Blog #600: One Minute. Eight Hours.

In my eagerness to hit the trail early…
the morning hit me back with some bad luck.

Then I met the Butcher.

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The Day Before…

3:00 p.m.: I survive a tough day of walking and check into The Attic Bunkhouse near Blanefield, Scotland. It’s a hostel. My room has three bunk beds. They will all be full tonight.

7:30 p.m.: I crash early. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

10:00 p.m.: My five roomies show up to the room. They are a pack. I’m pretty sure by the tone of their conversation they fail to see the one TRYING to sleep…the one NOT in their pack.

Note #1: Sleeping in hostels is NOT my thing. But…when you walk across a country, you feel gratitude for finding a bed…any bed.

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The Day…

5:25 a.m.: The alarm goes off…quietly. I do NOT turn the lights on. I pack in the dark by feel. I quickly exit the room to NOT disturb my roomies.

5:45 a.m.: I set the hostel’s keypad codes on the counter. I exit The Attic. I leave to walk.

5:46 a.m.: After I hoist my pack up, I reach my hand around my back to give my pack an extra push up on my shoulders. Something is not right. Something is missing.

5:47 a.m.: I discover I do not have my backpack rain cover. I left it in the room.

5:51 a.m.: I get dizzy. “What am I gonna’ to do?”

Note #2: You might be thinking, “Not a big deal! Go back in and get it.” But it is a big deal. The Attic requires three very long, 10+ character codes to get into 1) the Cafe front door, 2) the upstairs accommodation door, and 3) the individual room door.

Note #3: Perhaps you’re now thinking, “Just go…and buy a new backpack rain cover.” It doesn’t work like that. Once on the trail…there’s NO place to buy one. And walking with one is ESSENTIAL to keep your clothes, electronics… everything inside your pack…DRY.

Note #4: Maybe you’re NOW thinking, “Just wait until the place opens.”

Ummm…of course. But the Cafe doesn’t open until 9:00 a.m….and that’s the time the hostess told me overnighters also start coming down the stairs. MAYBE…the Cafe staff MIGHT come in at 8:00, but that still leaves me a 2+ hour wait. Outside. In the cold. Starting at 5:45 a.m.

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5:55 a.m.: I’m surprising myself. I’m already OVER my big mistake and mentally have moved on. “It is what it is. Now what?” In days past, I’d have given myself a nasty mental beatdown. For hours.

6:00 a.m.: A car shockingly pulls into the parking lot. I discover he’s the BUTCHER. And he has a key to the Cafe!

Note #5: Being a vegetarian for 35 years, I never thought I’d be happy to see a butcher. I now have a story of “The Day I Was Happy to See the Butcher.”

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6:05 a.m.: The Butcher has the key to get in ONE door…but not the other TWO. He said it would be 2-3 hours before The Attic managers show up. I’m waiting again…except now I’m IN the building…standing outside the second set of upstairs doors.

6:10 a.m.: For some reason, I pull on a LOCKED door. I never do that. It opens! When I left earlier, the door had NOT clicked all-the-way shut! I’m IN door #2! I’m celebrating with the Butcher.

6:11 a.m.: I go to the counter where I’d dropped off my key codes…and joyfully head to my room. The automatic hall light is not activating, however. I’m in the dark fiddling with the door keypad. I cannot read the codes in the dark.

6:13 a.m.: I start to head to a lighted main room…prepared to memorize a nonsensical mix of 10+ numbers, letters and characters. When suddenly, the room door cracks open. A roomie wonders who is fidgeting outside the door. A quick explanation…and I’m IN!

6:15 a.m.: The room is pitch dark. The roomie guards the light switch…respecting HIS pack. I scurry to last night’s bed. I feel UNDER the bed…nothing. I feel IN the bed…nothing. Then before giving up, I look towards the bathroom door. There’s my backpack cover! One of the roomies had kicked it during the night.

6:21 a.m.: I’m walking. I’m smiling. I’m happy I met a Butcher.

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Later that Day…
It rained hard.
The trail got muddy.
But my backpack stayed dry.

So yeah…

This morning…I lived ONE minute of bad luck.
But today…I lived EIGHT hours of good luck.

That’s how I see it.

Gratitude for reading today…

S.