[at-l] ANSWERS ANYONE?

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

>From: "George (Tin Man) Andrews" <tinman@antigravitygear.com>
>To: <greyowl@rcn.com>, "Jim and/or Ginny Owen" <spiriteagle99@hotmail.com>, 
>        <at-l@backcountry.net>
>Subject: Re: [at-l] ANSWERS ANYONE?
>Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2005 09:21:47 -0400
>
>What is wilderness?
>
>This past weekend i was in Western NC on the side of a mountain laying 
>under some hemlocks on duf as soft as a featherbed.  There was a waterfall 
>about 30 yards away.  The whole experience - sound, smells, feel- was 
>incredibly beautiful and restorative.   Never mind there was a road 250 
>yards away and a lake  1/4 mile away with powerboats that I couldn't hear 
>or a subdivision at the top of the mountain with paved roads and cable tv.
>

So - are you saying you don't need 50,000 square miles to make a place 
"wilderness"?  <VBG>


>Where is wilderness?  Like gold, it's where you find it and belongs to the 
>individual who finds it.
>
>BTW, my definition of wilderness is the only correct one and everyone 
>else's is wrong...just ask me.  HYOHBHIMW  :)

If you say so - I won't argue with you.  At least your definition doesn't 
categorically eliminate everything out to somewhere beyond Mars orbit.  <G>

As a side note, "HYOHBHIMW" (Hike Your Own Hike But Hike It My Way - for 
those few who haven't figured it out) is an oxymoron, a null concept, a zero 
value semantic quantity - and an impossibility.  It's generally used by 
those who disagree with the HYOH concept to insult others.  But it has no 
validity.  As I recall, the first time I was accused of HYOHBHIMW was in Oct 
1995.  Back then (and for some people even today) it was considered the 
equivalent of asking if one had stopped beating their wife yet. In 1995, I 
took it seriously - much too seriously.  But now I just consider it to be 
knee-slapping, rolling-on-the-floor, can't-even-catch-my-breath hilarious.  
The reason being that, even if one WANTED others to hike their hike, it's 
not possible.  I can expound on that if anyone cares - but I don't anymore.  
I've gotta figure anyone who writes this:

>The Corner is entirely MY opinion, MY values, MY reasoning, MY philosophy. 
>There is no expectation that you'll agree with what's written here. (from 
>http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/bun-bun.html)

or this: http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/cdt%20hyoh.html

or this:
>this is the supermarket approach. If you find something you like, then 
>you're welcome to it. But not everything here will apply to everyone who 
>reads it. If something doesn't "feel right" for you, then don't use it. A 
>thruhike is tough enough without trying to do it someone else's way. (from 
>http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/TH%20definitions.html)

---- is either pretty much immune to any real damage from that kind of 
sniping - or just doesn't care because it's just too funny to get upset 
about.  And since I wrote all of those, I can tell you that both those 
conditions apply.  <VVBSEG>

Thank you for the mental picture of your day,
Jim


http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/