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Lowell Politics: August 2, 2026
The Lowell City Council met on Tuesday (July 28, 2026). I don’t watch council meetings live. Instead, I catch them Wednesday morning from the YouTube recording. It’s always interesting to open that app and discover how long the meeting took, although in summer when there are just two meetings per month, they typically take 3 hours, 30 minutes. That’s the maximum time a meeting can take under the council rules which prohibit a meeting going beyond 10 p.m. (With the meeting starting at 6:30 p.m., going all the way until 10 gives you 3.5 hours.)
When I finished watching the meeting video two weeks ago, I felt a vague sense of contentment. Nothing major or controversial had come up, but the council and city administration seemed to be doing the work of government in a rational, responsible way.
I was left with a different feeling after watching this week’s meeting. The best word to describe it might be dysfunctional.
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An early item on the agenda was a motion by Councilor Rita Mercier to reconsider a vote taken by the council at their last meeting. That vote authorized the city manager to file special legislation on behalf of Vincent Fernandez, a former city employee who seeks to alter his retirement status and pension payments.
Looking back at that July 14, 2026, council meeting, the vote document the council acted upon explained that while working as a Lowell Police Officer in 2016, Fernandez was severely injured in the line of duty which left him unable to return to work as a police officer. Consequently, he received a disability retirement pension from the Lowell Retirement Board. The document presented to the council contains a page and a half of language which was difficult to comprehend for anyone not deeply immersed in the intricacies of Massachusetts government disability pensions, a group that includes me as well as most councilors, I suspect.
The city administration provided no further explanation or information to councilors. A couple of councilors asked if this would set a precedent and how many others in a similar situation would now come forward. City Manager Golden seemed to sidestep those issues and instead explained that the council passing this vote would only be the first step and it would ultimately be up to the state legislature whether to enact this special bill for Mr. Fernandez.
When the initial vote was taken, it passed with Councilors Sokhary Chau, John Descoteaux, Sidney Liang, Sean McDonough, Rita Mercier, Corey Robinson, Dan Rourke, and Kim Scott voting yes; Mayor Erik Gitschier voting no; and Councilors Belinda Juran and Vesna Nuon abstaining (Councilor Juran had earlier stated she was uncomfortable voting on this without knowing more about the implications).
This week, when Councilor Mercier’s motion to reconsider was called, former Fire Chief Bill Desrosiers, who is now chair of the Lowell Retirement Board, spoke on the motion. He explained that the retirement board first learned this had come before the council a few days after the council had already voted on it (which was why the Board was only just now addressing the council).
He further explained that sometime after Mr. Fernandez was granted his disability retirement, the state legislature changed the law to allow police officers injured by violent acts in the line of duty to collect more generous disability retirement pensions than had previously been the case. However, that legislation specifically prohibited the retroactive application of the new law. In other words, if you were already collecting a disability pension (as Mr. Fernandez was), you had to keep that pension and were unable to have the new law applied to you.
Notwithstanding that language, Mr. Fernandez petitioned the Lowell Retirement Board to revise his disability retirement pension so that he could receive the more generous benefits provided by the new law (it was unclear with the proposal would bring him within the law or place him in some hybrid situation with benefits equivalent to those in the new law). The Lowell Board, after checking with the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC), the agency that provides oversight and guidance for the operation of the state’s public pension systems, rejected the request of Mr. Fernandez.
With that avenue foreclosed, Mr. Fernandez now seeks the financial benefits of the new law through special legislation by the state legislature. To accomplish this, he seeks to have the city initiate this special legislation on his behalf, hence the vote that was passed by the city council on July 14, 2026.
Now, two weeks after that vote was taken, Lowell Retirement Board Chair Desrosiers came before the council to explain that (1) the Lowell Retirement Board had already rejected this request; (2) if the proposed special legislation passes, the Lowell Retirement Board will owe Mr. Frenandes approximately $500,000 more than it has already paid him or for which it has budgeted for future payments; (3) this will open the door to other similarly situated retirees; and (4) these unanticipated and substantial increases in pension payouts will place additional stress on the fiscal health of the Lowell Retirement system to the detriment of other retirees to whom the Board owes a fiduciary duty.
When Desrosiers finished, Council Mercier spoke. Although she did it more tactfully, she essentially said it would have been nice to have had all this information before she had voted yes for this two weeks ago because this new information would have caused her to vote differently. She further explained that since she was on the winning side of that vote, the rules allowed her to move for reconsideration of that vote, so she filed this motion.
