July 22nd. Day 1: 14.5 miles, 8.5 hours I wanted to continue to get to Wilson Dam to make tomorrow's start easier, but the lightning was too intense. I have no idea why I did not average 2 mph. It was terribly frustrating for me. Pam said my stroke was long and smooth, and I felt good; but at 3.5 hours we had only gone 6 miles. It was downhill for me after that. It is OK. Tomorrow will be better. Today I memorize a quote from a monument by Norris Dam in Norris, TN. Erected in memory of Clair Killen by coworkers. He appeared to be in charge of Labor Management-obviously involved in the building of Norris Dam. Do not mourn the dead who in the cool earth lie- dust to dust The calm earth mothers all who die- as all men must But mourn the apathetic throng, the cowed and the meek Who see the earth's great anguish and its wrongs, and dare not speak My older brother told me a joke once: Did you hear about the door-to-door surveyer? He knocked on a door and a man answered. "Sir," he said, "I am taking a survey about ignorance and apathy." The man looked at him through his screen door and answered, "I don't know and I don't care" and slammed the door. We both laughed heartily at that joke that somedays makes me cry. Which do you suppose is worse? Ignorance or apathy? Probably apathy because it is a complete lack of emotion. How sad it would be to have no emotion-no passion for life. I pray apathy is never a part of my being. Pam talked with Pete about the mussels. He said I needed to call some people with the City and State governments to get the whole story. It is the individual states that border the Tennessee River that issue dumping permits. It is the individual states that dictate the rate, acceptance levels, and the amount of waste that is dumped into the river. TVA has no control over that. That seems like a frustrating situation to me. Like the divorced parent who does not have full custody of their son/daughter - they have a sense of responsibility but no situational control. Pam got a couple of names and we will call them on Wednesday to get the scoop. Pam and I gratefully thank EVERYBODY for your emails. You cannot imagine how inspirational they are to us. I wanted to respond to all of them tonight, but did not get going on my "laptop" until after 8:00. YES, it is working. On Wednesday there will be more time. Enjoy the day. For God so loved the World...take care of it. mimi