Cutting through Damascas Va

I had an early morning appointment in Mountain City TN with the wonderful central office staff of Johnson County schools and a late afternoon appointment in Bristol City. So- I took the road through Damascas VA.....so we took TN 91 along the Mount Rogers through Abingdon. My business partner and I stopped at In the Country for a quick and wonderful lunch: http://www.inthecountryonline.net/

in the foothills of Whitetop Mountain where they sell a mean black bean spicy sandwhich with much care and attention. I stopped in Mt. Roger's Outfitters http://mtrogersoutfitters.com/for a quick look and advice about the Appalachian Trail and Virginia Creeper Trail. And, I got to meet Mike- pictured here. Mike lived 5 years....yep 5 years on the AT hiking it. He was friendly, gentle, and gave great advice and reminded me of the following Bryson quote:
“I wanted to quit and to do this forever, sleep in a bed and in a tent, see what was over the next hill and never see a hill again. All of this all at once, every moment, on the trail or off.” 

I spent some time thinking about my bustling life of car trips to work, back over the mountains to home, to my many meetings and found that I was incredibly jealous of Mr. Mike. I wondered what his life was like to walk in the woods for such a long period of time- the plants, people, and animals he must have encountered. In our brief talk, he said that a group of hikers had radioed in that they were going to stay in Damascas and that they had started in Maine.

Mike showed me the ad hoc AT rock museum displayed pictured above. Each interest has its own subculture and this one is well chronicled in Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods which I read over ten years ago when the family and I were hiking in the Smokies quite a bit. My favorite portion of the book includes:
“My particular dread--the vivid possibility that left me staring at tree shadows on the bedroom ceiling night after night--was having to lie in a small tent, alone in an inky wilderness, listening to a foraging bear outside and wondering what its intentions were. I was especially riveted by an amateur photograph in Herrero's book, taken late at night by a camper with a flash at a campground out West. The photograph caught four black bears as they puzzled over a suspended food bag. The bears were clearly startled but not remotely alarmed by the flash. It was not the size or demeanor of the bears that troubled me--they looked almost comically nonaggressive, like four guys who had gotten a Frisbee caught up a tree--but their numbers. Up to that moment it had not occurred to me that bears might prowl in parties. What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die, of course. Literally shit myself lifeless. I would blow my sphincter out my backside like one of those unrolling paper streamers you get at children's parties--I daresay it would even give a merry toot--and bleed to a messy death in my sleeping bag.” 

Thanksgiving on ETSU campus

Biggest tip for mailing in the Tricity area- go to the ETSU post office at the Culp Center. By far the friendly service and beautiful views. No matter how many times I walk away from the Culp Center toward my office in Rogers Stout I am stunned at the beauty of the meandering stream and weeping willow. Although not in this pictures, the last two days in Johnson City/Jonesborough have displayed a bright blue sky that I've only ever seen in Austin Texas.

The Post Office is a service at ETSU and the postlady said it was more like a consignment shop for them b/c they have to pay out in cash to the official po every day. I sent Tayler a box from there and it showed up with mulitude of state stamps which the kids framed b/c they said it looked like art work.

Sometimes joy in life really can be a weeping willow on the way to a friendly post person who gives out unusual stamps under a clear blue sky......just sometimes.