One of the biggest and best lessons that I've begun to learn from long slow journeys on foot through the woods is how much one can do without. After a few hours on the hoof, complex things get reduced to essentials:

• air
• water
• fuel
• heat

It's fun to have fancy sports clothes, gigabytes of music, cushy shoes, energy gels, satellite navigation gear, etc. But in the long run, you just gotta breathe, drink, eat, and sweat (or shiver) appropriately to the circumstances. Toughness and adaptability count for a lot more than technology. Simplicity is the secret trump suit. And it helps to have a sense where you are and where you want to go.

Now, two months after a freak accident that tore up a toe, I've learned that I can do without running too ...

(... though I hope I don't have to do so forever; cf. SenseOfWhereYouAre (1999-06-04), AwesomelySimple (2001-01-26), ThreeManBoat (2002-01-10), LessMore (2005-03-14), LetItSlide (2005-04-25), BumpInTheNight (2005-03-31), ToeTransplantProjectZeta (2005-04-01), TornToeTendonRepair (2005-05-05), HealingProcess (2005-05-15), ...)

TopicRunning - TopicLife - 2005-06-04

a correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous observes:

One is immediately reminded of that bit in the first chapter of Walden where he reduces the necessaries of life to "Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel", which are then all reduced to heat.

(correlates: ToeTheLine, DelicatePower, BitsOfConsciousness, ...)