Strangers pitch in

Globe correspondent Ethan Gilsdorf has been walking from Massachusetts General Hospital to Lee, N.H., this week in memory of his mother and to raise money for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. He sent this last night.

Tuesday, Dec 18, 9 p.m., Amesbury, Mass.

Today was a good day. The weather was ideal: sunny, pristine blue skies, comfortably cold temps that meant I could walk without hat or mittens most of the time. The ice that began flinty and slick mushed up some under the sun. I didn't slip once.

Yes, my feet hurt. A friend noted, "You realize you're walking back-to-back marathons, with a 30 pound pack, with no training." "Uh, yeah," I replied. You don't want to hear about the state (and shape) of my left pinky toe at the end of the day.

But what made Day 2 inspiring was the goodness of people. I left Andover and enjoyed their well-groomed and plowed sidewalks. Folks from Boxford to Groveland honked in support --- a glass delivery truck, the fuel guy, an older couple. At a garden center-bakery where I stopped for coffee, a man reached into his wallet and gave me a $20 contribution to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. And another customer, perhaps feeling put on the spot but without any money, persuaded the cashier to lend her few bucks and passed them to me.

The kindness kept growing as the miles added up.

On a Haverhill back road, a red pickup stopped, popped into reverse, and a man rolled down his window. His name was Ernie. "Would you like some cocoa?" He invited me back to his kitchen for hot chocolate, his wife's yummy homemade pastries, and conversation. Ernie also gave money.

Later, a woman and her mother delivering newspapers drove past me, pulled a 180, and pulled to the roadside. "What's up with Mom?" she asked. Another donation.

As the daylight disappeared, I marched along the Merrimac River. Total peace. Sounds of ice cracking and buckling. Sunset. A postman's truck and I played leap frog from mailbox to mailbox. We caught up to each other and he stuck his head out to ask about my sign. And he gave me a five dollar bill.

When the daylight was dying, and my legs (ducks paddled faster than I walked), I stuck out my thumb. And who should stop but another guy named Ernie, his SUV blasting Tom Petty. He asked where I was headed. He took me a couple miles out of his way, right to my hotel's doorstep.

The kindness of strangers.

The "Walking for Mom" sign on the back of my backpack has attracted attention. Which is part of the reason I'm doing this. I collected $52 today. If you want to contribute, there's still time.

I did 22 or 23 miles today. Tomorrow will be even warmer, but with snow. I'll cross the NH border at about 8:30 a.m. One more 23-24-25 mile day to go, and then I'll be home.