CedarKeyHiker

It's New Year's Eve December 31, 2015...I am going to make one resolution for 2016 that I will do my best to follow through with.

" Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try to find Jesus on your own..."

Lately. I had those words of the John Prine song "Spanish Pipedream" on my mind. The song about a soldier who meets a topless dancer on his way to Canada to escape the draft during the Viet Nam war. She offers him advice about how to live a happy life in a few simple steps. The interesting thing is, as I rerun the lyrics in my head, Mrs. Hiker and I have pretty much taken her advice to heart. And...we have an incredibly happy life. The only part of the topless dancer's advice I have disregarded lies in the first line. I watch entirely too much television and I'm too connected and concerned about things going on in the world.

So, I hereby resolve to lose myself in preparing for my 2016 AT section hike from Springer Mountain to Harpers Ferry. The next three months, I will forsake the television and replace it with hiking, biking, stretching, spending days and nights in the woods honing my outdoor skills, and trying out my gear. I will strive to forget about the mindless banter on Fox, MSNBC, and the Movie Channel. I will use the time previously squandered to be a better everything. Hopefully, in July when I walk into Harpers Ferry it will be with a noticeable spring in my step. I'd like to be that guy who has that outward appearance that reflects an inner peace.

Time will tell. I am going to read this in six months to see how successful I've been.