We went out this evening.  We were invited to our friends’ home in  Yellow Springs for dinner.  It was a really nice evening…. filled with lots of conversation, great food, and warm company.  AND…. they have dogs… which is a bonus.

At one point in the evening, we got on the subject of backpacking.  Three out of four of us, love to go backpacking.  I’ll give you one guess who the odd woman out was.  Try an OCD writer who grew up in Dayton, Ohio.

They were telling their backpacking war stories.  All of the trials and tribulations they had experienced in their ongoing escapades.

There was the mosquito infestation, the running out of food, the scaling dangerous rocks, falling, filtering water, the 3 1/2 hour seasick boat ride to an island, the horrible rain storm, the wet down-sleeping-bags and ensuing frigid temperatures, the spider bites, and on, an on.

Finally, I had to break in with the question, which was just begging to be asked….

“…. AND…. what part of this sounds remotely fun?  Or even mildly attractive as a vacation idea?”

“Oh…”  they quipped.  “You will see things no other people get to see!”

Okay.  But three minutes earlier they were talking about the overcrowded camping spots along the trail.

Another observation I have made. Studies have shown that people who get too much oxygen, can experience damage to the frontal lobes of the brain which  in turn, directly manages cognitive reasoning.

I like to call them, Fresh-Air-Heads.

And there there you have it.

 “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
― Mark Twain

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
― Coco Chanel