Basic Information : Synopsis : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References
Basic Information:
Author:
Paul
V. Stutzman
Edition:
Hardcopy loan
from Dennis P.
Read:
June
15, 2017
309
pages
Genre:
Biography, Outdoor
Rated:
3½
out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
The author lost his
wife to cancer after several years of struggle. While she was going
through the sickness, Paul Stutzman visited a church in Harper’s
Ferry during this time and started to think about if his wife died,
what would he do?
When his wife died,
he decided to fulfill his thinking about doing something, and that
would be hiking the Appalachian Trail. As he mulled through how, he
started looking for a sign from God that he should quit his job. As
the months went by, he had self-doubt, but one night he realized that
he was being grumpy with customers-he was a manager of a
restaurant-and with his staff.
While not a novice,
he had done a long distance hike before. So in March, he retired and
hit the trail, starting in Georgia. There is the usual hiker
difficulties: rain, cold, wind, snow, heat, steepness. But the things
he did not expect was to find a trail of friendship for months at a
time.
The other part of it
was to come to a basic understanding of the direction his life was to
take. He had been raised in a Mennonite home and was religious. This
walk would give him a chance to have conversations with God about why
things happened to him. Also to fulfill a commitment he made to God
to be a comfort to others who were trying to sort through loss in
their lives.
A bit of a spoiler,
Stutzman does make it and now realizes that he needs to figure out
God’s place in his life for the next part. Whatever it is, it
involves the outdoors and being of comfort to others.
Thoughts:
Prologue
At some point every backpacker
who has been out for more than just a few days has the thoughts in
this opening section: Why am I here? Why am I voluntarily suffering
instead of being back home enjoying the fruits of my labor?
The narrow path
The choice he lays out when he
thinks too far ahead about the trip: dispair or believe. He chooses
to believe.
The narrow way
Stutzman reviews his early
life, a very strict religious one. He realizes it is here he has
developed his early beliefs about life and leadership. Not sure if he
feels this was good or bad.
For this hike, he decides to
meet new thoughts and ideas rather be confined by this traditions.
How does he do this? Does this mean he will be changing his identity?
My new life
Stutzman says that his message
carries universal truth. He is meeting people, mostly men, who have
similar experiences as Stutzman. Such as losing their spouse, having
a restaurant background, and a remote spirituality. Some of the tone
which the author bears seems to be coated with an air of superiority.
But at other times, he understands his lowliness in the order of
things.
nothing is better than the
splash of that fresh water as you tip your bottle upwards and
coolness flows down your dry through and refreshes both body and
spirit.
I could find joy in each
mile of the journey; the many interesting personalities I encountered
only added pleasure to my trek.
A cold, rainy, miserable
mess
Along the trail, he learned
the way to be thankful in all things.
The smoky mountains
To many hikers, the journey
is more about the memories than miles.
Or another way of putting it, when you hike, do you go for the
destination or the journey. I have a tendency to think more about the
journey. Also as Stutzman points about a paragraph later, there is an
excitement of meeting new people.
Let's go left
He starts his own tradition of
munching on wildflowers. This is something not to be emulated. Maybe
in another time when people knew what was bad to eat and what was
good. but these days, we have lost that knowledge in most people. So
it becomes a form of Russian roulette.
A basic question Stutzman
asks, Is God in
control of our lives?
It is a good question. But also a tricky one. I think when a person
asks this question, they are looking to see if God controls the
circumstances around a person's life. But it can be taken as, are we
robots? It seems like God will let us make our foolish choices, even
to our own hurt. But He also wants us to “grow-up”. How to do
that without some pain, I do not know. So I think if we want to grow,
we will suffer as an athlete will feel pain as he becomes better.
Words have meaning
Being alone in the wild will
cause you to understand yourself more. Eventually it will cause you
to consider things to change, but as you tear away our modern
trappings, you become happy being yourself, rather than trying to be
someone else.
Having sound piped into your
ears seems like you miss half of the experience of being out doors.
What if we choose our words
more thoughtfully?
Instead, I'm happy
An example of the title is
that early one morning, he splashes himself in a pool of water and
makes this realization: he is not an early morning person, but he has
fallen in love with the freshness of mornings. I think when you are
out for an extended length of time, there is a sense where you become
aware of your environment rather than rushing through things. This
causes you to enjoy simple things-because that is what you have.
Stutzman realizes that he has
gained more insights about his life in one month on the trail than a
great many years of work and real life. I think that is right since
being on the trail, there is not much more to do than sleep, eat and
walk. You can talk to your fellow travelers and/or think. That in
itself will open up paths of thought.
I could have been rich.
Instead, I’m happy.
This is quoted from a fellow traveler called pathfinder. We have a
choice in our life to be content with both what we have and who we
are. Or strive to change us and accumulate stuff. The trail has a
tendency to narrow your needs and to lessen your desires to the
basics.
Choices and consequences
...that
we never truly knew who we are hiking with.
There is a certain amount of innocence on hiking a trail. While your
mind can conjure up boogie men behind each rock and bush. In reality,
I have met very few people on trail which I have thought, steer clear
of. But that may also be an Achilles heel of hiking. You get lax and
your personal instincts may go dormant. On the other hand, that is
part of the beauty-meeting those whom you normally do not hike with.
