Phenomenal

Captain's Log Earthdate 10/17/2007 22:27

I am idling my car so that I can recharge my battery. Basically my car is my house for a while. A 15 year old severely autistic boy, son of a small South Park family that is friends with multiple friends of mine is badly lost in the Roaring Plains of the Dolly Sods. This is a place that I have intended on exploring for years but never thought the vehicle of a search and rescue team would take me there. It is night time and the first few meteors of the Orionids are beginning to appear. They won't let me go out and search for him tonight. In fact, roads and all other access is blocked to the area. This is so that screwheads that want to catch a glimpse of the action (without actually being a part of it) won't interfere with the highly organized efforts of the navy seals, the K-9 units and bloodhounds, the rest of the military and national guard, and the formally trained search and rescue teams. I don't take it personally. I understand. They will turn me loose at 6am.
I'm gathering energy. There is a tremendous buffet of candy bars, crackers, macaroni and cheese, chili, manicotti, gatorade, powerbars, anything that people would donate. There is, in the same room, 50 - 100 cots set up in the Canaan ski lodge. I'm reading Ender's Game (a recent gift from my sensei) in my car in the parking lot listening to a mix cd that a long lost friend of mine from the Sunny Side made for me years ago. This is where I will sleep in my beloved station wagon (Before I bought the car I folded the seats down to perform the tests that proved I could comfortably sleep in it. I will never own a car that I can't.)
I hope to god that this kid buckled down and ran for everything that anything is worth from this incredible landscape. Wednesday is almost over and he's been through 3 almost freezing nights and four hot days since Sunday afternoon. My optimistic side believes that it is just a walk in the park for those of us who are not completely stunned by the fear that precedes awe.

[Update: 10/18/07]
J was found today (at about 14:30) by a team of volunteers that included one of his relatives. He was discovered in a small, thickly moss covered clearing within a dense thicket of rhododendron not far from where he was last seen. He walked out on his own two feet.
For the four days (not including Sunday) there were over 300 volunteers (not including the formal SAR teams and military) signed up per day. There was a superfluous amount of supplies including first aid and even American Red Cross chefs to cook the donated food. Dog food, bowls, mats to put the bowls on, and more was donated to the private search dog owners. Above all, there were so incredibly many human work hours given that it would be impossible to count. When people pull together in great numbers or even act alone in seemingly small acts of selflessness and compassion.. this is the essence of human nature.