Shout out to Fire Marshall - we got your comment, but don't know how to get back to you!

We met Fire Marshall, where else, on the Appalachian Trail. Yesterday, he left a comment on our blog, but no email, so I just wanted to give a shout out and say, yes, we got your message, we're doing fine!

All this rain today made me think of tree branches dripping with raindrops, and woods that smell so earthy and fertile, as little wildflowers poke up out from under the leaf cover. It reminds me of getting sunburn before the leaves came in, and the endless rolling mountains of the south. Two years ago today I still wasn't confident calling myself a thru-hiker...with only 400 miles on my boots, I felt all at once like I had walked forever and a day, but was unimaginably distant from my goal. Two years ago today we were taking a break in Erwin, TN, where Ms. Janet, for years and years, fed scores of hikers at a big table in her backyard. (She even had a vegan option!) That hostel has since closed, but one image that will be forever burned in my mind is the row of discarded hiking boots, each planted with a flower, out in front of her house.