How to Recharge Your Soul

[elleng]

Camping in the woods sounds gloriously refreshing! But I wouldn’t know where to begin, and, ugh, what if I get eaten by a bear?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09kristof.html?th&emc=th

[cliffordu]

1. Camping deep in the woods is spectacular. it will make you understand how

trivial we are to the planet and, for that matter the cosmos.

[Mind_your_head]

2. ....all the while, understanding how truly wonderfully & magnificently we have been made, eom

[cliffordu]

7. Killjoy.

[bananas]

3. You don't have to out-run the bear

you only have to out-run the other campers.

[Redneck Socialist]

4. Turn off DU

Go fishing.

Time to take my own advice...

[Mopar151]

5. Bring friends

Start small, and close to other folks. Quiet, and a good dark night sky (away from cities and population), lets you rediscover the cosmos and uninteruppted conversation.

[elleng]

6. yup

away from dirt and noise too, right, Mopar? going there!

[Mopar151]

8. For everything, a season

s a racer, I like big, loud, messy fun - whether it's on the clay at Hagerstown, or on one of my beloved Vermont hills (www.hillclimb.org). When that part of the fun is over, I want to be someplace where I can't see a streetlight or a billboard.

I'm good with dirt (as in soil!), not so good with oily grime, rust and mold. Racecar noise is very much like loud music, in several respects - beautiful if you are a fan, varying degrees of disgust for bad sound(s), and a subjective beauty.

[elleng]

9. Drove thru Vermont recently, to/from Quebec.

MUST spend more time there, as I/we did in the past.

I may do some planting in my new yard in Hagerstown. Its rather removed from streetlights, and NO billboards. 'Country' for me, Mopar, and my season to be there, with myself.

[Mopar151]

10. psst - tell ya a secret

When you take pictures of racing in the mountains, there are a lot of pictures of mountains that are too pretty to not share - plus we have off-hours access for sunset shots. http://vermontracing.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=16 is your link for some different looks at Vermont.

From Burke Mountain, Vermont, looking across to Willoughby Gap.
http://vermontracing.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=42375&g2_

And Burke Mountain, near Checkpoint 5:

[elleng]

11. Thanks SO MUCH, Mopar!

Whose car is that? It appears to be MY color!

[Mopar151]

14. There are at least 3

Soobies the same color racing with us.
I think this guy is the crewcheif:


Burke Mountain:

There will always be an England:

Miss Vermont (natural beauty division):

[nolabear]

12. Believe it or not, I am writing from deep in the woods.

I happen to be off on a weeklong effort to finish a book I'm writing. I'm in a cabin in a tiny little former mining settlement in the middle of a national forest. It's 23 miles out a one lane drop-sided dirt road, surrounded by mountians and astonishingly beautiful. It has no TV, radio or phone but does have an internet connection and a caretaker who bears a striking resemblance to Keith Richards in more ways than one iykwim. My DH left, accidentally taking the key to the truck that is my way out. Today the rain closed in and my city dog, who weighs all of 12 pounds, has suddenly lost the ability to do what bears do in the woods. I don't know if my soul is refreshed, but my sense of humor is getting a great workout and the book is loping right along. And there's always DU to keep my blood pressure from getting TOO low.

[elleng]

13. Have a WONDERFUL time, n'bear!

And best of luck to you and CityDog!