GOALS

Goals come and go or  they change with the passing years. When I was a kid, I wanted hair as long as this woman.  Now I’m quite happy with short hair. At one time it was my goal to parachute from an airplane and try hang gliding. My husband convinced me it was unfair to risk leaving my children without a mother if something went wrong. I never regretted rearranging my goals over the years because life was so full of wondrous things.

I first considered walking  the Appalachian Trail about  25 years ago, but it wasn’t a fire-breathing dragon goal, just a simmer at the back of the brain.  The length of the trail, which stretches from Maine to Georgia, is about 2,150 miles. Pretty daunting when you realize you have to carry everything with you, cooking utensils, tent, emergency medical kit, food, water. Adventurists who have done it term it a  life changing experience.
That goal re-emerged when I met a friend of Jim’s who is walking the Appalachian Trail in pieces.  Hilda is in her late 70′s, a former marine and in good health. She walks with two other women bit, by bit, mile by mile, each year. There are others who tackle the entire length, which takes around 5 months.  Jim and I have entered small areas of the trail while traveling the East Coast. Once in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, and again at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and several places on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The urge began to stir anew. Good health is key to a 2,000 mile hike no matter how you do it.
Last night, we went to a seminar on hip, knee and shoulder replacements. I’m a candidate for hip replacement. I know I can’t walk the trail without doing something about an arthritic hip. I was amazed at what I learned about hip replacement, including an opinion from one participating surgeon that surgically replacing hips will be a thing of the past in possibly 20 years. I can’t wait that long for new technology. Now, is the time.
Pain is a motivator. For me, a greater motivator to consider hip replacement  surgery, is the current book I’m reading, Bill Bryson’s, A Walk In The Woods. Bryson walked the  Appalachian Trail in a five month stretch. I’m hoping that someone out there has walked the trail and will message me about their experience.  And, I will post some of Bryson’s  observations as I read. I’m also looking for a walking companion because this is not on Jim’s agenda.

CIRCUS CAMP

Circus Camp is an unusual summertime experience. Kids learn various circus skills and have great fun doing it. The last day of camp, my daughter and son-in-law, and grandson, Austin, visited the camp, watched the kids perform what they had learned, and accompanied  grandsons Owen and Theo while they gathered their belongings and said goodbyes to new friends. Real high wire artists begin by walking the wire just two feet from the ground. The wire is gradually raised as skills improve. Notice the spotter for this young walker even though the wire is only two feet off the ground.

Short stilt walkers do well while walking. But, to stand and take a bow, they must support each other with their spotters engaged to keep them upright.

Wavy Gravy, the camp originator, explained that riding the unicycle is the most difficult task at camp.

Parents watch the unicyclists practice on this track.

Theo demonstrated a couple of magic tricks for us.

Kids all over the park were showing off their skills to parents and friends. Both boys learned enough card tricks to make us dizzy.

Owens greatest skill is stilt walking. While he was getting attached to his sticks, I heard other kids comment on his skill as in, “…oh, there’s Owen. He’s the best.”  A bit of awe in their voices as they acknowledged a champ. He walked the camp over on rough terrain, gravel, puddles. His second year, he is the undisputed hero for now. Dad is making sure he doesn’t fall, needed or not.  The kids wear wrist supports  and are taught how to fall if something goes wrong.

Time to gather belongings and say farewell to tipi mates.

With mixed emotions, a last look around. Leaving. Going home.  Both boys agree Circus Camp is great. While their parents worried about what they were doing, were they homesick?  They discovered the letter they’d written to Theo had gone unread. We all laughed. Question answered.

Later that night, continuing the camp experience,hot dogs, roasted marshmallows and star-gazing around the fire. Austin’s marshmallow caught fire and he likes them that way.  (Me too!)