Hiking For Poppie—Part One
January 18, 2014

Hiking For Poppie—Part One

January 18, 2014 It was an unusually mild December day, perfect weather for a walk down those lonely back roads. We weren’t hunters, and we trusted our bright colors to alert the people with rifles that we were not deer, either. I listened as my hiking partner, Andrew Purdy (aka Yogi), detailed our mission to a curious gent in that rural part of southeast Ohio. The man sat on his porch enjoying the Indian summer day. He rarely saw hikers happen by. Yogi explained that he was on leave from the Navy and was hiking …
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The Tracks of Jim Gilkey
December 31, 2013

The Tracks of Jim Gilkey

December 31, 2013 Uh-oh. Another corny joke was on its way: “How can you tell a train has been through town?” I’d heard Jim tell this one before somewhere along the Buckeye Trail, but I couldn’t remember the punchline. My wife Bonnie and I both love solving silly riddles, but we finally gave up and asked Jim for help. “You can see its tracks,” he said with a big grin. Yeah right, Jim. I have one for Buckeye Trailers: “How can you tell Jim Gilkey has been through here?” If you know much at all …
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December 23, 2013

Everything (Mostly) in Its Place

December 23, 2013 My brain reached its saturation point fifteen years ago; unfortunately, it was about five years before my retirement date. Lesson plans, parent activities in the evenings, organizing the yearly Mary Ingles Festival in town—my plate was piled so high that I couldn’t keep track of everything in the heap. So I did what Bonnie does to maintain her sanity: I made a to-do list. I recoiled at the idea at first. It seemed much more adventurous just to deal with life as it happened. But I could see that I couldn’t put …
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October 23, 2013

Meetup Group is Better Than I Imagined

October 23, 2013 I’ve always had a vibrant social life. Even as a child I had countless friends who would come over to play ball and hike with me. OK, so most were imaginary. But I must say that, even so, I did get along very well with them. Of course, there are always a few spoilsports in every bunch. If someone came around who wasn’t nice, I would just tell him that I wasn’t allowed to play that day. Avoidance is another of my social strategies. Then came the school thing. I needed to …
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Four-Season Backpacking Trip to Buckeye TrailFest 2013
September 3, 2013

Four-Season Backpacking Trip to Buckeye TrailFest 2013

  September 3, 2013 It was a diverse group of hikers shuttled by our trail angels to point 9 of the Bedford section of the Buckeye Trail. Bob had hiked the entire AT twice. On the greener end of the scale, it was Paula’s first backpacking trip; she had borrowed some nice gear from a neighbor. The rest of us fell somewhere in between. The first day was glorious and all off-road. We camped at Squaw Rock Shelter in South Chagrin Reservation after a
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August 22, 2013

Lesson From a Misfit

August 22, 2013 I had a lot to reflect on as I hung up the phone after a difficult, but enlightening, conversation with a good friend recently. To protect his privacy, I’ll refer to him as Job. The name seems to fit in regards to events transpiring in his life this summer. For example, a few weeks ago three police officers approached him in a city park for questioning. Two ladies observing people in the park had made a false, and obviously ridiculous, accusation against him. After the police questioned all parties, including members of …
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