Freakish Hysterical Insect Issue

Days Walking - 10

Sanity Level - 6

(On a scale of 1 to 10.)
- 10 - being utterly and completely sane, and
- 1 - being a drooling, giggling heap in the corner, wide-eyed and hungry for soap.

"Soap! It makes water wetter!" Beakman taught me that.

I'm awake early again. I don't know why.

Dad, I'm alive, stop emailing me frantically. The satellite phone and /or PC linkup were both unable to connect last night, sorry I missed our "Goodnight" communique. (He'll show up one day with a team of hired Mercenaries (having triple-mortgaged the house to pay them) and spirit me away to a sanitarium / convent.) He'd like that. "Get thee to a nunnery!"

Marina's phrase of the day:
"Coneste viento, debe estar bromeando!"

Which means, "With this wind, you must be kidding!"
These are really phrase-a-day quotes, I'm not making these up. Maybe they're supposed to be funny, so you remember them, like a catchy jingle?

I am sad for Johnny Soderstrom, a climber who very likely got killed in an avalanche on Mount Huntington in Denali on Feb 15th. They stopped looking for him on Sunday. That could be me, given up for dead - or any of us.

Sometimes I feel really weak and frail, with delicate hollow bones. And that very soon someone or something is going to come squish me for my impertinence.

Sorry to deliver depressingness, I don't think that's why you read my blog... Let's not harsh the buzz, especially so early.

Um, fingers twitching over keys as mind searches under cushions for happy thoughts... Lots of Hair (how it is I'm not bald, I dunno), A Button,Penny, Little Sliver of Condom Wrapper, Melty Hairy Skittle (was purple, once)...

Hey! Here it is, A Happy Thought! A woman in Anchorage cut off her man's penis, flushed it down the toilet, and the utility folks plumbed it out, and it has been successfully re-attached!!

Damn, that is some good service. I don't know about you guys, but I've never had that prompt a response from any utility company. Alaska is looking more appealing every day. Hell, I've waited on hold with a question longer than this guy waited to get his penis back.

Hear Hear, Anchorage Water Utility!! Let's all move here!

Several folks have asked - -
- - Why, why why did we choose winter for our trip to start. In Alaska.

When you walk for 5 or more years, you're going to see at least 5 winters. There's no winning. Actually, the high latitudes are a lot easier to traverse during the winter.

In winter you can cross-country ski in some areas, (which we have not been doing) and pull your gear in sleds (which Kwame and Adrian are doing. Sleds seem like too much work for me personally. They get stuck, they fall over, they are awkward. My pack is my pack, and has yet to flip over while I was using it.)

During the warmer months, tundra is very marshy, wet, and ick. Picture the bog of dead things in Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, and you've got a good image.

Also, there is the freakish, hysterical insect issue. Stop reading now if you have any bug paranoia's...

Those bugs love them some warm tundra: Deer Flies, (who deliver unto you the Loa Loa fun, (which is where a larval Deer Fly gets to GROW INSIDE YOU FOR ABOUT A YEAR, crawling around inside your skin, I'm not joking.) Deer Flies are best known for transmitting Lyme Disease, which causes rashes, fever, weakness, muscle aches, headaches, and joint pain.

Black Flies bring unto you encephalitis (aka West Nile Virus) and enjoy flying into a person's eyes, ears, noses and mouth. (And if we were a naked species, I can imagine a few more orifices it would enjoy).

That's not even mentioning the Teeny Biting Midges and Mosquitoes. I'm getting seriously itchy just thinking about it. I want to wriggle and scratch and have someone check my hair for crawlies. Fun!

Litany Webb, signing off

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