Comments on: life is change

By: Josh E.

Josh E. — Thu, 31 May 2007 02:26:23 +0000

Rock on, K. Possibly the most self-aware and self-assured statements I’ve heard in a long while. Color me jealous. ;-)

By: kynthia

kynthia — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:46:02 +0000

oh, and kevin, thanks! :)

i’m going to be in bloomington for a very short appearance in a couple of weeks. i’m actually flying there to drive to tennessee almost immediately for bonnaroo, so unfortunately it might be hard to arrange things…

i do intend to return before summer is out, though, at the latest aug 17-19, when i will indeed be camping, but as a part of the greatest contra dance weekend on earth - http://www.bloomington.in.us/~botmdg/sugarhill/Sh-web.htm so i don’t think that’s what richie had in mind. :)

i might come sooner though, or stay a while after sugar hill, depending on plans, so i will definitely kep you posted.

By: kynthia

kynthia — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:40:42 +0000

:) yeah, i had glimmers of that thought that, actually. about the why the tent. but then last night i crawled into it and the psychological impact of being in an enclosed space was so fascinating i was left speechless. basically my brain went “oh! shelter! safe! [crash]” and i sprawled out and slept like a baby, kicking off my blankets and barely feeling the floor. and this was when i was inside the house already! just being cocooned in something tripped some kind of switch… as i said, fascinating. so it’s a nice option, even if you don’t always need it.

and praise of the temperate climate aside, i think san diego has addled ye brains a bit. it’s not like there’s a shortage of wet up here in the northern west, and there are bugs near water even if not as many as out east, and there are mountains to climb, so i wouldn’t have bought it if i didn’t think it could handle wind and rain and temperature drops throughout it’s full 3-season range.

so enters the rainfly, which renders the whole thing opaque (and orange!), adds 2 vestibules (there are 2 doors. it’s for 2 people.) that increase the square footage by 9 ft, and looks like it will drain quite well. you can even just carry the rainfly and the poles and they play well together so you can have a superlight impromptu shelter with no macgyvering required, which is kind of cool. when the tent is attached, though, the floor comes up a good 6-8 inches at a good angle before becoming mesh, so that helps, as does the fact that it’s quite roomy so the leaning against the side and cursing osmosis factor should be lessened.. i’ll give you the report, and hopefully before too long. the added hurdle to dashing out of town for a day is the only thing that really sucks about not having a car.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:23:51 +0000

It’s amazing how different are gear decisions from east coast to west. On the east coast, when buying a tent we think to ourselves, “Will I want to be inside of this thing, soaked to the core from three days of backpacking in the rain, heading into a 50 degree fall night, during a several inch downpour that causes the ground to saturate and watery mud to splash up several inches into your rainfly?”

Out here it’s more like “hmm, what will allow me to enjoy the warm summer breezes, and keep the bugs off. Wait, there are no bugs. Why am I buying a tent again?”

By: Kevin Makice

Kevin Makice — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:11:28 +0000

Sorry and congratulations.

Talk to Richie about his local camping dreams. Maybe your current furnishings could find their way to Bloomington sometime this summer.