well, i’ve found this male testosterone bull fight quite entertaining. i was bramble’s mate & hiking partner for years. when boiled down to its essence, bramble’s behaviour is encapsulated in one word, ENERGY. Unbridled, untempered, RABID energy. his energy comes off as chaotic, because it is not stifled via our provincial cultural indoctrinations. one “chippy chap” on your forum called him a freak, is he a freak? yes, if normalcy defines one who works, pays for stuff, and occasionally gives a tad to a cause.(but not to the absolution of primary self-absorption) carlos has committed to hiking x 5yrs to garner funds & awareness for the big c in honor of his aunt. it is a long quest. in my opinion, he has already succeeded. he was responsible for saving my neighbor’s life thru a sequence of events that cured her ovarian cancer. thru his research for a college paper, he made me aware of an unethical practice via a drug company-the womens health initiative followed to bring that drug down to baseline acceptance. he also pulled animals out of a burning house alone. wasn’t it the great “OZ” who awarded the “DO-GOODER” medal to someone? well, this is raw bramble. its that simple. bramble, as well as other thru hikers, are developing their self-affirmation. “BOO BOO”, who is helping in Sri Lanka, is also generating a new sense of self. and guess what? all of our trail names are just that-new definitions of self. that is all that is happening here. bramble is just a cheeky chap-he doesn’t have the cerebral stuff for a calculated charity con.(look at his sentence structure) so if this is a freak, bring it on! don’t misinterpret me, i’m in medicine, and measured mediocrity is needed for me to make a part of the world work. and just imagine if we morphed bramble’s terminator physique with the literary prowess of michael creighton!!the problem, if no one has noticed, is that bramble needs a micro-management team! the charity was initially set up via the UCONN foundation for annual giving-roz reabach-director.they recommended moving the fund to our local firehouse. this was done beccuz bramble couldn’t meet the beneficiaries due to HIPPA regs. a major contributor was the RITE AID corp. via Ed Beasely-senior VP. as for personal expenses, 3 of us help when he’s down to rice and dog food. so to his critics who castigate him, examine your motives. but dear bramble, i’m here not to eulogize you. i have always been your toughest critic. your passion and drive to suelch the big c is awesome. but my continual interface with the expectations and entitlement of western medicine has me jaded., especially with the issue of bioethicism (ala teri shivo) and i am selfish with the AT. i use it for escape from my pressured life. i frankly could give 2 poops bout what miles/day everybody is doing-just another ego-affirmation, do you guys ever see what you are hiking thru? breath it, feel it, love its SILENCE. i feel the at is linear in design, yet circular in its teaching. “we shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time” (T.S. Eliot) so dear bramble, we need you to circle back someday to the place that loves and appreciates you the most CHEERS, and GOOD ON YA!! onwards again to NEW ZEALAND… lov virginia creeper
virgina creeper