I will eventually let you know if this was a mistake ...
 

I am going on vacation.

I'll be back in less than a week ... but until I'm home I won't have internet access (this is a new thing for me ... over the last four years I've always had a computer with high speed internet available) so this could very well be traumatic for me ...

I'm joining a Native American Spiritual Circle in my area to provide support for their vision quest which starts tomorrow. There is a no electronics rule in effect, so that means no Gameboy, either. I'll therefore be forced to commune with nature.

Not too much, though. I have industrial strength bug spray.

I am not a camper ... I've borrowed a tent and have managed to put it up all by myself at least once, so we'll see how that goes, and more importantly, the tent is large enough to hold my very cushy full sized air mattress. My idea of camping is a hotel with poor room service ... I know I've packed far too much stuff, but hey, what if I'm out in the wilderness and my toothbrush breaks, right?

I may have some adventures to share on my return ...

good luck and we'll miss you. don't let the bed bugs bite. seriously.

That's why I have the highest concetration of DEET allowed by law ...

Deet....Da Deet....Da Deet.....Da Deet Deet Deet Deet....
Just buggin' ya. :D
I'll hold your "mail".

You may be tempted, but don't spray your bug spray on the tent - it'll strip the waterproofing off.

Don't feel too bad, Wolf. The most knowledgeable, dedicated Pagan elder I know once told me that, as far as he was concerned, Nature was "something I pass through from my air conditioned car to my air conditioned house. I am not an outdoor person."

Camping out is always a complete paradigm shift for me. It is very interesting for just that reason. No phone, no computer or internet, no TV - just me and the stars and, yes, the mosquitoes. After the first couple of nights of civilization withdrawals, I really begin to comprehend how I use the modern world to keep me at a distance from me. Its a very naked feeling to just have my campfire, my tent, and the stars. The experience can be awesome. I have had some of the most stunning moments of my life camped out alone on Colorado's Uncomphaghre Plateau - shooting stars, nighthawks, encounters with lynx's...

But I also have the advantage, being out west, of cool evenings (no humidity), and the bugs giving up in the face of the cool night air. Back East ya gotta be a lot tougher then us spoiled westerners! I suggest massive and liberal applications of Cutter's. Bathe in the stuff!

No technology? Screw that...I just bought a solar panel so I could keep my camper batteries charged in the face of using my DC fans, lights, portable TV, laptop and other amenities.

I like being outdoors, not stranded.

Vacation...Ha ha!

They will put you to work, woman. You will be cookin', putting out food and socializing so much that you will forget all about "the internet."

Have fun!!

good luck and have fun! after the first couple of days without the internet the withdrawls will subside and the straight jacket can come off! :D

Have fun in da great outdoors.

Safe, almost-natural insect repellent: mint oil + iso alcohol.

Since you're doing an injun party, there's bound to be burning sage -- that stuff works well, too.

Also, if you had given me a couple of weeks' notice, I could've recommended you start taking thiamine (vitamin B1) a couple times a day. Apparently, it causes your skin to take on an odor that's undetectable to humans, but smells nasty to pregnant mosquitoes.

Back in the bowhunting days, anything that caused "human" smells was verboten in camp. Even went vegetarian prior to hunting trips to eliminate the carnivore smell. Who knows if any of it worked -- if the wind is blowing towards you, you can smell like a diesel engine and they won't detect you. Still, it was fun to pretend.

Forget about the lack of internet access--think of the f*cking HEAT AND HUMIDITY! I really wonder whether wolf is doing this voluntarily. Seems suspicious.

Hey Wolf, where are you doing this vision quest? My father-in-law participates in a vision quest somewhere in Death Valley or just outside. He has done several of these over the last couples years. He loves them. In fact he loves it so much, he has started to help out in running them.

I think she left early this morning. She won't answer for a while.

Damn the luck!