Loose Leaf Notes

1. Hiking the AT is not unlike following the Grateful Dead. Dead heads and AT hikers both become like family as far as camaraderie, support and helping each other goes. There are trail angels who offer supplies and feed the hikers hot food where ever the trail and a road cross. Most of them are hikers who know what it’s like. Joe said it’s not unlike being given a miracle ticket at a show from someone you don’t even know. More from Bound to Cover Just a Little More Ground HERE

2. I’m thinking that hiking the AT is also like running away with the circus.

3. Joe bought some thrift shop crocs after his first week when he and his hiking partner stopped in a town to resupply, shower and etc. He didn’t like them and later found a pair he did like, so he left the first pair in a hiker’s giveaway at a shelter.  Later he met the person wearing them and learned that some fellow hikers tried to give the guy the trail name Cinderella, because the shoe fit.  More HERE.

4. Cinderella’s Lost Lady Slipper: If the shoe fits, wear it. If the song lifts, hear it. Don’t wait till midnight.

5. Newly home from his 2 week AT hike, Joe (see picture to the right) says: “I finally got the weight of my bag down below 25 pounds. Perhaps a slight adjustment of my shoulder straps would make it even better.”

6. I spoke with my friend Alwyn, author of Never Love a Feral Cat: A Tale of Compassion and Coexistence, on the phone yesterday. She, who is largely housebound at 95 said, “Now I like dogs.” But elephants are her life, she added.

7. Scientists think there’s a mirror universe where time moves backwards – More HERE.

8. “Don’t prioritize your looks my friend, as they won’t last the journey. Your sense of humor though, will only get better with age. Your intuition will grow and expand like a majestic cloak of wisdom. Your ability to choose your battles, will be fine-tuned to perfection. Your capacity for stillness, for living in the moment, will blossom. Your desire to live each and every moment will transcend all other wants. Your instinct for knowing what (and who) is worth your time, will grow and flourish like ivy on a castle wall. Don’t prioritize your looks my friend, they will change forevermore, that pursuit is one of much sadness and disappointment. Prioritize the uniqueness that make you you, and the invisible magnet that draws in other like-minded souls to dance in your orbit. These are the things which will only get better.” Donna Ashworth, author

9. I was watching the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and thought it was a stunt that bombed. Imagine my innocence to the think the sound went out at the same time.

10. “…So many people saying Will only chose violence because of his wife’s reaction to the joke. He was laughing till he saw her glaring, some say, she forced him to do it with a ‘look’. Now, one thing is very clear to me here and must be shouted loudly for the younger generation: If a man chooses violence to ‘protect’ his wife’s dignity, that is entirely on him. If anyone chooses violence over the myriad other ways to express dislike, that is entirely on them. We need to stop this narrative that women ‘coerce’, ‘manipulate’ and ‘incite’ men to do ‘crazy things for love.’ That’s what Will said later as he accepted his Oscar, ‘love makes you do crazy things’. No Will, it does not. Anger makes you do crazy things. Jealousy, greed, bitterness and mental health issues can all contribute to that…But love, no. Love is peace, acceptance, accountability.  And never comes with violence.” Donna Ashworth

11. “That insult is gonna last a very long time. If you want to yell from the audience and show disapproval or say something on Twitter that’s fine. But you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face because they said words.” “The slap came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated. I wish him the best. I have nothing against Will Smith. He’s done great things, but that was not a good moment. It cast a shadow over everyone’s shining moment last night…It was a selfish moment.” Jim Carey

12. Now the hour is closing in / like it did for Cinderella / I know the shoe fits / and that the future is your prince / Tonight we will dance / Knowing love made its impression / like rippling circles / repeating and spreading / But they fade as they widen / like a child’s forgotten smile / A fairy godmother arrives at the ball / She goes home alone at midnight… Read Playing Dead Before the Ball in its entirety HERE.

13. “When her parents were born, segregation was lawful in America, and here was a Black woman of unquestioned qualifications nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, and against that heroic background, Senators Cruz, Cotton, Hawley, Graham, and Cornyn performed shameless acts in broad daylight before millions of people. These men should not be allowed to eat in public restaurants. They should go to the drive-up window and eat in the parking lot.” Garrison Keillor

__________Thirteen Thursday