daily events and contests. Yep, Dr. R. & staff play some serious games with patients… I even won a prize! Check out their fun page on FB..I am there!
Second visit was installation of braces. Today’s braces are brackets “glued” to the front of the tooth. Each bracket has a little door that opens and closes over the wires. My brackets are clear in the line of vision. The back ones are that ugly metal color but who cares. If I am smiling that big, I must be looking like a total jerk. Did it hurt? A little. But the following two days were the painful ones. Take 2 Aleve and quit complaining. The fun begins when you rearrange your eating techniques. Don’t think about hamburgers, fries, pizzas or even salads for several days. Little bites are good; look for foods that will not hang disgustingly from your wires. ALWAYS, ALWAYS carry a toothbrush or dental pic. Never, ever leave home without one or you will be so embarrassed. Have you ever seen a portion of a noodle or lettuce or bread lodged on a bracket or wires? GROSS! GROSS! GAG!
Visit three in late October will be for the installation of my lower braces and more on that when it happens. I am SO,SO smiling...thanks to Dr. Harris and Dr. Roeder.
