[pct-l] Trail jewelery

[rjtrick at myuw.net (Randy Trick)]

A few weeks ago the listserv was abuzz with talk of dog tags and 
kick-off memorabilia. It got me thinking about what little kind of 
memento, like a dog tag, I could wear for each mil so that I could wear 
it later in life when I needed inspiration. Essentially, some kind of 
trail jewelry that would have strong sentimental value at the end of 
the summer.
With all that in mind, allow me to relate a cute little story.
For some strange reason, fortunes from chinese fortune cookies seem to 
have a special place in my life. During my first reporting internship 
in college, a time during which I was very anxious and unsure of my 
skills, I opened a cookie to read "You are one of those people who go 
places in life." In my last semester of college, looking for that tough 
first job, I got a fortune that read "if you work seriously, you will 
succeed." Last summer, as I formulated a plan to travel to Africa and 
be a correspondent there (a still unrealized dream) I got a fortune 
which said "You will travel to an exotic location." I carry these three 
fortunes in my wallet and look at them in times of self-doubt. That, 
plus I rarely eat chinese food, can't stand it really, so it's not like 
these are three out of thirty fortunes I've had in the last years.
Well, a few weeks ago I was eating at a chinese restaurant in 
Anacortes, Wash., the hometown of my hiking partner for the summer. 
He's in Boston but I cover the city for the local newspaper. I was 
telling a staff photographer about the hike, what my training regimen 
has been and the massive amount of planning and food preparation I 
still have to do. Well, I cracked open the fortune cookie at the end of 
the meal and it read "Now it is best to take things just one step at a 
time." A hiking omen? Words of encouragement during the 27th mile of 
the day? I think so.
I know that completing the PCT is going to be just as much a mental 
challenge as a physical one. Determination and a positive mental 
outlook and all that. I'm excited about the hike, the training feels 
really good and I'm confident that my friend and I are planning it as 
thoroughly as we can while still remaining flexible and ready to adapt 
on the trail. But this latest chinese fortune, and my plan for it, is 
that little bit of mental push that I think will be very important.
So, I plan to find a small vial, plastic not glass, that I could put 
the fortune into so that I can read it through the vial. I think I can 
find them at new-age shops or aroma-therapy shops. I plan to put that 
on a chain, or a cord, and wear that from Campo to Canada.
I thought I would share.
--
Randy Trick