Loose Marble

hiker alone accept the sounds of the dark woods. Boon, Cartoons, cartoonist for hire, boondawgoggle, doodles, One Guy Drawing It is without a doubt my long held aspiration to thru hike the AT (Appalachian Trail).  I wanted to share this one Thru Hiker's Blog. This young lady, trail name Wired, just finished her 2185 mile hike yesterday after 111 days on the trail.  She updated a blog daily with wit, candor, and pictures sharing her day to day trials, tribulations (like her monthly periods) and triumphs along with the characters and players that make an AT thru hike an unique experience.     Yesterday's completion of the AT makes her a triple crown long hiker having previously completed the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) and PCT (Pacific Coast Trail).  I encourage you to start at Day One and make reading her blog the daily start to your day for the next 111 days. Walking With Wired: Day 111: Katahdin Baby! : The Birches Campsite(2180.1)-Mt Katahdin(2185.3) Maine Aug 5th 5.2mi

We returned to Hawaii several times after that first trip.  Each trip having its own unique twist or dynamic.  We were there when the Brady Bunch filmed their famous Hawaii episodes and played in the waves and sand with the Brady kids behind the historic Royal Hawaiian.  We vacationed with my mom’s mother, sister and my cousin.  At least once we rented a green VW Thing and toured the island, jungles and mountains.  Visited Air Force friends of my parents and my sister and I stayed the night with them and learned about Man O War jelly fish when we had to forego a dip in the ocean.  We stayed on Kauai and Maui and I stupidly passed on one trip to stay home to attend a summer high school class, then stupidly again several years later cut a trip short to return to my college girlfriend.  My last trip to Hawaii was June 1999.   It was my father’s last flight as a commercial pilot.   He was based in Honolulu and was a Captain on the 747.      At that time commercial pilots had to retire wh

By this point in my life I’d flown enough to have seen the world through a wider lens than afforded on a car trip.  I’d seen the tree tops, fields and mountains from an airplane window, but flying to an island, looking out the window and seeing effectively what looked like nothing was an eye opening experience.  Water is pretty featureless from 35,000 feet.  Just black as far in all directions as you can see.  It really drove home the reality of how huge the ocean is, and the world by extension and how small we are in comparison.  There is a lot to see out there and I was seeing a small bit of it for the first time. After five hours of the featureless, blackness our destination appeared as a disruption to the nothingness on the horizon.  The earth started to poke its rocky, tree covered dermis forth from the water.  The black water started to turn to dark blue giving away to ever lighter hues of blue.  The outline of the land looked like the piping of a sofa cushion in a contrasting

My mother reached down, straightened my tie and told me to go on outside and wait by the car. My sister soon joined me, dressed in a typical 1970’s plaid dress, knee socks and black buckle shoes. The sun had just started to rise on this late summer day in the suburbs of Washington, DC.  Me being all of six years old and my four year old sister, dressed to the nines standing in the driveway next to the family’s light blue Volkswagen Beetle must have been a sight of curiosity for the neighbor out walking his dog before leaving for work.  He must have known, although we were in our Sunday best, church was not our destination. Soon our mother appeared dressed in the latest seasonal fashion and in keeping with mine and my sister’s attire.  She pushed the storm door open and stepped to the side of the small concrete stoop to hold the door open for our father to emerge.  He was in a brownish suit with a perfectly coordinated tie that was classic seventies, ironing board wide.  Turning a

Ralph stares into space. His subconscious is screaming at him,  “How did you get into this situation?  How are you going to fix things?  Why does my life suck so badly?”   The voice is deafening.  His stomach continues to flex and loosen like he is going to vomit all over himself.  He can feel the anxiety deep inside giving him the sensation he has to urinate.  Flash card images pop in and out of his conscious; they show all the decisions he’s made.  One right after the other as if they had all occurred in the same rapid succession, but they didn’t…they occurred over the span of his life. The line from a Led Zeppelin song begins to bounce around in his head…”it’s never to late to change the road you’re on…it’s never to late to change the road you’re on…it’s never to late to change the road you’re on….”  Ralph knew better…he had contemplated getting off his metaphoric road …but he was never able to make the change.  Could Zeppelin be wrong? Was it just some 60’s hype?  Why couldn’t he

BANANA WAITS TO DIE   I’m one banana lying prone I got forgot.  I’m all alone   How did this happen? Why just me? I started life with twenty three   All alone I lie and wait What will be my final fate?   Why do I ask, I really know I saw it happen to Old Joe   The top banana in my bunch Selected for a sailor’s lunch   On the ship from Panama “OH MY GOD,” screamed Grandmamma   “The sailor just set Joey down!” The thought of it just makes me frown   Sitting in the hot sun light A few days passed he died of blight   Once brightly yellow then to black Once stiff and hardy then to slack   His innards oozed, the sight was sad It made my bunch so very mad   Now it’s me here all alone One banana with no phone   I feel as if up in the sky There is one really creepy eye   Looking down upon me here This is what I really fear   I know it gets some freaky joy It watches me as if a toy   I also feel the eye is pi