I wrote this in my personal journal on Valentine's Day, 2014:

". . . since reading Wild I've been thinking of my whole life as a journey, and everything in it as a step along the trail. At the end, Strayed said "Thank you" (to God? to the universe? impossible to tell) for her journey and when I sat down to meditate yesterday that's what rose to the surface in me, just not for a hike but for everything on my 61½-year journey.


In my meditation, I felt gratitude for all the through-hikers and day-hikers I met along the way, for the scenery and the animals. Mr. Simply and I have shared the trail for over 40 years now -- 2/3rds of our lives. We've got through it by putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how much our feet hurt, or how steep and rocky or icy or muddy the trail, or how rotten the weather and there's been some damn fine moments along the way that made it worth every blister."

Simply,