[at-l] Post Trail...

[pmags@juno.com]

>I'm curious what the Class of 98ers are doing now.  How did the Trail 
>change >your life  Are you doing something now that is different than
what 
>you >expected before your hike?  


 Phew..my computer is down for almost two weeks, I come back and find 898
e-mails between the two lists..sheesh! Doesn't anyone hike out there? :P



  The trail did not so change my life, but it made me flexible enough to
deal with the changes waiting for me at home that DID change my life.   

The first of August, I summited the Big K.  Beautfiul day, completing a
dream I have had for a while.  My buddies were there, friends from the
trail, my youngest brother..all celebrating a very important day for me. 
    August 2nd, somewhere in Maine on I95..heading back to my home in
Rhode Island: the car gets very quiet, my brother says "Paul, there is
something I have to tell you...while you were away this past year our
parents divorced, the house was sold".. (And to really make this a bad
country music song!)  "the dog was put to sleep".   Was a bit stunned to
say the least.  When I arrived at home, the house was empty of all
furniture (except for my bed, and my brother's), all my belongings were
in cardboard boxes. There was a FOR SALE sign on the front lawn, with a
big SOLD sign on top of that.   I also found out I had less than three
weeks to find out where the heck I was going to live. 
   Adjusting from the trail to the real world is always a task, but these
turn of events made things a bit more interesting, to put it mildly. 
Starting the second day  I was back in Rhody,  dear ole Dad asked "Did
you rent a U-haul yet". Hey..glad to see you too! Sure missed you guys
when I was in the woods for five months..really glad I can be back
home.....
 The day I moved out, it was not my family that helped me but my buddies.
Kind of symbolic of most of my (admittedly brief) adult life.   

    Now what am I doing different now?  Leaving Rhody.  Time for a
change.....  So    I am again packing up a U-Haul and moving to Ft.
Collins, CO  on August 1st (it is a day I am partial to now..).  A buddy
of mine I have known since first grade will be going for the road trip. 
     Will be attending CSU, living on student loans, and will be eating a
diet consisting  of Ramen, mac' cheese, and other types of pasta.  Be
like hiking, except there will be beer in a fridge and I will shower more
than once a week! :D  Will be getting a completely useful degree in
history.. ;),....maybe I'll be a very educated cashier  employed at 7-11.
Could be fun......
Could tell the story behind big gulps..
  

 
Magaroni...venting a little bit....

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