[at-l] Introduction (Read at own risk)

[greyowl at rcn.com (greyowl@rcn.com)]

Hi all, no I am not a new lister but one member of this list 
asked me, off list, about myself.  So since we seem to be 
more focused on hiking, I will do away with the silly posts 
and go back to hiking.  Ryan has asked that each new member 
of the list post some information about themselves to this 
list and maybe some of the new people will be motivate to 
post some of their background.

So where do I start?  Well I have been a member of this list 
since the last century (that is so kewl to be able to say 
that!!).  The list was quite different then, as sites like 
Trailjournal were not up.  Thus a lot of thru hiker journals 
were e-mnail directly to the list. Trail Place was up and 
running and more hiker friendly than it is now and Dan "wing 
Foot' Bruce was a regular contibuter to this list.  Most of 
the old members of the list are long gone, but there are a 
few still hanging on and posting ocassionally.

So a bit about myself.  I think that my son summed it up when 
he introduced me to one of his college professors.  He 
said 'This is my dad, there is something not quite right with 
him  He went to Canada after Vietnam.  We don't know if it 
was the alcohol, the drugs or maybe even Nam itself.  Of 
course I should add he works as a Chemist and he does have 
his doctorate degree'.  Now I know why ferrets eat their 
young.  Fortunately he graduated last spring, found a job, 
and is living in New York City.  I guess I will let him 
live.  My daughter graduated 2 years ago and is also 
gainfully employed, but living at home.  She is not happy 
with her job and is thinking of going to law school, getting 
her MBA or working in the publishing business.  She is angry 
as she feels that she should have settled on a areer by now.  
As I tell her I am 59 and I haven't decided what I am going 
to do when I grow up.

So if I have two children there must be a wife somewhere.  We 
celibrated our 35th wedding aniversery this past may.  
Unfortunetly she suffers from severe depression and has been 
in and out of therapy for years.  I can say tha the older she 
gets the better life is for her, but here is never really 
a 'cure'.  Besides, what is normal?  We do like to travel and 
we do a lot of car camping, but backpacking or walking more 
than a few miles is something she would chose not to do.  
When the going get thought the though go shopping.  We both 
volunteer at a local museum, a local coffee house, the three 
large music festivals in the Lehigh Valley and for the Nature 
Conservancy.

I am not a thru hiker wannabe, actually I really don't care 
if I complete the AT or not.  There are just too many miles 
of trails in the US for me to focus on just one trail.  There 
is something like 8,000 miles of trails in PA alone and the 
number of miles is increasing yearly.  A couple of years ago 
there was an article in the local paper about a guy that 
canoed every navigable piece of water in PA.  He started in 
his early teens and finished in his mid seventies.  I hope 
that it is not too late to hike every trail in PA.  Right now 
I usually get out everyweekend to wlak one of the local 
trails, and approximately once a month to hike one of the 
other trails.  I usually section hike, but next year I am 
going to try and do some backpacking.  Haven't done any in 
several years.

So I have rambled enoght, there is research waiting in the 
lab for me and off to work I go.

Grey Owl