Busy chic…that’s me! I love it though. Between the screamers, school and all the running about that we’ve done in the past month I’ve had very little time to actually sit and think on the blog…my apologies. The good news is that with a little wandering about in the area around the apartment, the screamers and I have found a little spring to play in on super hot days, a massive blackberry bramble to pick at in a few weeks, a huge wild strawberry patch just begging to be relieved of some of its bounty and a fishing spot in said stream that the screamers can’t wait to “pish” in.
Amazing what a little wandering in your neighborhood will yield. I know this, of course, and know that I should have taken these wanderings last year…I certainly didn’t expect to be here still, stuck in this little place with no yard. Since I am, and don’t know for how much longer, I figured that with all the happy joy in the world (knyuck, knyuck) I might as well make the most of the area I have to work with. I have heirloom seeds hidden away for a small garden (do it now folks), mapped the area immediately around the apartment with emphasis on natural food sources (morels, persimmon and nut trees, etc) and have been taking the screamers on progressively longer treks into the woods. It keeps the skills sharp, right?
I’ve been thinking lately on skills that I acquired in the service, however brief the time I was there. A lot of these beauties are forgotten art forms in truth, the rarest being map reading. It’s not a lost art form, but is definitely not as well used as it was once upon a time.
Very few folks use maps, not the atlas kind…real maps, with elevation and such. The exceptions are serious hunters, soldiers and the majority of hikers. Now everyone (well, not everyone but you get the point) depends on GPS. Nice to have to a point, not that I have any, but one little zap and the GPS is shot all to hell with no chance of getting it back.
I am curious as to the company I keep here online…anyone else practice the fine art of real map reading? Anyone else love to pull out their topos and a compass just because?
All this pondering has left me with a desire for some really good topo maps. I mean countrywide style. So today I begin my search for some decent topographical maps that are fairly comprehensive of the North American continent…dreaming? Perhaps, but I don’t mind piecing it together…or the challenge of trying to find it for free, lol.
2 comments:
I read that the current GPS satellites are overworked with all the consumer GPS products. Unless major maintenance is done, all GPS (Military, and Civilian) will be down by the first of next year.
matthiasj
Kentucky Preppers Network
That they are matthiasj, that they are. Top that off with the flip of a switch that shuts the whole thing down and well, all those poor folks that can't find their way without GPS will be screwed anyway. Give me a map and a compass any day.
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