[at-l] A suggestion that Ryan create the OT-L

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

Well, FWIW, I think the campfire model works quite nicely. Those of us who have
spent time around real campfires (an increasingly rare practice now that fire
places are routine in houses, but somehow politically incorrect on trails) know
that though conversations may begin with discussions of trails, most quickly
broaden to "planetary thermal changes, Newton's Laws, partisan politics,
Darwin's theories, and other  terribly vital topics."

Communication seems to be a constant among all creatures large and small, from
ants to humans. Being more inventive than whales and the geese that have gabbled
away on my lawn in recent days, humans tend to be the worst offenders.

 No matter what sound making device is placed at our disposal, humans just
 naturally keep gabbling away. To be sure it requires a bit of patience and
 thought to edit out the parts that lack sense. Light social chit chat designed
 to keep the party going prevails.

 As that very wise biologist Lewis Thomas once wrote, "Nature abhors a long
 silence."

  BTW another ideal trail book is Thomas's "The Lives of a Cell," published in a
  Bantam Book edition a quarter century or so ago. The book is a collection of
  essays originally published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

  Few books combine greater wit, and insight about the human and natural world
  condition. Most of the essays are but five pages long -- ideal for long
  distance hiking, for me anyway. After a hard day of walking and observing I
  rarely can go more than five pages before drifting off to sleep. Best of all
  my somewhat dried out paper back edition weighs but 4 ounces. His book is my
  only real ultra light gear. No where else can you find such easily digested,
  but heavy thoughts, for so little extra pack weight. Search the used book
  stores.

  Weary