Randomness, because I hardly slept and I am still groggy (irritable too):

This is the second time in the past three days that someone has asked me if I came from Canada. One said that my English is better, the other said that she could tell from my speech that I wasn't from here. A couple of weeks ago, a doctor, also not from here, tagged me as not being from here....right away. I thought my grammar had deteriorated to an alarming degree. He pointed out that locals call this place North Idaho....not northern Idaho.

I am hungry for the woods, for the trails. I need the peace that comes over me there.

Dried about 7.5 lbs of Golden Delicious apples last night. They were dry by morning, even though I put them in around 11PM and turned them off around 6 AM. I actually prefer drying food to canning it, for safety reasons, ease, storage space, etc. Dried food is also far more practical to take backpacking than canned goods.

I think about my grandma as a child, walking for miles carrying water on her head....every day. She is still frugal with water. Then I wonder what people in third world countries would say if they knew that we use water to shit in, here....and to water a crop that nobody ever eats, and that failing to grow and tend and water this crop can result in fines in some places. How would I explain such insanity?