Councilor Mercier stopped short of asking the city manager why this information hadn’t been provided to the council before taking the initial vote. A couple of councilors probed that issue, but no one pressed it aggressively.
Golden’s position, it seemed, was that there was no harm done in taking this vote since it was ultimately up to the legislature whether to grant this or not.
I have zero knowledge of this issue beyond what I saw and heard at these two council meetings, but reading between the lines of what was said, it seems that Mr. Fernandez or someone advocating for him, has been lobbying for this – at one point Golden mentioned having received inquiries from “the media” about this case – to the point that the city manager opted to “kick the can down the road” to Beacon Hill.
If that strategy was intended to get whoever was pressing him out of his hair, it likely backfired. By presenting the council with this vote two weeks ago without any context or supporting documents and with the retirement board already having rejected it, Golden may have left at least a couple of councilors suspecting that the manager was trying to slip something by them.
After more discussion, the roll call on the motion to reconsider the original vote was taken. Voting to reconsider were Mayor Gitschier and Councilors Belinda Juran, Rita Mercier, Vesna Nuon, Corey Robinson, Sokhary Chau and John Descoteaux. Voting against reconsidering the motion were Councilors Sidney Liang, Sean McDonough, Dan Rourke and Kim Scott. So the motion to reconsider the July 14, 2026, vote passed.
Since the council immediately moved onto another item without any discussion about what would happen with the Fernandez legislation now that the original vote had been reconsidered, that matter is now in limbo. The council reconsidering its prior vote just means the underlying vote is voided so the matter is still pending. It will be interesting to see if it shows up on a future agenda or if it just quietly disappears.
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If the context of that pension vote was opaque, another agenda item was deep in an information fogbank. This was a motion by Mayor Erik Gitschier that requested the minutes “of the July 14, 2026 Executive Session be released regarding the UHC-TIF; once released all discussion to be held in open session for this topic.”
Google tells me that “UHC-TIF” likely stands for the state’s Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Finance program which was created by Massachusetts General Laws c.40, s.60. While a standard TIF is designed to attract businesses and industry, this one (usually called UCH-TIF) promotes multi-unit residential development.
But maybe a UHC-TIF is something else. I couldn’t tell because watching this portion of the meeting put me in the mind of a World War II cryptographer trying to crack the German’s Enigma code. Whatever this thing is related to was discussed by the council in executive session, so everyone who spoke about it on Tuesday used riddles and codes to remain within the confidentiality required of executive sessions. The councilors all knew the secret handshake, but the public did not. This created the impression that councilors (1) are keeping something from us; or (2) don’t know what they’re talking about. Either way, it’s not a good look for the council.
I assume the mayor saw some tactical advantage to be gained by releasing the minutes sooner rather than later, but the motion failed with six councilors voting no (Juran, Liang, Mercier, Nuon, Rourke and Descoteaux) and just five voting yes (Gitschier, McDonough, Robinson, Scott and Chau).
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Another instance of “there’s more going on here than councilors let on” happened with a vote to transfer $249,708 to the city’s Health & Human Service Department to pay its lease at 107 Merrimack Street. (From some council comments, it seems this is related to something discussed in executive session, as well.)
HHS used to be at the old Brady School on Pine Street and will eventually move to 40 Market Street, the one-time Lowell Police Station and “police court” that the city reacquired last year. In the meantime, HHS moved into its current location which is alongside Purple Carrot Bread Company at the corner of Merrimack and John Streets.
From the (public) discussion of this vote, it sounds like the city entered a ten-year lease for the premises, but like all city leases, it’s “subject to appropriation.” It also sounded like the city has reached an agreement with the 107 Merrimack Street landlord to continue paying rent until the Market Street building is ready for occupancy at which time HHS will move there. This supplemental appropriation is to pay the rent on 107 Merrimack for the current fiscal year.
This all sounded reasonable; however, the council rejected the appropriation. Because it’s a transfer of money, it requires a two-third majority vote, which on this council is eight votes. It only received seven. Voting against the appropriation were Mayor Gitschier and Councilors Liang, McDonough and Robinson. Voting for the appropriation were Councilors Juran, Mercier, Nuon, Rourke, Scott, Chau and Descoteaux.
