Yesterday a woman about my age came up to me and said, “I have a present for you.” She held out a ripe orange. I felt like she was handing me a glowing, golden orb. Seriously. I cannot in my life remember a time when I was this excited to eat fruit.
She said, “You’re D.I.D., right? And your trail name used to be Turtle?”
I thought, “Who is this magical fruit bearing woman and how does she know my name?”
Turns out, she and her boyfriend were pretty close behind me for several days, so they knew about me from the trail journals, but I didn’t know them.
I should mention, the orange was delicious.
I’m getting sick of Mac ‘n Cheese, which is pretty shocking. I know what you’re thinking, “Addy, you only eat Mac ‘n Cheese 2-3 nights a week, sometimes 4, how could you possibly be getting sick of it?” I’m as surprised as you are.
Even worse is that I’m also getting sick of pudding. Me, sick of pudding! It turns out that if you eat something everyday (and sometimes twice a day) for several weeks, you start to get sick of it. Who knew?
Not me, obviously. If I begin to get tired of Cliff bars, I will have to resort to being fueled by photosynthesis.
In the meantime, I am trying to get fresh foods when I go into towns. Get this: the other day I went into the grocery store and bought 3 tomatoes, a bag of lettuce, some french bread, goat cheese and carton of strawberries. When I brought it back to the hostel, the other hikers, who mostly at burgers and pizza, looked pretty surprised. But you can’t really survive in the woods on lettuce and goat cheese, and I tell you without shame that when I was done with my healthy meal, I went to McDonald’s for a second dinner. Don’t judge me.
You have to eat food that is calorie dense out here or you will get sick, be exhausted, and generally despair of life. I told a Nobo yesterday that I felt like little pieces of my stomach were falling off and that 5 miles a day wiped me out. He said that he has had that happen before and that I should make myself eat more and, if possible, have a piece of fruit. And, lo and behold, I was given an orange. I took it as a sign and forced myself to eat both my Mac ‘n Cheese and a double serving of pudding.
And, now, after feeling like I was going to throw up all night, I am actually feeling pretty perky. It helps that the sun is shining, there is a beautiful brook nearby, and I am dreaming of never having to eat Mac ‘n Cheese again.
