You can thank a woman....

[xoxoxoBruce]

I was surprised to learn there are many people that live in tracts out of fear. Fear of animals, unlit nights, intense quite, being away from people, strange plants & insects, fear of the unknown. They've seen "the country" at summer camp as kids, or in the movies and it scared them.

[Ernestine]

Marichiko, I don't worry too much about whether or not I've remembered everything correctly, because I've found that if I should happen to get it wrong, there always seems to be someone around to help me out with the facts.

Bruce, I've known people just like that. I used to take friends from Dayton along when I went to visit my parents. After they retired, they had bought a hundred acres back in the West Virginia hills (cheap land at the time) and built a nice little A-frame overlooking the trees. I thought my friends would enjoy the quiet retreat, but I could feel the fear building every step of the way. "Boy, this sure is isolated." "How far to the nearest neighbor?" " Nobody would hear you scream out here!" Then the Deliverance jokes would start.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I was surprised to learn there are many people that live in tracts out of fear. Fear of animals, unlit nights, intense quite, being away from people, strange plants & insects, fear of the unknown. They've seen "the country" at summer camp as kids, or in the movies and it scared them.

I'd never thought about that before, but, yeah, that's the suburban mindset. Its only a small leap from that to the gated community, us versus them life style. I am the complete opposite. I feel happiest and extremely safe when I'm camped out by myself somewhere on a place like the Uncomphagre Plateau in western Colorado. I can feel all the tensions of the city leave my muscles. I'll sit by my campfire and just gaze up at the stars so long that when I close my eyes to go to sleep I still see the imprint of the heavens in my mind. In the morning I'll wake up to a meadow of wildflowers. To me that's sheer happiness, but lots of folks think I'm crazy to go out there alone.