[at-l] random thoughts from reading the latest digest or two . . .

[icw at esisnet.com (Clark Wright)]

1)  my best "extra" hygiene tip to go with the stuff sparked by Shane's 
great e-mail - cut your hair SHORT and keep it short - the worst thing 
in the world is greasy, hat-head hair!  come on, you gals can do it, too! :)

2)  Hey Jan - I have always wanted to jump out of airplanes - let us 
know how it goes!

3)  I gotta know more about Felix's fun times with the GA law - where is 
the clamor for part two of "chain of events!?"  did felix get to know 
the jailer?  how were the cellmates?  did he use his one call to order 
out for pizza and little debbies?  did a "Ray of hope" fall on his 
shoulders in the form of a returned pack from Ray's truck?  did Ray 
adopt him as his GA pig-son? :)  inquiring, stinky, unhygenic hiker 
minds wanna know!

4)  For those not too hung up on supporting local stores to catch a good 
deal, right now REI.com is selling the normally $100 awesome Keen 
sandals for $69 - gotta order fast as they usually don't do this one for 
long . . .

5)  Great history lesson re AT-L and RnR by Tim! :)

6)  On a more serious note, there was a time when I liked reading some 
of RnR's posts - I only wish he could back up a notch, understand that 
day-to-day interactions with other people is a hugely important part of 
life, and give himself - and us - a chance to learn, grow and interact 
in a more positive environment . . . what does one's view of nature, the 
Trail and the environment matter if one has burned every possible bridge 
in getting that view across???????  Life deserves more; life in the 
eternal sense (here, and perhaps later, see below) demands more

7)  Rafe's post re heaven and hell struck a chord with me . . . I'm 48, 
and have struggled with my own definition of "Christianity" (I 
personally hate that term) for a long time . . . in more recent years of 
"thru-thinking," I have latched on to a couple of concepts that I've 
mentioned before - such as the thought that every relationship in your 
life is eternal - i.e., somewhere in your mind is a reverberating memory 
of every single encounter you have had with any other person, and much 
of what life is really about is how you come to terms with those 
memories - express, supressed, conscious and unconscious - which leads 
me to one of my latest musings, which is to take this thought a step 
further and postulate that if you "believe" in at least the possibility 
of some spiritual existence beyond the grave, isn't it darn likely that 
your spirit will continue to remember every single relationship you had 
while in your physical body?  And if this is true, perhaps the best 
definition of heaven versus hell is simply that - your collective, 
eternal memory bank about how you handled each and every relationship 
that Life/God brought your way during your time here on earth.  Think on 
that for a bit, and it can get to you! :)  . . . I know "closure" is one 
of those "overused" words, but the more I think about my own life, and 
my own passionate, often tempermental nature, the more I conclude that 
achieving "closure" or "peace" with all my relationships is - well, the 
key to life and perhaps the key to eternal life as well . . . when you 
strip away much of the dogma, isn't that the living example that Jesus 
set(s) for us?  For me, in a strange way, the Trail and much of the 
out-of-doors offers a chance to have eternal relationships with 
something deeply fundamental to our character and our essence and our 
past, and our future as well . . . I do not know how to name it, but I 
do know that it is equally important for me to achieve "closure" and 
"peace" with how I "am" relative to other people and to what I value in 
nature as well  . . .  perhaps two aspects of the same journey?

thru-thinker



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