[at-l] Leki envy

[Trailmixup@aol.com]

I was visiting at my parents' home last weekend.  My bro came by and I was 
showing him pictures of my recent trailwork and hiking trips.  He asked why I 
wasn't using the hiking staff he'd given me. 

"??!! huh?"  

He says he'd given me a pole thingy one Christmas.  Or was it two poles?  (My 
bro is NOT a hiker.  His idea of camping involves a humongous canvas tent and 
at least one keg of beer.)  Yeah, it was a set of *two* poles.  They were 
metal and could adjust in length.  "Real expensive," as he recalls.  They 'd 
had a special at Nestor's.  Something like $50 per pole.  Leki?  Yeah, that 
coulda been the name of 'em. 

[Note:  I have no Leki's.  Several years ago, I bought some Komperdells -- 
which my friend Deanna had at the time these trips, hence *they* were not in 
my pictures.)  I do remember putting "Leki hiking poles" on a Christmas Wish 
List many years ago.  I do NOT remember getting any Leki hiking poles.

But he keeps insisting.   By now, you KNOW I'm getting ill.... Either I have 
a pair of Leki's stashed away in god-knows-what place.  Or else HE does....
And I can tell he's thinking the same thing, eyes rolling back in his head -- 
I can just *see* he's doing a mental *walk* through all his "stashing" places 
at his house.... I'm [we're?] picturing tiny, collapsed Lekis gathering dust 
on the bottom of some pile of boards and insulation on the back porch or in a 
bin somewhere amongst the broken rake handles, unused pots and planting trays 
for his garden.....  utterly tragic.

We did an exchange over the course of the day; somehow this *idea* wouldn't 
die for him.  Turns out (we'd surmised, anyway) that he'd opted for a lantern 
instead of the poles.  (A backpacker's lantern?  You guessed it right, it's 
among my rarely-used gear.  Very useful for the yard or for car camping, 
however.)

This got us talking about how poor our memories can be.  He'd obviously 
intended to buy these poles, but only recalls the intent, not the ultimate 
decision against making the purchase.   But really, forgetting something as 
important as Leki's.  Man, I don't remember the last time I forgot something 
that important.

Trailmixup
;-)
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