Besides the executive session obtuseness that cloak some of the circumstances of this vote, there is a political dimension, as well. The property at 107 Merrimack Street is owned by Nicholas Sarris as trustee of 107 Merrimack Street Trust. That’s the same Nicholas Sarris who owns the Lowell Senior Center building as a trustee. While it’s a different trust, it’s the same basic entity. The council’s Senior Center ownership dispute has been silent for several months, but that doesn’t mean it’s been resolved. Consequently, it’s possible that the rejection of this appropriation was a proxy skirmish in the ongoing Senior Center fight.
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In the legal profession, there’s a general rule that when you’ve made three points in your favor with a witness, sit down, because that one additional question, you’re tempted to ask might be overkill. With that in mind, I’ll quit for now even though there are several other examples of council dysfunction from Tuesday night.
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Thursday’s U.S. mail brought my Democratic Primary vote-by-mail ballot for the September 1, 2026, state primary. Since this system was implemented during the pandemic, I’ve been a reliable mail in voter and it’s always worked fine. If you want to vote that way or for information about this election and others, visit the webpage of the Lowell Election and Census Office which is packed with useful information.
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Bob Sullivan is a Chelmsford native with deep roots in Lowell who had a long writing and editing career at Sports Illustrated, Time and LIFE. I only met him recently and then just virtually, but our shared interests and the pleasure we find in writing made a quick connection. He also has a Substack newsletter called “That Reminds Me of a Story” in which Bob writes about “our life today and yesterday in America, cast with humor and hope of engagement.”
Please check out Bob’s Substack Page and subscribe to it. (I don’t want to curtail his revenue stream but thus far it’s all free although Substack offers you the opportunity to chip in.)
In the interest of full-disclosure, I appeared as a character in a recent edition of Bob’s newsletter: “Interluding On: Meet Our Unincorporated Kerouac Klub” which includes sketches of several well-known Lowell figures and a dip into some fascinating Lowell history. Even if you don’t subscribe to the newsletter, please read this piece.
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In some local literary news, Louise Peloquin, a regular contributor to this site has published her debut novel, Boarding School Blues, a fictionalized account of life at a New England Catholic all girls boarding school in the 1960s that ran in serial form on this site several years ago. The book is available from the print-on-demand company LULU Press and can be ordered at this link.
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Although I wrote a “Seen & Heard” Column this week, it failed to launch on Wednesday as scheduled so I posted it on richardhowe.com earlier this morning. This week, I wrote about the Lowell Folk Festival; reviewed the book, “Mailman: My Wild ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home”; described a guided tour I took of the Massachusetts State House; commented on an Op-Ed about “shaking up” the national Democratic Party; and summarized an essay about the artist Frederic Church, a member of the Hudson River School of landscape painting.
Seen & Heard: Vol. 30
A weekly report on things I’ve read, heard and seen since last Wednesday.
Event: Lowell Folk Festival – The folk festival happened in Lowell this weekend for the 39th time. As has been my habit recently, I visited on Saturday afternoon. Our first stop was the Market Street Stage to hear the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers, an African American a cappella gospel singing group. They were very good. Before their performance, I stopped at the Polish food booth and ordered a “Polish plate” which contained kielbasa, 2 pierogi, a bowl of Kapusta (cabbage soup), rye bread and a pickle. It was delicious. When the 45 minute long performance ended, we wandered around to the various stages: Arcand Drive, St. Anne’s Churchyard, Boarding House Park and Market Street and checked out the crowd which was impressive.
Book Review: “Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home” by Stephen Starring Grant. The author of this 2025 memoir worked as an advertising consultant for corporate America for several decades. The nature of the work allowed him to do it remotely before that became common, so him, his spouse and their two children lived in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is deep in Appalachia but also home to Virginia Tech. Moving there was a homecoming for Grant whose father had been a professor at the school. But when Covid struck in early March 2020, businesses cut their advertising budgets and he lost his job. Because he was at high risk for cancer, he desperately needed health insurance so he applied for and was hired to be a rural letter carrier in his home community. It was a massive pay cut but he needed the benefits and hoped he would quickly find something in his own field. He did find another job but only after a year at the post office which is the period covered by this memoir which I found amusing, interesting and at times moving. I already held USPS and its employees in high esteem. This book boosted that although he warns that poor management and unwise policies risk undercutting the faith ordinary people have in our postal system.
