Steps Day 2: Glee the Coop

MILTON, DE —

March 26, 2024

Day 2:

Simplicity is crossing the road to get to the chicken on the other side. Happiness is when she scuttles to greet you as soon as you cross. Euphoria is when the whole coop follows her lead—clucking chorus in Delaware’s March, beneath an overcast sky.

After a few miles of pavement pounded, I elected to take up Delaware trail angel Cait Pink’s offer to pitch camp on her happy little farm (aka Pink ADT Campground). Hens, ducks, and their 14 year-old shepherd, Wilma, an astute corgidor, welcomed me, in that order.

I arrived before Cait was home, so I ordered a Maverick Burger and fries from Milton Dough Bar just down the road. I’d say I’m trying some new things right now in life, so why not food as well? The burger was an interesting blend of peanut butter, hot honey, cheddar, and brioche bun—exactly the kind of thing your body craves after a hike. Lord knows I will need the carbs heading into the rest of the week.

Once Cait arrived, we talked life for a little bit: the housing market/gentrification in Delaware vs. Michigan, her time living and working on a farm in Arkansas (something I will be doing for the winter once I get to Gunnison, Colorado), her road kill skeleton collection that looks like a post straight from the potently masculine “Nature Is Metal” social media page, and how to kill a duck you didn’t name.

After we completed some outdoor chores, namely cleaning out the dirt from the ducks' water bowls and feeding baby chicks, she let me recharge my portable battery inside, where I noticed she was quite the talented painter.

It is going to be cold tonight, and rainy. My tent and rain tarp are assembled, so now I wait. I will fall asleep to droplets drumming on nylon, but that’s only if the cooing dove perched somewhere above me doesn’t get me first.

Tomorrow, I’m off to Redden State Forest. Cait’s chickens won’t be happy about it.