MOVING IN STEREO

Daylight Part 1

"I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you

I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

I've been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night

And now I see daylight, I only see daylight"

Daylight

Taylor Swift

Before I met Sofia, I had become a fairly avid hiker. Alone on the trail seeing new landscapes and sleeping under the stars brought me closer to center. It started as an escape. By getting away from all that was familiar, I thought that I would forget the misery and frustration I felt that life was at the time. In truth, though, the solitude I experienced when hiking taught me to be more comfortable with myself and think through my problems of introversion, anxiety, loneliness, etc. It also taught me a little self-reliance, which is a huge confidence booster. 

But, after some time with Sofia, I felt the need to escape came less and less. It's not that she became the de facto morale booster. It was that I just felt better when she was around. I don't even mean physically. Just knowing she was near made life more enjoyable than ever. I was comfortable; there was no more roaring silence in my head to contend with. Being with Sofi just worked for lack of a better expression. For instance, I would get stressed out when driving in traffic. I hated it then and still do this very day. I used to lose my temper all the time and get spun up even though I knew it was fruitless. With Sofi, I didn't lose my temper. I still got upset plenty, but she intuitively seemed to pick up on it. She would see a squint in my eyes, maybe a furrow in my brow, or my breathing would change. She would do something like put her hand on the inside of my thigh and squeeze slightly. Sometimes she would kiss my earlobe or just make a soft kiss sound in my ear. It was always just enough to make me relax and lose the stress, even if only for a little while. It was a loving, coaxing hand back to the present reality. 

Such was the morning I was trying to get us the hell out of town for our first backpacking trip together and Sofia's first backpacking trip, period. As usual, Atlanta traffic had other plans. It almost always had other plans when I really had somewhere to be. We finally made it out of the city. We drove for a couple of hours into the rolling foothills of the Appalachians. 

It was late November and cool but not unpleasant. The night would be much colder, but I was prepared for that. I had our packs put together in the back. We were going to be trailblazing or at the very least, following any number of animal trails. There was a particular meadow I wanted to reach. It was a perfect spot for a camp. A fellow hiker told me of the location and said ages ago; there was a pioneer cabin there. Still, all that remained, if that even, were stone foundations.

 After Parking at the Amicalola Falls Lodge and having lunch, we set out on the Appalachian Approach Trail but left it shortly after reaching Black Gap. There we struck out North-West through the woods on our own. As I said, it was November and even a little cooler at that elevation vs. the sidewalk on Ponce back home, but still, under the pack's weight, it was warm. I led the way but was in no hurry, so I paced us reasonably slow. I kept looking back at Sofi, who kept right up with me with no complaints. 

Sofi was in fantastic shape, better than I was for certain. Still, I packed her bag lighter than mine. I wasn't going to have her carry anything at all. Then she looked so disappointed the night back at the apartment when I was laying everything out on the floor.