Things Aren't Always What They Appear To Be

  In 1980 I saw a notice at a trail register about a guy who owned a cabin next to the trail in Massachusetts. He offered to let hikers stay the night for free. I signed up on his list and many days later I arrived at the cabin. It was actually just off of the trail, a little cabin nestled in the woods. A couple of other hikers were there and the four of us had good conversation. The guy who owned the cabin was nice.....but there was something weird about him too. Nothing specific happened, but I later realized what was going on. This guy was trying to find other guys to "date". That's why he opened his place to hikers.
   I'm glad I didn't figure this out until later, because it would have been awkward for me to pack up and leave after dark. I spent the night "camping" on a couch in the sun room. I remember accidentally bumping a table that had a temperature recording device. The owner was upset for a moment. He was trying to record the temperatures and I had messed it up. But, he decided that it was a "short term spike" and would not really affect his data.
   In the morning we had blueberry pancakes and I headed on my way. One of the other hikers was staying on to go water skiing and to "hang out". I appreciated the hospitality, but I didn't appreciate the underhanded way this guy was trying to find homosexual boyfriends. Things aren't always what they appear to be. I am a very open, an honest person and I hope that other people are open and honest with me. I continued to hike down the trail, making progress toward the next state which was Vermont. Some big things were getting ready to happen!

   2011 Update:  This morning I weighed in at 170.6 pounds. How could I lose 3.2 pounds in one day? Well, I ate a LOT of salt over the weekend. So, yesterday I drank tons and tons of water. Your body retains water in order to bind with the salt and remove it from your body. By drinking all of that water, all of the salt and extra fluid left my body. Yes, I had many trips to the bathroom, but my weight is almost back on track. I went jogging again this morning (the entire neighborhood). I had a big salad for lunch and ate a grilled Chick-fil-a sandwich for supper. I'm trying to be strict on my diet and exercises so I can trim these last few pounds. I have 5.6 pounds left and 33 days!