Today is February 22. That is George Washington's birthday. It is true that sometimes as a kid, I read about a special sale, maybe something like "we have 5 excellent washing machines for sale for a nickel each. First come, first served." But that isn't what sticks in my mind about the first president's birthday. What I remember is the Appalachian Trail.
You may know the trail runs from Maine to Georgia. It is just about 2200 miles long. Washington's birthday was a school holiday where I was then. My Boy Scout troop hiked on the trail in Maryland on his birthday. The weather was not usually very cold or snowy. The trail tends to be somewhat scooped out compared to the land on both sides and that scoop collects leaves. After walking for 6 hours, the swish of feet through leaves was deeply in my head. When we settled in our sleeping bags for a night away, swish, swish, swish came to mind.
The most memorable time involved Dinty Moore's Beef Stew. We had a good-sized pot of the stuff sitting on sticks and logs in a fire. The pot was on a precarious slant. One of the guys tried to straighten that slant but ooops! The pot tipped and emptied into the ashes. Our dinner! Death by starvation came to mind but we ate Three Musketeers bars and survived. Whew! A close one!
