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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> > > But
> > for me it is more than just people...the natural world can be very 
> > hostile...if I decided to spend the night outside tonight, I'd
> > probably be dead in the morning....The weather is notoriously
> > hostile.
>
> It was six degrees here last night.  If I had had occasion to spend
> the night outside, I'd have gone to where I know there are some huge
> dead white pines that have recently fallen.  I'd break up a big pile
> of firewood (in a pinch you can do this by dropping a big stones on
> the dry tree branches) and made a great roaring fire of the resinous
> branches and had a fine old time in its comfort for the night.
>
> The same universe that breathed out this 6 degree cold air also grew
> the pine tree and laid it dried and resinous at my feet.

I get that...I really do.
The reason I used "the night in the woods" thing as an example is
because it was on my mind.  Yesterday, I learned that a local boy, well,
he would have been 21 next month, died under somewhat mysterious
circumstances, apparently from exposure.  This kid grew up on the
mountain and knew the area-he was as country as you can get.  He drove
up on the mountain in the NF behind my house and then off the trail into
the woods, wedging the car between trees and flattening some tires.  He
was found 150 yards from the car, shirtless and dead.  They aren't sure
if he was attempting suicide or if there were drugs or health issues
involved or what....They had been searching for him with choppers and
dogs, but never found him, so it was a surprise that he was so close to
the vehicle.  So yesterday, I was thinking how easy it would be for
someone with diabetes or some other disease that causes mental
confusion, to actually die accidentally in the woods.  I was thinking
about that when I was writing.
In general though, I totally agree with you James.  It goes with
Einstein's original premise that the universe is neither hostile or
friendly, but that it is our interpretation.  I look at a rain forest
and I see a huge medicinal grove, and yet, we just chop it all down
unawares.  Someone, maybe even a kid like Brandon, might have died with
a resinous pine tree at his feet if he had no matches or lighter or no
skills to start a fire.



--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge