Writing

Writing around the campfire is a lot like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out to sea. Maybe it finds an audience, maybe not. | Our hosts | Our venues | Our topics

Day the world shut down
Or was it just very boring?

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When I was a kid without a doubt …

Sunday was the boringest day.

The reason?

For one, everything closed down. Stores weren’t open and the television shows were bad. By bad I mean they weren’t Saturday morning cartoons. In sum, the world shut down on Sunday.

Compare that to today when Sunday is pretty much just another day. Or so it seems. Yes, you can’t reach any number of business or government entities over the phone — but more or less its not all that different than the other days. Not to mention that the screen viewing options are limitless every day of the week or any time of the day.

Thinking back …

I’m wondering now if Sunday’s were so boring because of this: church. Between the hour it took to get ready and get everyone in the car, plus add the frequent occasions where, not being able to do that (on time) we slipped from the 10 o’clock mass to the 11:30 (or even the 1 pm on very lethargic days), then factor in the plus one hour service followed by the drive home: not only was the service a real snoozer, by the time we arrived back home the day was pretty much done.

Moral of story: As much as I loathed going to church growing up, today I attribute it my high tolerance of boredom to my ability to think deep. Thank you boring Sundays, I’ll always have a fond spot for you in my heart.

Who knew: Sunday is the busiest day of the week for internet use.

Well howdy folks, and I’m completely freaked out. And you know why. The fringe middle. The silent majority. Why are they so quiet?

— Buck Buckner

Freeing your hands
And your mind

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I‘m not saying you can’t have great ideas …

with your phone in hand.

But how would you know?

The truth is the phone is always with us, either in our pocket or in our hand and always (or too often) in our mind. The expectation of our availability to the phone and the phones availability to us is beyond anything we could have ever contemplated, say, prior to 1999.

The result?

I feel like the phone controls me now more than my wrist watch. Texts, emails and calls require, if not immediate responses — they infiltrate into your mind and erase your entry into deeper more groundbreaking thoughts.

Perhaps my greatest regret in life is that I didn’t find an avocation (and skillset) that required me to work with my hands. As much as I depend on my phone, I’d like to depend on my hands more and just put the phone down.

Medical diagnosis: Using a phone for hours on end can lead to conditions such as a repetitive stress injury known as stenosing tenosynovitis or trigger thumb. 

I don’t know much, but I’m inclined to spill whatever I do out at the campfire

— Old Miner

Note to Self
A How To Guide

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Why write a letter to yourself?

For one you can save on the stamp.

Most importantly, it’s good practice for writing to a friend. Alternately, you could write the practice letter to your friend and send a follow-up second version, but this time with different information, to another friend. Granted, that’s probably a second letter. But you get my point. Just like an appetite comes with eating, writing begets more writing and before you know it you have a pencil that’s worn down to a nub. Unless you’re using a pen, then it’ll eventually run out of ink. “There’s a lot of ink in that well,” as they say. Actually no one says that. But you know what I mean.

It’s a new dawn with Candidate Burt Silver, but only because he stayed up all night to see it

— Burt Silver

8th deadly sin
And why it's just the tip of the iceberg

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Could there be …

An eighth deadly sin?

Or even more than that?

We all know the first seven well enough. Greed, envy, pride, lust, gluttony, sloth and wrath. And we all know how they are glamorized each in their own way. Greed is good. Why do today when you can put it off until tomorrow. Revenge is a dish best served cold. FOMA — fear of missing out — may well be envy’s rally cry. Gluttony is good (okay, that’s not a saying). And stubborn pride. As for the eighth? There’s actually a long list of contenders: ignorance, herd conformity (a form of ignorance), toxic insecurity, lying, turning a blind eye, the list goes on. The truth is, as society has become more complex, there are more and more sins that can trip us up, if not in the moment than in the long run. How about rudeness, impatience, and there are probably others, too. The only way to get to uncover them all is around a campfire. I’m not sure the original seven aren’t relatively benign compared to some of the new ones we can come up with.

The campfire is always crackling and visitors are always welcome at Campfire Park

— Cowboy at the Campfire

Steephead Valleys
And why they are "spring like"

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Steephead valleys aren’t as famous …

Or as charismatic as a Florida spring.

Steephead valleys have a distinctive rounded shape

But they are similar in they are both groundwater fed. Unlike springs that appear in full force out of nowhere, emerging from a cavernous hold in the ground in the form of a “boil,” steephead streams are smaller in scale and at their upstream end pinch back to a vanishing point. And unlike a gully-eroded dendritic (i.e. branching) stream channel that depends on rainwater for its source, and accordingly erodes from top-to-bottom — a steephead valley contains a single stream that depends on groundwater seepage as its source. Grain by grain, that causes erosion to occur from the bottom-up, giving the ravines their trademark rounded and slumping shape. Another key difference: The gradient between its headwater and mouth are low.

What makes steepheads special? The steady flow and constant (cooler) temperature makes both the ravines and the streams home to endemic and rare northern plants. An endangered fish called the Okaloosa darter is only found in steephead streams. As for their location, they are found in isolated patches in the panhandle where the regional groundwater table and alluvial floodplain intercept.

Try not to overthink a song. Go with what pops in your head, run with it, and don’t stop until you cross the finish line.

— Bobby Angel