[at-l] Well, Gee . . .

[PUDSCRAWLER at aol.com (PUDSCRAWLER@aol.com)]

The slaughter news on AOL today is not about Mad Cow or Iraqi or Jordanian 
suicides-by-explosion.  It's about you who are north and east of me.  
Thirty-eight killed in traffic collisions!  I wonder how many would have been killed in 
traffic accidents under balmy weather conditions in the same amount of time.

And we sit around here contemplating the dangers (?) on the trail?  Having 
slid into a collision, however gentle, at least twice on ice, I know that, once 
the slide begins, you're in it until something else stops you.  And the 
weather news says there's more coming.

I treasure you.  Please develop the flu or something for a few days. Don't go 
to work. It could prove less expensive and more enjoyable.  Try reading about 
the hardships of the trail on the many wonderful journals that have been 
posted in the past few years if you must feel, even vicariously, the thrill of 
living a dicey life.  If you are low on food, gobble up some of that leftover 
freeze-dried cuisine you've been saving for the next long distance hike.  Worry 
about those who valiantly faced a January start and who may be out there 
suffering (but at least not colliding).

Meanwhile, as I go about my business in the balmy mountains of Colorado, I'll 
try to persuade myself that there is absolutely no question which half of the 
US is "better."  It all depends on what is forecast for the day/week in 
either location.

Kinnickinic