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Aug. 10th, 2002
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Aug. 10th, 2002 03:46 amyet another friday five...
1. Do you consider yourself an outdoors person? Why or why not? What do you enjoy/dislike the most about being outside?
yes. i'm an outdoors person. prior to becoming ill, i spent most of my summer outside. i worked at a state park (technically, some of those jobs were indoors, but i had a GREAT view). i worked summer day camp for scouts. i went camping with family/friends. i grew up on freshwater lakes. i climbed trees, i still do. i love the outdoors, most especially the sky. i adore a nighttime sky. i dislike spiders. i'm terrified of them. when i awaken in the morning, i squeal and scream upon encountering zillions of daddy long-legs, which are technically not spiders, but they are arac hnids, so close enough.
2. What size community do you live in? Do you think that the degree of urbanization influences your enjoyment of the outdoors? Is that influence negative or positive? Please explain. Is it difficult for you to e njoy the outdoors because of the population or sprawl of your community?
i live in the country. my zip code covers a small part of the county i live in. there is a driveway across the street, but the houses are at least 1/2 mile from my house and we can't see each other. i can make out a light from another house barely) 1/2-3/4 mile away. i love this isolation, but it wears on boy. i'd rather live even farther from people, but boy would go nuts. we still have some light pollution (charlottesville to the north 15mi, scottsville to the east 3 mi)... and that irks me. and we're not high enough to avoid dampness/haziness. we have lots of trees--that rocks. and all sorts of creepy crawlies! nifty!
3. What is your favorite warm-weather outdoor activity? Why? What is your favorite cold-weather outdoor activity? Why?
hiking, canoeing, swimming. i like being outside and movie.
stargazing is great in the winter, because there's less humidity. i also like diving into icy water, but that's just because i'm stupid.
4.. Have you ever been camping? If so, share a memory. What is your idea of "roughing it"?
i've been camping for severaly values of camping. i've been out in the woods with a pocketknife and the clothes on my back and i've been out in a spread-out meadow with paved spots, full utilities, in an RV with AC, heat, and a microwave.
southern sweden, august 1993. some wooded area on a map. we've been biking over the countryside for a day or two. old army bikes. ever ride an old army bike uphill on a SAND road? anyhow... we roll into camp and are one of the first two groups to arrive. we're told to go set up camp, then come back and work on dinner (a big old smorgasbord, we're doing the work). we the seven of us park the bikes and pull on our packs. we set off into the woods. decide we want to be upwind from both the gathering area and the privies. we find a good, relatively ungravelly spot, with lots of moss, but few bugs. a couple of the guys set to whittling pegs from sticks. another guy and i lash two ends of a tarp to two trees. then we all peg the other two ends down, creating a lean-to. we toss our stuff into the leanto (seven of us). there's space for 6 sleeping pads, but i don't use one. this is perfect, since we'll want to snuggle, anyhow. we can put all seven bags down on the six pads and sleep tight. we set off for the gathering area with our mess kits and pocketknives.
later, we all climb into our bags. it's *cold*. colder than it's been on this trip. for august, it's probably about 40F (maybe colder) and that's chilly for this US girl. i'm fine in my bag, but the swedes announce their game of "swedish sleeping bag wrestling". we play several rounds, then fall asleep in our toasty afterglow.
roughing it? not having my own matches. i can do it, but i prefer to have at least those.
5. Where is your favorite wilderness and/or natural scenic location? What makes it special for you? How far do you have to travel to reach your favorite spot?
Spruce Knob, WV.
it's one of the darkest sites in the midatlantic, and one of the highest. it's 3-4 hours from here, but totally worth the drive. the last time we were there, the fire department was putting out spot fires up and down the mountainside. we'd stop and offer to help as we drove up and down the mountain, but they preferred we just sit back and keep an eye out for hotspots. we saw the most AMAZING leonid shower there last year.
1. Do you consider yourself an outdoors person? Why or why not? What do you enjoy/dislike the most about being outside?
yes. i'm an outdoors person. prior to becoming ill, i spent most of my summer outside. i worked at a state park (technically, some of those jobs were indoors, but i had a GREAT view). i worked summer day camp for scouts. i went camping with family/friends. i grew up on freshwater lakes. i climbed trees, i still do. i love the outdoors, most especially the sky. i adore a nighttime sky. i dislike spiders. i'm terrified of them. when i awaken in the morning, i squeal and scream upon encountering zillions of daddy long-legs, which are technically not spiders, but they are arac hnids, so close enough.
2. What size community do you live in? Do you think that the degree of urbanization influences your enjoyment of the outdoors? Is that influence negative or positive? Please explain. Is it difficult for you to e njoy the outdoors because of the population or sprawl of your community?
i live in the country. my zip code covers a small part of the county i live in. there is a driveway across the street, but the houses are at least 1/2 mile from my house and we can't see each other. i can make out a light from another house barely) 1/2-3/4 mile away. i love this isolation, but it wears on boy. i'd rather live even farther from people, but boy would go nuts. we still have some light pollution (charlottesville to the north 15mi, scottsville to the east 3 mi)... and that irks me. and we're not high enough to avoid dampness/haziness. we have lots of trees--that rocks. and all sorts of creepy crawlies! nifty!
3. What is your favorite warm-weather outdoor activity? Why? What is your favorite cold-weather outdoor activity? Why?
hiking, canoeing, swimming. i like being outside and movie.
stargazing is great in the winter, because there's less humidity. i also like diving into icy water, but that's just because i'm stupid.
4.. Have you ever been camping? If so, share a memory. What is your idea of "roughing it"?
i've been camping for severaly values of camping. i've been out in the woods with a pocketknife and the clothes on my back and i've been out in a spread-out meadow with paved spots, full utilities, in an RV with AC, heat, and a microwave.
southern sweden, august 1993. some wooded area on a map. we've been biking over the countryside for a day or two. old army bikes. ever ride an old army bike uphill on a SAND road? anyhow... we roll into camp and are one of the first two groups to arrive. we're told to go set up camp, then come back and work on dinner (a big old smorgasbord, we're doing the work). we the seven of us park the bikes and pull on our packs. we set off into the woods. decide we want to be upwind from both the gathering area and the privies. we find a good, relatively ungravelly spot, with lots of moss, but few bugs. a couple of the guys set to whittling pegs from sticks. another guy and i lash two ends of a tarp to two trees. then we all peg the other two ends down, creating a lean-to. we toss our stuff into the leanto (seven of us). there's space for 6 sleeping pads, but i don't use one. this is perfect, since we'll want to snuggle, anyhow. we can put all seven bags down on the six pads and sleep tight. we set off for the gathering area with our mess kits and pocketknives.
later, we all climb into our bags. it's *cold*. colder than it's been on this trip. for august, it's probably about 40F (maybe colder) and that's chilly for this US girl. i'm fine in my bag, but the swedes announce their game of "swedish sleeping bag wrestling". we play several rounds, then fall asleep in our toasty afterglow.
roughing it? not having my own matches. i can do it, but i prefer to have at least those.
5. Where is your favorite wilderness and/or natural scenic location? What makes it special for you? How far do you have to travel to reach your favorite spot?
Spruce Knob, WV.
it's one of the darkest sites in the midatlantic, and one of the highest. it's 3-4 hours from here, but totally worth the drive. the last time we were there, the fire department was putting out spot fires up and down the mountainside. we'd stop and offer to help as we drove up and down the mountain, but they preferred we just sit back and keep an eye out for hotspots. we saw the most AMAZING leonid shower there last year.
