I Hate(d) Blogs

A few years ago a couple of friends of mine who were making a radical, life-changing move to Denver announced to a carload of us that they were planning on journaling in a "blog" for their trip. When asked what I thought about blogs, like a good friend, I proffered the opinion that I didn't like blogs because they seems to be too often an exercise in self-centeredness (my actual poorly chosen words were "That's pretty arrogant, isn't it?"). In my mind, I couldn't fathom what type of people would really be interested in reading about my deepest thoughts. What wisdom could I possibly share? Even worse, I pictured myself sitting anxiously in front of my computer screen waiting to see if anyone commented on my posts. A blog seemed like a lot of effort and emotional risk with very little potential reward and I didn't really want any of that in my life at the time. I also figured if I wanted someone's input on my most intimate thoughts, I would get married.

So last Summer, I did. And through this amazing joining with Stephanie, I've come to learn that the part of me that wants to keep everything under wraps needs to loosen up some. It's not arrogant to share one's life with others. On the contrary, it's beautiful and I've found it absolutely necessary for my joy and survival.

Now I'm not entirely convinced that the blog, as a medium, is going to bring us all together tenderly holding our mice and singing kumbayah in the soft glow of our computer screens. But maybe it could provide a way for me to peel back one more layer of the stuff that makes me feel (or want to be) separated from everyone else.

That is certainly worth the effort.

Confession

I'm going to make my paralyzing fear public in the hope that I will have less of it once I do.

Confession: I'm terrified of getting eaten by a grizzly bear when we're backpacking in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

I've read a ton of bear preparedness stuff hoping that arming myself with knowledge would help. It hasn't. Especially when one of them said something like, "In the unlikely event that you are attacked defensively, lie on your stomach with your hands behind your neck and your legs spread so that you can't be flipped over. As hard as it might be, don't fight back. If, however, the bear starts to eat you, then the attack is no longer defensive and you should fight with all you've got."

I've also read up on the statistics of bear attacks and when they happen, and I realize that we have a much better chance getting creamed while driving than we ever do as noisy, responsible hikers.

And, I also know that if I absolutely am too uncomfortable to do a back-country hike in grizzly territory, we won't.

None of that really seems to help. I still think about it all the time and it's the number one concern on the trip. Things like hot showers and the price of gas are not really even glimmers in my mind, even though they seem to be everyone else's top concerns. It's the stupid bears.

I'll give this confession a day or two to work its magic, and then I'm sure I'll be cured...

Them's Sexy Legs

The futon got outfitted last week with its leg risers. We gave it a trial run while staying in Detroit for a wedding and slept in the Best Western's parking lot. We slept like babies. Even though it's a sweet setup and the namesake for the blog, we really anticipate sleeping on it about a third of the time (when we set up at dark, when the weather is beyond crap, or other such situations). The rest of the time we plan on sleeping in our sweet new Big Agnes Copper Spur - our biggest luxury for the trip.