Location: Shaw’s Boarding House, Monson, ME
Tim and I woke up early to fish. We ate the first breakfast and then headed out in the rain to buy a Maine fishing license and rent a canoe. We couldn’t find a canoe, so we rented a two man kayak. Tim, from Boiling Springs, PA, has recently returned from Iraq. He holds much bitterness towards the war and even more for the attitude of the American public towards the war. He often complained about the lack of home support for the effort abroad. We caught no fish, but we explored every corner of Lake Hebron. Mountains met the lake shores which made for some excellent views. There were several small islands in the lake. We saw a bald eagle nesting on one, and on another we took refuge in a hard rain that came over the mountains and swept across the lake surface.
An interesting quality I’ve noticed about Tim, he doesn’t make decisions well. He is confident and strong, he was in Force Recon in the Marines, an elite Special Forces unit. However, he has been living four years without making a decision. He has been instructed and ordered. Now that he has returned, he must rebuild or regain his decision making abilities. On the trail and on the lake, he always deferred decisions to Eric or me. I spoke to some retired Marines who thought that the Appalachian Trail was a great place for a formerly active soldier to readjust to normal society. A person can take out their aggression on the trail, instead of other people, including loved ones.
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