(from the current Z) ‘TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT’ —Stiles

(an excerpt)

“HE WHO LEARNS MUST SUFFER…”

My Sorrowful History of Winter Camping & the Pursuit of Warmth

“He who learns must suffer…”  —Aeschylus

Ever since humans shed their fur and felt the warmth of a lightning-caused fire and realized that if they could keep the flame alive, they could avoid the brutal cold forever, we’ve spent a good portion of our time in pursuit of that goal. For those of us who reside in the “modern world,” the effort to stay warm is as challenging as turning the dial on the thermostat. But before gas furnaces and heat pumps and electric radiant heat and solar collectors, staying warm could be a full-time job. If any of you has ever tried, at least for a while, to stay warm with a wood fire and a good cast iron stove, you know the challenge. The work never ends. There’s never enough fuel and the fire always dies at three in the morning. But for most Americans, at least, even that chore is only something to be read about—“Honey, turn up the heat,” is all we need to do to stay warm.

But there are a few of us, driven by forces that can’t quite be explained, who possess a willingness to suffer and display an utter lack of common sense that causes us to abandon these comforts and deliberately seek the misery of sub-freezing temperatures. I’ve been doing this for years and still dabble in self-inflicted misery from time to time. It’s called ‘winter camping.’

TO READ STILES’ ENTIRE RANT ON ALMOST FREEZING TO DEATH, CLICK HIS SORRY-LOOKING PHOTO.

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