Guided Tour: Massachusetts State House. I’ve been to the State House several dozen times for many different reasons but never as a tourist. That changed on a recent Friday when a routine doctor’s appointment was finished by 9:45 am which left me with some free time in Boston on a beautiful summer day. When I have visited other states, I’ve toured their state houses so I figured, why not my own? I walked there, went through security, and found my way to Doric Hall (named for the style of columns in the middle of the room). A tour was just about to begin. A couple for the Netherlands and a guy from California were my fellow tour goes. The young man who led the tour did a superb job. Despite already knowing much about the political history of Massachusetts, I learned much that was new. These tours are free and are operated by the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office. On the day I was there you could just walk in and jump on a tour but in quieter times of the year it would probably be best to call ahead of your visit just in case. Related to this, I traveled from Lowell to Boston on the MBTA’s commuter rail and was able to take advantage of “Free Friday.” On Fridays in June, July and August, everyone can ride commuter rail for free. My trip down was on the 7:30 am train which wasn’t busy, but when I returned to North Station at 2:30, the place was packed with people with many young families. It was nice to see so many taking advantage of this free service.
Op-Ed: “The Democratic Party Needs Shaking Up” by Mara Gay, New York Times, July 16, 2026. This essay is a response to centrist Democrats who now assert that the Progressive candidates who have won primaries in New York and Colorado and who are poised to become nominees elsewhere, will doom the party to defeat because they are too progressive for much of the country. Gay argues that even if that’s the case, moderate/centrist Democrats have irretrievably lost the allegiance of many of the party’s voters who believe that the Democratic establishment is weak and needs shaking up. “These Americans believe that the Democratic Party and its leaders are not up to the task before them.” I am in full agreement. The Democratic establishment gave us a flawed nominee in 2016 (Clinton); failed to aggressively hold Trump accountable after he left office in 2021; and covered-up Joe Biden’s decline until he was forced from the 2024 race, too far along for a strong nominee capable of beating Trump to arise. So yes, time to try something different.
Essay: “A Canvas as Big as the Country” by Susan Tallman in the July 2026 edition of The Atlantic. This year is the bicentennial of Lowell, Massachusetts. It’s also the bicentennial of the artist Frederic Church. Best known for his magisterial landscape paintings of natural places in America, Church is one of the best-known members of the Hudson River School of Painting. This essay asks how Church went from being one of the most popular paintings in America to one whose art is easily findable in a museum because it’s in the room that never has anyone else in it. I wouldn’t go quite that far although if I was to list my ten favorite painters, Church wouldn’t be on it; and if I were to list my ten favorite types of paintings, big natural setting landscapes wouldn’t make it either. Yet I’m always drawn to these types of paintings, probably because I place them in historical context. Created before photography, the only way for people in one part of the country to experience the beauty of other parts of the country was by looking at paintings (except for the rare instances of people traveling).
North, This Time from the South
On the wall of my home office is a small sign that proclaims, “Love Where You Live” which highlights the importance of community in each of our lives. Stories about “place” and how individuals interact with it have had a constant presence on this site.
Last fall, through the efforts of guest contributor Melissa Franks, we launched a series called Lowell Stories. These included:
If you have a story about Lowell or the people who have lived here, please get in touch so we can share your story with our readers.
In the meantime, Melissa has relocated to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and shares her discoveries about life on the South Shore:
North, This Time from the South
By Melissa Franks
Massachusetts born and raised, and a longtime resident of the Greater Lowell area, I thought I knew the Commonwealth and its neighboring states well. Like many of us in the Merrimack Valley, my orientation was generally north. Summers meant beaches on Boston’s North Shore or the New Hampshire Seacoast. Winters saw skiing in New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont. Later, I got to know the western part of the state on trips to Stockbridge and the Berkshires.
Surprisingly, though, I never really ventured to the South Shore as a destination. It was simply the region stretching south of Boston toward Cape Cod. I had always heard it was beautiful, but I knew it more by reputation than experience. There was Hingham, whose downtown Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly called the prettiest in America; Hull and its Nantasket Beach; and Duxbury, jokingly referred to as “Deluxebury.”
All that shifted with my recent move to Plymouth, at the southernmost end of the South Shore. I haven’t just moved to a new town. I’ve moved to a new part of the state, and it’s clear there’s much beyond the Pilgrims’ landing to discover.
As for Plymouth, if I thought about it at all, I thought of Plymouth Rock, which anyone who visited on a school field trip knows to be a remarkably small rock. Beyond that, it mostly meant traffic en route to Cape Cod. These days, it’s The Pinehills, one of Plymouth’s burgeoning condo communities, where everyone seems to be moving.
