Rabbit Rabbit

Happy May!
In honor of the month change (and weather change!? please?) I shall share a family-fun joke cherished by botanists and Massachusettsians alike:

April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring?

(wait for it)

...Pilgrims!

::tee hee hee hee::


Oh, hi!
We're in the exciting town of Bland, Virginia (tee hee again), having hiked 583 miles. I cannot believe we are going to hit 600 tomorrow. It seems so surreal to have traveled so far on foot. My legs and feet believe it, though. My diet changes do as well. We talk about this constantly-- the prospective readjustment to real life, i.e., "What do you mean I can't have Snickers bars for breakfast?" or "Wait... 'Little Debbie's' isn't supposed to be its own daily meal?" It's fine. Let it happen.

News keeps flooding in from home: engagements, new relationships, etc. I feel so removed sometimes, and I have started to really cherish the voicemails and phone calls. I miss the voices of my loved ones, and their (your!) embraces, especially. The thru-hiker's life is on many days bountiful and on others a balance teetering on deprivation. I'd have to say I definitely don't get enough hugs out here.

The terrain in Virginia has seemed friendly so far. We climbed some mountains (the largest in VA, Mount Rogers, we climbed but didn't summit...lame, AT routers) but have been walking along a ridge for much of the time as well. It's always welcome. Things are finally starting to bloom, especially at low elevations, and the flowers and burgeoning plant life have placed many smiles on my face. The other day we walked through some farm land and then through some fields and meadows. Flowering trees scented the air; colors dotted the fields. I picked up a dandelion and put it behind my ear. I spent most of that day walking with my friend Hermes, who paused under a cherry blossom, leaning up on his tip toes to smell a flower. It made me smile. We agreed afterwards that it had been one of our favorite days on the trail thus far. Pat/Saint, Wags, Gangsta and I saw a Black Rat Snake yesterday. At 4 1/2 feet long, it was by far the largest snake I have ever seen in the wild, and I was very glad I didn't come upon it first. Gangsta, my wildlife buddy, started provoking it with her trekking pole and I got a great photo of it all curled up staring at the pole tip. Our friend Dutch is carrying a plastic basketball hoop and the boys strung it up and were playing basketball in a shelter the other night. It was entertaining. We also finally heard the Whippoorwill that G has been telling us about, so I can identify that call now too, bringing the grand total to 5 (well, 5 1/2, I'm still working on the Wood Thrush). We had a great laugh because she's been imitating the call for us for weeks and we never heard it, so my brother started to make fun of her for creating a fake bird. We finally heard it, but then it it didn't shut up all night next to our tents so everyone was all Whippoorwilled-out. There are many moments like this; we hold on to beautiful pieces, to stories, to jokes and games, to conversation and memory, and, then, we walk.

Our pack, known by some on the trail as "The Crew," but self-titled "The Goonies" (as a rejection of "The Brady Bunch" --we are far too inappropriate for such a moniker anyways), will be dissipating over the next few days. Gangsta's dad and husband are coming for visits on separate days this week. Hermes is going to meet his brother in Pearisburg. Rusticus had a package in Bastian and went there instead of Bland so we lost him yesterday. Wags is trying to catch the Pack of Divas. We have all been hiking together since the first week, and it will dramatically change the face of my travels not to have these people around the campfire at night. We hope to reassemble over the next few weeks, but that may prove difficult. We shall see.

The rain returned, naturally, and should continue on and off for the next four days at least. But! There is one important change from the beginning of this trek: temperature. I no longer have to worry about hypothermia when I get wet, which is lovely. Yesterday it rained but I hiked in my shorts and tshirt anyways. The night before it rained but the camping wasn't so miserable with the warmth there to accompany the sogginess. It does make you smell like wet dog at the end of the day though. Gross. Not to worry; I have since showered and am ready for another round of getwetstaywetandsmellterrible. Just laugh...I do. Anyone still up for one of those hugs?

Pat and I will be in Pearisburg probably Monday afternoon for a much-needed zero day on Tuesday. We pulled almost 20 every day this week. And something weird is going on with my heel that involved self-surgery. Gross again. But I jsut had my mom ship me my lighter boots now that we're hopefully out of snow season. I laced them up this morning and they feel like sneakers in comparison to the Vibram soles. So I might be flying.

But I miss you, dearests, and, as always, you are in my thoughts every day. All my love. Happy Trails.

<3 Bee/WindUp

Wags and G demo, it rains all the time:


And the Black Rat Snake interaction: