In the Mail - Hike 100 Patches and a Fun Surprise

 
Two very fun things came in the mail today- my Hike 100 Challenge patch and certificate from the North Country Trail Association for 2019 is the first.

I'm happy to say I will not be out there hiking on December 13th this year, trying to finish up my miles!



The second thing that arrived in the mail was totally unexpected, and is even more fun than the author realized.

Remember that two weekends ago I led a hike as part of the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association conference? Well, the key word in that phrase is "writers." I should have suspected, when Andy said he had something to mail me, but I didn't at all. Andy Duffy, along with Mandy his wife, were the two who came on the hike. Andy sort of decided at the last minute. In fact, in this article he says that to him "hiking feels so pointless" without a shotgun or rifle. But apparently, he was surprised to discover that he had a good time. So he wrote about it in his outdoor column in the Cadillac News.

Of course, I'm delighted! And he made me smile even more. I'm sure he has no clue that weaving part of a poem, "The Merry Guide," by A.E. Housman, into the narrative is drop-dead perfect. Some of you readers know that I was raised in a virtual bath of poetry from this era, thanks to my Granny. Although I wasn't familiar with this particular poem, I do know another of Housman's, which begins, "Loveliest of trees, the cherry now/ is hung with bloom along the bough,/ and stands above the woodland ride/ wearing white for Eastertide.

Anyway... he had a good time. I had a good time. I'm sincerely happy to call Andy and Mandy my friends, not just conference acquaintances.



He quoted from "The Merry Guide," "By valley-guarded granges/ and silver waters wide,/ content at heart I followed/ with my delightful guide." What fun!

By the way... Andy also took home a MOWA award for a story about hunting a black bear.

	See Another 100 See Hike with Andy and Mandy
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