Brr, in the woods

Blogging will be light this week as I experience a few days of freedom. It shouldn't surprise you that one without a cell phone would choose to curtail his computer time as well during his break. So what am I going to do with my time off?

Well I'm going "home" for Christmas, but first I plan to spend a couple of days/nights hiking/camping at the Sipsey Wilderness Area. Yes, it is going to be cold (probably colder than I imagine), but the forecast for Thursday and Friday doesn't look too bad. My plan is to head out Thursday morning and return Saturday mid-day. We'll see about that. I may be so miserable that I only make it one night, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Hey, how about some reader involvement (assuming anyone is reading during this busy time of the year)? I plan to take my "hiker's journal" (Christmas present from Ang), but I expect that a good chunk of my time sitting around the camp will be spent reading. So what should I read? Right now I'm leaning toward Hemingway. He just seems appropriate, especially the Nick Adams Stories, but I don't have a copy of that particular work. Hopefully I'll avoid any "To Build A Fire" situations. So, any suggestions? Please remember weight is a consideration (physical weight, not the "weightiness" of the reading material)! Even though I am reading The Stand right now, that's 3 pounds that will not make it into my pack!

Oh, a couple of updates on recent blogs:

1. I read that the John Seigenthaler Wikipedia entry "dust up" was caused by someone (a friend?) who thought the whole thing was a prankster website. I can't vouch for that, but I read it in a newspaper and according to John, those folks HAVE to tell the truth.
   
2. Porch Cat disappeared for several days. I feared the worst, but he's back now. I talked to the folks at the vet's office and they suggested borrowing a trap from the Humane Society. They did say they'd be willing to look at him if I managed to catch him. We'll see; still working on that. On the bright side, though he is still limping, he appears to have learned to move around pretty well on 3 legs.