Blame it on Bill......

     I had acquired myself a Kindle Fire, one of the newfangled tablet/readers that were coming out to compete with the Apple iPad.  I have always been a stalwart Apple fan, but in this case, economics ruled my decision, and at less than $200, the Fire was a clear winner for what I needed it for, which was to simply read in bed without needing a light (the Fire is self-illuminated, unlike the readers, which are more like a paper book; black and white and not back-lit).  This led to downloading books from Amazon left and right to keep my voracious appetite for something to read well fed.
     One of these books was "A Walk in the Woods", by Bill Bryson.  This turned out to be a real treat, and educational to boot.  Bill was already an established author with such titles as "Neither Here nor There" and "Made in America" when his cult best-seller was written.  Although it is marketed as non-fiction, Bryson is said to have melded the personalities of several friends into a composite character named "Katz".  In it, he describes The Appalachian Trail in fairly good detail, describing it's character and history, and his ill-fated attempt to thru-hike it along with the thousands of other enthusiasts who crowd onto the trail with the idea of completing the whole thing within a six-month window, give or take a month or two.  I personally had heard of the trail in passing as a young man, but with so many other priorities, few of them involving the great outdoors, I had never delved into the subject deep enough to realize what an amazing construct it really was.  However, as a much older man thirsting for something to fill a void in his life, indeed his very soul, the IDEA of this trail suddenly became an obsession, a SOMETHING I knew more than anything I could DO, not just dream about from the relative comfort of my computer chair.
     After my twenty-fifth-odd book outlining yet another intrepid hiker's epic journey up the spine of the Appalachian Mountain chain, I began to believe I knew everything I needed to know about this trail, and began to plot my adventure in my mind and in reality, albeit somewhat stealthily, because the very idea that I was daring to plan something of this magnitude and duration to partake in WITHOUT her was not going to go down well with the wife.  And sure enough, by the time the cat escaped the bag, her total lack of support (and even hints of outright desire for sabotage) became quit clear, but this time my dedication to this cause was unwavering, and I made it clear to HER that for once, this WAS about ME, and the planning proceeded without her support or participation up to almost the very day I departed for Springer Mountain.
     So, like I said, blame it on Bill, because his "Walk in the Woods" inspired me to take to the woods myself, and to overcome many obstacles to begin my own adventure on "The Road to Damascus".

     Next:  Simply getting there alive.........