This morning I was summoned from my bed for a “State of Fidgit” communique with the parents. Through a Hydrocodone Haze (medicating through the days following my right foot’s interference with the meeting of a tree and my bike pedal) I attempted to process their expressions of concern. The conversation boils down to this:
“In tramping you are not earning a living, but earning a happiness.” Stephen Graham, The Gentle Art of Tramping, 1927.
They are concerned with the earlier half of this quote, I with the latter. The generation gap which stands between Baby Boomers and generation Xers &Yers is that they live to work, and we work to live.
So what IS on Fidgit’s forum?
I have begun a week-long retreat based on Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journaling Method. Under the guidance of Faye Schwelitz (Phd, PsyD), a woman as insightful as she is gentle, we delve for “a place to find answers that seem true to you” (as Faye is fond of saying). I find the prospect innervating.
I get to spend Memorial Day Weekend in Paddy Creek Wilderness, hiking with Emily J.
Then we kick into wedding mode, preparing to celebrate the union of Anna and Tim.
Joshua departs the next day for Bayview Summer Music Festival, a two month intensive vocal performance Young Artist Program…
… Essentially, summer camp for music kidults; the kind of individuals who feels compelled to come in while I’m away from my computer and correct my lay-man renderings of the titles of such programs.
One more month to save up and then I’m off for to the Long Trail. The oldest long distance trail in the US runs the length of Vermont and has over 66 shelters. At around 280 miles long, I expect to be hiking for about a month.
Around the time that Anna and Tim leave for Korea I will head out (end of July, early August). At this point I plan to drive up, visiting folk along the way.
As to the finer points, I will write more in depth as they develop. At this point, I have maps, rough dates, and ambitions of learning to dehydrate my own meals. So, stay tuned.
