Writing Reality

  "You could have a steam trainIf you'd just lay down your tracks..."---Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' lyrics. This is not the tune that lay in my mind this morning as I reminisced about yesterday's volunteers to help on trail crew.    However, as I looked up the proper definition of sledging that song popped up. I say sledging, which is my own take on swinging a hammer that we call a "Double Jack". The Single Jack is six pounds. I know that because our regular crew of five including me and one staff supervisor are handling Harriman State Park Trails, and have to carry about four of those, two shaping hammers, along with a hoist, belay bag with heavy equipment, first aid kit, double Jack, three 18lb rock bars, a lopper, three buckets, three eye to eyes, two burlap straps, two green wrapping straps, two pick Mattox, a roe hoe or two, a bar for either the two ton or one ton hoist, the feathers with pegs for splitting rocks that we drill... s

 Today 07/01/2016... This below story started 07/01/2011, five years ago... Sometimes, It Takes A Prayer A sunny day in June, I was getting ready to run and I saw an acquaintance walking around the block. I hadn’t seen her much, due to our schedules being busy. I knew something was up. I’d seen her husband outside for the first time the week before. He looked like death. They were not an old couple. Their children were in their twenties.   I saw her and asked, “Hey. How are you doing?” She sighed uncharacteristically, for she was not someone who complained about anything the times we’d known each other and spoken. She responded, “A little stressed.” I asked, “Not that I want to ask this personal question, but how’s your husband?” She responded, “Not good. That’s why I’m stressed. He goes for another scan in a week or so. He has cancer. We moved our daughter’s wedding up by two months. This way he wouldn’t miss it.” Here it was Thursday, June 30th , the wedding was to be