Not a bad sleep. I knew I would have to get packed up before sunrise, so I did. You will see in the next post just how close I was to the trail. Already by 6:00 a.m., a couple bikers had whizzed by below me. When I hefted Saggy onto my back I heard a loud splash behind me and had to laugh.
Intellicast.com indicated it would be 100% rain for the daylight hours (sunrise to sunset). But nothing was coming down yet. When I was relatively sure that no one was approaching from either direction I made a careful descent, then headed back the way I'd come. This time though, I didn't walk back down Route 507. Instead, I walked under the Highway 183 (same road I'd traveled out of town the night before) and found a way up on to it directly from the trail.
Then, it was just a matter of walking the three miles back into town and directly to the library which wasn't open yet. As soon as I got close enough to read the listed hours, a raindrop hit the visor of my hat. I had to kill about two hours (the library opened at 9:00).
I knew Main Street was a short walk from there, via College Avenue. I also knew there was a Starbucks there, but I was damned if I could find it. Instead I found a clone. There are many of these other coffee shops all across the nation, set up exactly like a Starbucks. In this case it was a place called, Port City Java. The only difference I could see besides the name, was that they used the standard "small, medium, and large" instead of...well, you know. Good coffee, semi-friendly service (again, I was treated differently from other customers, because of the big backpack). But they had fast Wi-Fi and it was a good place to work until the library opened.
I listened to the conversation between two gentlemen behind me. It was a situation I'd seen, heard, and been in before. The guy sitting with his back to me was obviously the more intelligent and somewhat diplomatic. The guy sitting across from him was trying to impress the other by raising unusual "facts". None of them rang true, and I had to sometimes contain my laughter.
They were discussing algebra. The smarter guy was trying to tell the other guy easy ways to think about how algebra can be used in everyday life, without appearing to be patronizing about it. His friend said he knew these things well and then attempted to describe his own rules for using algebra, except they were not algebra related; they just had to do with memorization of measurements on a ruler.
The smarter guy knew that the conversation was going nowhere, and joked that he himself didn't know very much. He intimated that he knew a little bit about a lot of things--trying to be modest perhaps, and laughed at himself. This gave his friend the chance to spout his piece of trivia; one that the smarter guy knew was simply dreamed up.
His friend said, "Did you know that the original - not the known saying, but the original - saying is, 'Jack of all trades, master of one'"?
"No," said the smart guy almost sighing, "never heard that."
The friend told him that he'd read it somewhere. But, seeing that his more perceptive table mate wasn't really buying it, he got up to use the men's room and encouraged him to look it up.
When he was gone, I heard the smarter guy sigh loudly. I knew he was Googling Wikipedia. When his friend returned, the smart guy said, "Well, this is interesting. It looks like it is indeed, '...master of NONE'...origin 1700's, England."
"That's strange..." said the inventor of this trivia, "I could swear I saw it... It was just the other day..." Then, he hemmed and hawed a bit.
At this point, I was slinging the pack onto my back and walking out. The last thing I heard was the smarter friend saying, "It's okay, you win some, you lose some."
The rain was falling full force out on the Main Street sidewalk. Every time I have a short distance to walk in the rain I think of that Donald Fagan song, "Walk Between the Raindrops."
I got to the library, went to the cafe section, and got set up. For some reason the Wi-Fi didn't work. I tried over and over again. I asked around and discovered it was some kind of glitch with my laptop. It happens sometimes. I tried to "troubleshoot" over and over again. It still didn't work. So, I resorted to trying to write as much as I could offline. At some point, I noticed that the signal was working and I switched over, getting quite a bit done. I was hungry by 12:00 p.m. and really needed some warm comfort food on this rainy day.
The cafe had a deal for soup and sandwich--$6.95. It was just right. Turkey and bean soup, with a Vermont smoked ham, swiss and (interestingly) apple-flavored mustard sauce. It was quite delicious and I made it last most of the afternoon...
This was a nice library; somewhat sparse, but well-wired, relatively friendly staff, two floors and a really cool, large rotating globe...
I liked how Greenville was well highlighted as a major city.
More importantly it showed, with a stark clarity, just how far I had yet to go--about 1,000 miles.
As is typical of all city libraries, I spend most of the time with about six street guys. They slept at the mission, but spent their rainy days there at the library. It was hard not to be distracted by their conversations. These guys were truly entertaining and funny.
The South Carolina accent is appealing to me. I thought the Georgia accent was a bit over-the-top drawl. Alabama and Tennessee were often incomprehensible to me. But in this state, they use what might have been more like a Civil War era way of speaking.
In the 19th Century, Americans did not use contractions, like "I'm" for "I am," etc. I was not until after the 1860's or so, that contractions began to make their way into modern American English. The guys at the library would say things like, "Is that not to whom you have referred, Barny?" I wished so much that I'd had batteries in my digital audio recorder.
It was very late in the day, just after 5:00 p.m. when something they were talking about caught my attention. One guy said, "Look the sun is out. And, it is mighty golden!"
Then, another guy said, "And, look! LOOK! There is a strong rainbow too!"
The first guy, replied, "Wait! That is a double rainbow...NO, a triple!"
This really got my attention. I had been facing away from the window and pretending to ignore their conversation until now. But, I turned around and saw the largest, brightest, most defined and complete rainbow I'd ever seen in my life. I'd never even seen a poster or postcard with such an amazing display of naturally colored light. It was as if someone had taken a giant CD disc and jammed it halfway into the ground, to reflect the sunset across from it. I am not very often astounded. But on this day, I nearly fell over trying to gather up my camera and get out into the plaza to get some pictures.
The following are fairly good shots, but no matter what angle I tried to shoot, the pictures paled to the actual experience. I did my best to show you though. It was a three or more layered and repeating rainbow, with a golden light focused into its center...
After that experience, my whole mood seemed to be cast in rainbows. I felt wonderful, having seen the equivalent of a natural miracle in the sky. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and the Alien Galactic Federation Representatives could have all broken through a wormhole at the center of that rainbow, and I would not have been surprised.
I finished my work, packed up, and noticed that I'd received a donation to get me through the next couple days. I decided to look for something I could eat and still have leftovers to pack for the walk the next afternoon. Then I left the library, down Main Street in search of it...
I found a place called, Antonino Bertolos Pizza and Wine Bar. I ordered at the counter and took a number for my table. The kind server showed up about fifteen minutes later with the pizza, two plates and two sets of silverware. Apparently she thought Saggy was my date...
We both enjoyed our pizza!
On a restaurant wall as I walked out of the city. It is a play on words.
I was headed to the Swamp Rabbit Trails.
The potential spots I had looked at in the morning were now small lakes. It was obvious that the high ground was going to be the best ground. So, I made my way back to the same spot as the night before...
There were a few splashes beside me as the mini whales - or whatever they were - danced in the gathering night fog. I fell asleep easily.
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Support Dawna Lamson's Simply Smiles fundraising campaign!
From her page...
Help me support Simply Smiles by making a donation to my Win A Trip campaign! With your help, you can send me to Oaxaca, Mexico or the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota to work with Simply Smiles. The process is fast, easy, and secure. I truly appreciate any support you can provide. And, no matter the outcome, it will benefit a great cause!
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