It is what it is
The long-distance hiker is
part of a community of like-minded people. As a community, there is
sharing of resources so that all may achieve. Stutzman points out
that it seems like the less a person has, the more willing they are
to share. I will say generally yes that is true. My family has been
helped by others and we have helped people whom we do not know. On
the other hand, there are a few people along the trail who are
looking for the easy way out and not carry their share of the load. I
have not shared my food with them. Maybe there is something there for
us to think about back among the rest of the people-who do we share
our resources to? Also do I have too much so that I am unwilling to
share?
Chasing dreams
There is a good response to
seeing beauty. Stutzman hits it when he says that we have ringside
seats while God works His majesty.
Pilgrim's progress
Throughout his hike, Stutzman
is trying to work out his relationship with God. He understands,
there is personalness to this relationship and not just a bunch of
do’s and don’ts. He asks the question, What
connection does my life have to You?
A question we all have to work out, and if we are honest, it is a
continuing question.
As he was passing through
country which has a concentration of people with a similar background
as his, he feels ignored. He did not pass the sight
test. There is a
tendency after a little while for a hiker to look a bit scruffy. Do
we miss out because someone is not like myself, so I ignore that
person? I admit, it is far easier to be in relationship with someone
like myself.
Kindness and courage
There is a hostess who has a
notebook where hikers she boards will sign in and write things. There
was comfort to her to read these writings when she was lonely. These
good thoughts, as Stutzman later on points out, were grown from the
seeds of her own kindness. It does not take much to thank someone for
their kindness. It will get paid back later by kindness shown to us.
Remember to say good things to people as you do not know when they
will be helpful to others.
Why do we gravitate to high
places?
He makes a statement: There
are so few people still willing to take a stand against injustice.
Stutzman does not elaborate or give context besides talking about
Shay’s rebellion.
The Maine event
There was a place where the
trail went over a bog with some narrow boards to walk on. Of course,
the inevitable happened-he slipped off and fell into bog. Slime and
gunk covered him. He remarks that the next time he came to a creek,
he jumped in, cleaning his clothes and person. After a change of
socks, he was ready
for more adventure.
Somehow, a fresh pair of socks gives you a different outlook on the
day.
One of the main themes in this
book is how Stutzman deals with the loss of his wife. He meets a
woman who lost her husband recently. They share about their loss and
grief. He assures her that the memories of the spouse will always be
there, but that there is also
life on the other side of grief.
He then expounds and says that folks
remain in grief because they can’t comprehend why God would take
their loved ones.
He points out that left a choice, nobody would die.
There is a couple of issues i
have with this. I know he is trying to be sympathetic and give
comfort. But there are times memories do fade and go. A person can
develop dementia and not remember their spouse. The other issue is
with the left to a choice, nobody would die. While true, it is also
not much comfort to those who have suffered loss. I suspect at times
like this, the person suffering does not care about everybody, only
about their own loss.
Trials and tears.
Satisfaction in reaching
goals does not always lie in the speed with which we achieve them;
sometimes the satisfaction rises from overcoming obstacles.
As I have aged, how fast something gets done is not the issue, it is
how much am I enjoying what I am doing.
Epilogue
He ends by wanting men to
appreciate what they have now-family, wife, … Once it is gone, it
is too late.
Evaluation:
Stutzman
writes in an easy and humorous
to read manner, talking about his Appalachian
Trail experience. While his wife is dying, he makes a promise to hike
the Trail. There is a need to figure out how to live his own life.
The book walks through his decision, and anxieties, to take to the
trail after quitting his job. He then makes friends and explores
both, his needs and his desire to fill the hole his wife left in his
life. Along the way, there are many companions acquired.
The trail is both a vehicle to
his redemption, but also a means to bring comfort to others. Both of
these are cast in religious terms, such as a pilgrimage-my word not
his. He does take on the trail name of Apostle Paul.
If you are an outdoors person,
this is a good book to read. There is realism in his experience as
well as knowledge of the trail. This is not a male Wild,
rather a man searching for meaning. Well worth the read.
Book References:
-
The Thru-Hiker’s Handbook by Dan “Wingfoot” Bruce
Good Quotes:
-
First Line: Cautiously I stepped on the narrow boards traversing the bog.
-
Last Line: God’s love will comfort you too through valleys or despair and will lead you to your own mountaintop of peace and freedom.
-
What if we choose our words more thoughtfully? Chp Words Have Meanings
-
It is incredible how sunshine can improve one’s disposition. Chp It is what it is
-
All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, "I am the way.” by Catherine of Siena
-
Satisfaction in reaching goals does not always lie in the speed with which we achieve them; sometimes the satisfaction rises from overcoming obstacles. Chp Trials and tears.
-
The Big C
-
The plan
-
The narrow path
-
The narrow way
-
My new life
-
A cold, rainy, miserable mess
-
Butterflies
-
The smoky mountains
-
Let's go left
-
Words have meaning
-
Instead, I'm happy
-
Choices and consequences
-
It is what it is
-
Chasing dreams
-
The storm
-
Pilgrim's progress
-
Summer solstice
-
The pharmacy shelter
-
Kindness and courage
-
The path to freedom
-
Golden days
-
The white mountains
-
The Maine event
-
Trials and tears.
References:
-
Author's Web Site
-
Hiking Through blog
-
Author’s Facebook
-
Simon&Schuster Author Page
-
Amazon-Book
-
Amazon-Author
-
GoodReads-Book
-
Beyond the Books author interview
-
Section Hiker review
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