May 9 2012 eMail from All Smiles

Hey everyone, I'm at Woods Hole Hostel near Pearisburg VA and had a wonderful overnight stay.  I'm walking thru VA and it reminds so much on our own Cumberland Plateau area, everything is just on a smaller scale.  I'm walking between 13 to 20 miles per day, depending on weather and terrain.

I'm learning that there is no way to train for this thru hike, you can't adjust a treadmill to constantly changing grades, rocks, rain, cold wind, uneven steps over rocks and around roots and trees and over streams.  It is without a doubt the most challenging thing I've ever done.  I hope everyone of you are doing well and I am grateful to all of you for your thoughts and attention to Sheila while I am away.  I am meeting some of the most amazing people, all kinds of stories, backgrounds and reasons for being here.

I'm in the minority age wise, most are 25 range.  I am not at all interested in trying to keep up their speed but I can do the miles.  I've walked through forests which can't be described, too wonderful, sometimes I just stop and raise my arms and breathe in everything and wonder how it is that we all lost sight of what is real and truly important in life.  No one will remember our wins, losses, our competence, our ambitiousness, our authority, our wealth...what matters is how we touch and help each other and pass forward what kindness, generosity and love we have to offer...

that is all that will live on.  What we give to each other is what is eternal, not what we get from our own ambitions, not what we gather from our own greed.  Its the good will we build by loving each other and all living things that will pass beyond our lives that really counts. I am doing well out here and finding parts of myself which have been lost for a long, long time.  Peace to all of you.  P.S. I've already gone swimming in five rivers/creeks and love the cold water running over me.

Michael  aka  All Smiles