links for 2006-01-21 January 20, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Links , add a commentTwilight in the Wilderness January 18, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Outdoors/Travel , 1 comment so farI’m loving this picture, which is now my desktop background as well as the background of this blog.
We took it last October. We had spent the day hiking around the Wawona grove of giant sequoias. We decided to drive to Glacier Point, and had to race the sun to get there in time for some views and pix.
We just barely made it, as you can see, catching the last traces of sun. The light was literally changing before our eyes, and within minutes of this picture, it was dark. We drove back to the valley in the dark. We stumbled through Curry Village in the dark.
We got some dinner, some drinks for the tent cabin, and hunkered down for the night.
The thing this brings to mind is the feeling, the thrill of twilight in the wilderness. When I think about it, and what this picture makes me remember, is how thrilling that time of day is in that sort of place. Back here in the suburbs I hardly notice twilight, But out there, it’s got huge significance. Are you ready? Do you have your shit together? Do you have your flashlight? How about taking one last piss for the night? Is your food handy? Is everything secure? Have you gotten everything you need from the store before they close?
I’ve had some variation of this feeling times when we stayed in relative comfort in Curry Village, way back when we used to work in the park, whenever I’ve visited there since. It’s much more heightened when you’re backpacking in the wilderness, though, as you might expect. There’s no store to worry about closing. But still, you want to be sure your tent is set up, you have your flashlight. You want to be sure you’ve got an internal map of your site so you know your firepit from your latrine.
I confess I actually get just a little scared at this hour. Once it’s completely dark, you’re adjusted. It’s no big deal. But in those last moments of fleeting twilight, there’s a fear. It’s like fear of the dark before it’s dark even.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say, but I wanted to enter this particular experience into the record of experiences you can have. Cause you can.
LSD: The Geek’s Wonder Drug? January 16, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Drugs, Psycho/Spirit, Web Tech , add a commentWired News: LSD: The Geek’s Wonder Drug?
links for 2006-01-16 January 15, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Links , add a commentlinks for 2006-01-15 January 14, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Links , add a commentWasabi January 9, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Irrelevant , add a commentPlease, somebody stop me before I eat this whole bag of wasabi peas. They’re burning my lips, grossing me out, but I can’t stop! It’s pathetic!
links for 2006-01-09 January 8, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Links , add a commentlinks for 2006-01-08 January 7, 2006
Posted by Phineas in : Links , add a commentguilty pleasure
Posted by Phineas in : Uncategorized , add a commentOK, so although my “What I’m Reading” module says I’m reading Plutarch’s Lives, I confess I forgot to bring that with me on my trip to Dallas. On the plane back home, someone had left a copy of The Bourne Identity on the seat, so I started reading that. Guilty pleasure. It’s sort of hard for me to read best sellers like this. There’s just something weak about the prose style that I do not enjoy. But If you treat it like a move you’re watching (and I have seen the move so I can tap into those images easily), it’s perfectly pleasant. It’s like a weirdly slow moving action movie. Slow because it moves at my reading pace, which will definitely streatch out for a week or so probably, seeing as I read fifteen minutes each night and conk out.
