Rachel Hrovat~Hey There, Delilah

When I was driving home one night listening to the radio, I heard a lady who started talking about the Appalachian Trail. She shared with Delilah, the radio host, that she started the trail several years back and how every night, she and her group of friends that she met on the trail would all sit around the campfire at night and listen to radio programming, often times the Delilah Show. After a couple weeks on the trail, the woman hurt her foot very badly and could no longer hike. The following year, after her foot had healed, she went back and once again brought the radio. She describes how it was sad for her because she did not have her same friends with her, but also how she would still turn the radio on every night and listen to it as she closed her eyes, then she felt as though all of her friends were right there again with her. The feeling of community, or comunitas as discussed in class, was so strong that she was still able to feel it even though her friends were no longer physically with her. This feeling enabled her to have no fear on the trail because she still felt the close community and had nothing to worry about.