Long Nights in a Tent

Updates:

Strangely, on Friday I weighed 163.6, which is lower than I've been in a long time, probably a year at least.  It's strange because I've only been semi-dieting.  The only thing I can think that has caused this might be the extra exercise I've been taking, or mayabe I'm eating less overall without realizing it.  Whatever the reason, I'll take the weight loss!

Chilly weather foiled my backpacking plans for this weekend, but because I have an entire week off (to get ready for my daughter's wedding and also to use leave that will go away at the first of the year), I'm planning a challenging trip for Monday and Tuesday.  My dad read me the trip description and it sounds really hard, and long, but I'm going to give it a try.  Winter backpacks can be trying, not only because of the cold but also because the days are so short.  Living in the southwest, backpacking in the summer is un-doable unless you get up to high elevations because it's so hot here.  But when the sun sets at 5 and you know you're in for 12 hours in the dark tent, it can be disheartening.  I've never figured out a way to comfortably read in a dark tent (getting in a comfortable position with a decent light source on the reading material without the benefit of pillows, lamps and side tables is hard) but that doesn't mean that I don't keep attempting it.  I wish I could be like my dad, who somehow can enter a tent at 5 pm and sleep blissfully until the sun arises the next morning . . . I awaken numerous times, thrash around trying to get warm without being claustrophobically contained in my sleeping bag, lie awake thinking about scary things, and am generally miserable.  However, getting out of the tent in the morning and seeing a the beautiful wilderness scenery makes it all worthwhile.

Succulents limping along, they don't seem to like being inside for the winter, but it's getting toocold at night to keep them outside.  Our climate just has too many temperature extremes to successfully plant the little guys in the ground, so they must remain in containers and be moved around as the days get alternatively too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.  However, I'm not ready to give up on any of them yet.