Places and ribbons.... Re: [at-l] I'm getting excited!

[ThatSloetoe <sloetoe@yahoo.com>]

--- Tom Williams <Williams@AB.EDU> wrote:
> Kahley,
> I *always* save enough energy to cook.  Part of it, in my
> hike-your-own-hike heart of hearts, is that I really enjoy
> "primitive" camping, and that I like walking as a way
> of getting between campsites.  This is in contrast with
> those who love the walk, and who camp as a way of
> resting between legs of the journey.

This is one of my favorite "lightbulb" thoughts -- the difference between
hiking to link "places" and hiking to "ride a ribbon" across the landscape.

Kids tend to hike from place to place.
Throughhikers tend to hike the ribbon.
Winter (and to a lesser extent, summer) pushes me to hike place to place.
Fall (and to a lesser extent, spring) pushes me to hike the ribbon.

Excitment and enthusiasm confuse me with whether to enjoy the place or the
ribbon.
Weariness always pushes me to hike the ribbon.

Eating *makes* me enjoy where I'm at.
Hunger *drives* me to get there.

Too wide a ribbon (like the balds) slows me down.
Too small a place (like a boulder seat in the krummholtz) speeds me up.

I camp at a place.
I stealth on the ribbon.



This'll be a good chapter...

=====
Sloetoe


   "I strive to be the man my children think I am."

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