September 18, 2006
Mom served a great dinner salad including chicken and cheese. We ate heartily and remembered to thank her for her nurturing. Gary went to a nearby lodge to check email and I began to work on my journal entry. Mom prepared a pan of warm Epsom salt water in which I soaked my feet and I was grateful. My feet are healing, but I have acquired one new strategically disappointing blister that benefited from the treatment.
Gary returned from the Lodge to tell us of the email traffic he had reviewed. We discussed the tone of our combined project and affirmed that the whole team (the three of us and our spouses and families) is taking the right approach. We reasserted that we are all committed to helping our nation get well. We said our goodnights and thanked each other for the effort we each offered in making this a productive day. Gary got into his tent and Mom and I crawled into our bunks in the camper. The cold night air is already surrounding us in and out of the camper. We will face colder times and will have to optimize our set-up for that. This cold weather is a nice foreshadowing of what’s to come. For now we snuggle into our sleeping bags and enjoy the comfort of a cozy rest.
We finished breaking camp and Gary and I started walking at 5 AM. The visual images of the morning were memorable. Initially we were surrounded in black darkness that reached to the sky filled with stars and a crescent moon. The only near images I could resolve were my feet moving with the glowing circle of light on the ground cast by the lantern. I told Gary that it reminded me of coal miners going into work. As time passed, the horizon slowly emerged as a black jagged wall against an ascending graduation of light blue to dark blue background. I thought of the hour and our activity and it was almost like we were intruders in a mysterious world known to few people. I considered the desert animals’ perspective of these two humans walking in this night world defying instinct. First, a rare truck passed then traffic increased as the busy Monday got underway. A passing school bus reminded me of my kids. I imagined the time we would be together again and smiled.
Gary looked across the room at a Public Health Service (PHS) commander and said, “I wonder what kind of uniform that is.” I said, “That’s a PHS commander. I’ll bet she works at a local clinic.” Gary said, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes, I’m sure. Remember, Gary, I was in the navy for a while and wore a similar uniform. The PHS officers have nearly identical uniforms to the navy uniforms. Trust me on this one.” He still looked skeptical, so I said, “Well let me go just ask her.” I walked over to her table and introduced myself. Gary joined us. Their lunch was on the way, so we spoke only briefly. The uniformed woman confirmed that she was a PHS commander and told us that she is an administrator for a local clinic. We talked with her and her fellow diners about Gary’s journey and Fast-5. I gave each of the four of them a book to read and share. They work with a population that could benefit from the information in the Fast-5 book. We said our good-byes and let them get on with their lunch.
Mom and Gary and I returned to our booth for another few minutes and discussed the state of Gary’s legs. My mom said, “Gary, you did take your Motrin this morning, right?” Gary looked at Mom in a way we now recognize to mean “I know you reminded me and I really am sorry that I didn’t take it when you told me. I was in the middle of something and became distracted.” Mom started the lecture about stopping everything when he is reminded about a high priority activity. She called him “son of mine.” It’s important to note that the three of us have agreed to consider our relationships to be analogous to brother, sister and mother when we are managing any potential interpersonal conflicts. In this case, Mom had offered a reminder to Gary this morning and he had not dropped everything to take a medicine that has been essential to his comfort with walking. As Mom continued on with the lecture, I said, “Gary, be careful. She just called you ‘son of mine.’ You are on the verge of the BIG lecture.” We all laughed. This sort of exchange has been one of the ways that we manage our interactions when things are turbulent. Given the number of hours we are spending together and the stress associated with the nature of our life here, it is essential that we create levity as we attempt to merge our three priorities. So far the communication style is working for the group.
We resumed our walk with a brisk pace to the 15 mile mark. The terrain was relatively flat. Gary tolerated that with no difficulty. After 15 miles, Gary again was struggling. The road had changed to an inclined configuration. We discussed possibilities at some length and he made a plan. We stopped walking after a total distance today of 19.45 miles.