So it was a bit of chance, along with a desire to be nearer the ocean, that my search for a new home brought me to Plymouth. I arrived in early June, just as the hydrangeas were beginning to bloom. They seemed larger and more vibrant than those I’d known elsewhere in Massachusetts. I’ve since learned they thrive in the South Shore’s coastal climate and are one of the area’s signature flowers.
It turns out Plymouth is enormous—the largest municipality by land area in Massachusetts. Yet it seems less like one place than a collection of smaller places. While most people picture the bustle of Plymouth’s historic downtown, I found myself settling in Manomet, a sleepy seaside village about 20 minutes away. It’s a little farther from my mom than I’d intended. The destination was more happenstance than plan, but maybe something led me here. It’s not at all posh, but it’s lovely to me.
Manomet
Church
My first impressions of Manomet began at Gellar’s old-fashioned ice cream stand on the corner before I turned into what would become my new home. Across the street stood an old church and churchyard. What really caught my eye, though, was the sign advertising 24 flavors of soft serve, which I immediately took as a personal challenge—one I started later that very day.
Unfortunately for my wallet, their soft serve doesn’t come in “kiddie” size, and I’ve been adding jimmies to the mix. By the time I’ve sampled all 24 flavors, I’ll have spent nearly $200. Still, my friend Dana assures me that “ice cream therapy” is a lot more fun, and probably cheaper than a single session of traditional therapy.
Gellars
Village Crossing at Old Field Road, my condo community, gave me an immediate sense of peace. Its single-level New England duplexes are separated by stretches of grass, their muted siding and white trim softened by flower beds tended differently by each homeowner. Many have hydrangeas.
When my realtor and I left the neighborhood, we followed the signs toward White Horse Beach, less than a mile away. Along the way we passed gray-shingled homes framed by hydrangeas, several trailheads leading into conservation land, and the weathered White Horse Beach General Store, which had just been sold.
The only other nearby business was a shuttered restaurant called The Lobster Pound. I remember thinking the area could really use a great bakery. If only I knew how to bake. Then, just around the bend, came my first glimpse of the ocean, with Priscilla Beach’s iconic flag-painted rock in the distance. I was already falling for little Manomet, and I hadn’t even made an offer yet.
The Lobster Pound
If this quiet village had captured me so quickly, I can’t help but wonder what the rest of the South Shore will be like. I think I’ll make my way north from Plymouth, one town at a time. Then again, maybe I’ll jump ahead now and then to visit a sprinkling of friends already on the South Shore to see the area through their eyes. And every so often, continuing north will bring me back to the Lowell area, where so many of my stories began.
Why do it? A hiker’s confession.
WHY DO IT?
A hiker’s confession
By Jerry Bisantz
OK, so this is the newest in my “try to figure out why Jerry does stupid stuff all the time” writings. And this one will be about my passion for climbing.
I must blame my buddy Steve for this one. I never knew anything about hiking and climbing until I went for a little “trek” at the Lynn-Fells Nature area in Stoneham, MA. I liked it so much I was done for.
Buying hiking and climbing equipment, and a tent for overnighters, I became obsessed with challenging myself on any of the forty-eight 4,000 ft mountains in NH. I started on small mountains to get used to climbing. … Mt Wachusett, Pack Monadnock, Mt Watatic. My first 4,000-footer was Mt Pierce. Did it with my buddies Phil, and Steve. The view at the top was extraordinary, and the effort was worth it. Of course, that was 13 years ago, and 33 mountains ago.
So, imagine my surprise when I found myself, this September, halfway through the 9.2 mile, three summit climb that is called the Franconia Ridge Trail, facing the third and tallest of the mountains, Mt Lafayette, and literally holding back tears, and, not because it was so beautiful (and trust me, it is breathtaking)… but, because I was so miserable.
Breath. That’s what it was all about. Breathing. I was sucking wind with every step. And there was NO turning back. I wasn’t about to re-climb Mt Lincoln and Little Haystack, only to attempt to go DOWN the Falling Waters Trail. I had no choice. I made the mistake. I was the stupid person who forgot how difficult it could be.
A side note: I had completed this same climb 11 years ago. It’s easy to forget how hard it was then. But now, at the ripe old age of 71, I thought I could still do it. And I was learning quickly how naive I was.
