curb your temper

curb your temper

fiction
edward w pritchard

My life being in transition and not wanting to move away permanently I found myself a dozen years ago walking by day and sleeping in pitch dark alone on the Appalachian trail at night. In the middle of the night, still deep in sleep, a thundering crash startles in the woods and clutching a stout walking stick one jumps awake to do combat with bear or coyote. Such time is not appropriate one to remind a man to curb his temper or be mindful of his surroundings. Instincts rule and a half century of rage
is released as aggressively pointing a small bright flashlight at an unfamiliar woody hillside lost ground is tramped preparing to do battle with unseen foes. You are not alone for three hundred generations of truculent male ancestors ride across your adrenaline to join you as you ultimately find you are not afraid and you realize you should have maybe been a soldier for a while after all.

On later trips on the Appalachian trail I slept in the backseat of a big old white Lexus my youngest brother found me to help with my times of troubles, in a very cheap dive hotel with groups of my children, or on a hard wooden platform at a trail shelter with brute neighbors where my walking stick was only swung at someone in my imagination; justified because after 10 hours of walking with a heavy pack I couldn't bear to hear about why an old hippy's companion Virginia dropped out of college a dozen years ago.

I never actually saw a bear on a trail hike but two of my son's did while I escorted their sister uphill for a few hours to retrace our steps back to the trusty Lexus to take us to Damascus, Virginia to feast
at the Mill stream restaurant. Just me and three of my four children having the best meal I ever had because of the company I enjoyed that weekend trip. Traveling and exploring with one's grown children is memorable.

Next to a strong walking stick and some ready cash the most important things to take on a seven day Appalachian trail hike are a good high lumen's flashlight, a light weight warm blanket and plenty of caffeine drinks and a few dozen power bars. Don't over plan and don't be afraid of the dark or the unknown future. Before you know it both will rise and pass from your life. Sleeping safely on a soft blanketed mattress at home a dozen years later you can say-I hiked on the Appalachian trail and one dark rainy night I heard a bear or maybe mountain lion stalking me as I slept a sleep of the ancient
slumbers of my ancestors.