If you have never climbed in The Whites, let me tell you what makes them stand out: ROCKS. Millions of them. At all angles, shapes and sizes. Jagged edges, small cracks, any opportunity to turn an ankle, or break a leg. No easy, manicured trail or switchback, no. You look for the trail marker and you say to yourself “that can’t be a trail.” Even the Ridge, almost three miles of exposed trail above tree line, even that is filled with nothing but rocks.
I got to the point where I would climb for five minutes, sit down and suck wind for three minutes, and repeat. People were passing me like I was standing still. I kept looking at my watch, making sure that I would have enough sunlight to complete the climb. Praying that I had the energy to at least get to the AMC Greenleaf Hut that looked like an inviting little postage stamp on the Western side of Mt Lafayette.
That little speck seemed to get further and further away every time I stumbled over rock after goddamn twisted, misshaped rock on the descent. They say that most accidents occur on descents. That’s because good old gravity has it’s say. Fortunately, hiking poles can be used to cushion and slow yourself down with each step. My water bottle was empty, tongue beginning to swell, I slowly made my way down the torturous path to the Hut.
Where was that feeling? That overwhelming feeling of being one with nature? That feeling that I, at 70 years of age can still do this when so many of my friends are content to suck down a beer and watch TV or are unable to do it due to bad knees, ankles, or medical conditions. Nope, that feeling was not there. Not at all. Just tired, boring plodding along. Occasionally I would trip on a jagged rock, catch myself with my poles. My thighs were screaming. I didn’t dare look at the view if I was moving. Each rock, each step had to be analyzed as to where to put my feet.
I had stepped into the water above Cloudland Falls on the Falling Waters Trail. Up to my knees. I literally squished my way to the top of Little Haystack. Now, on the descent, blisters were beginning to arrive.
Who needs this crap? I started thinking of my stupidity. “Challenging” myself to do this difficult climb. A climb that literally killed a hiker two years ago. “Mr. Macho,” huh? Yeah, right. I started questioning myself, my body, all the dumb decisions I had made in my life.
No cell service. At least if I can make it to the AMC Hut, I may be able to assure my wife that I was OK. But, where the hell is this hut? Why is it taking so long? I summited Lafayette an hour ago, and I am still not there. My mouth felt like sandpaper, my feet were killing me, and I was running out of gas. Big time.
As luck would have it (all bad so far) I had to climb again. Almost 200 more feet to reach the Hut. Climbing at that point was pure torture. I finally turned a corner, and there it was: the AMC hut. Many hikers were lounging in the sun, taking a break.
I wearily went inside, pulled off my boots with much effort and changed into dry socks for the rest of the descent. I helped myself to a brownie, filled my bottle with ice cold water which I drank greedily. Not moving at all was a pleasure.
The hikers were all very nice. One thing about climbing, it’s hard to find a jerk on the mountains. Everyone was just happy to take in the scenery and rest for a while.
I stayed about 20 minutes at the Hut and plotted the next part of this interminable hike. The Old Bridal Path Trail would take me back to my car.
It certainly couldn’t be that hard, after everything I had been through. I spied a very interesting young lady who was about to begin her descent. Her name was Alex. She looked to be about 25 years of age. What really set her apart from everyone else was the fact that she was barefoot. Yes, ya got that right… barefoot! When she told me she was from my hometown of Buffalo, NY I knew that I had to descend with her. Fortunately, she was cool with an old coot like me hanging with her. Ya gotta love a fellow Bills fan.
Angels come in crazy packages. Alex was my angel. Her nonstop conversation, her ability to find just the correct rocks to trust helped me on that interminable last trail.
When we got to the bottom, over 7 hours after I began, we took a “selfie” and promised to keep in touch.
I called my wife, told her I was safely off the mountains, and headed to The Woodstock Inn for a steak and a beer.
Where was that incredible feeling? That feeling of being on top of the world? Of seeing that 360-degree view of all the beauty of the mountain tops, the soaring eagles that flew beneath me?
I didn’t feel it.
I felt tired, I felt old. I felt stupid. I overdid it in a dangerous way.
As I sit here typing away, my sciatica has grounded me. Perhaps it’s for the best that I take a little break and be a bit more aware of my limitations. A challenge is one thing. Stupidity is another.
Is 70 the “new 50?”
Not when it comes to The Franconia Ridge Trail.
Not by a mile.