Strange things happen when you give a geek a telescope. He slowly but surely becomes an outdoorsman. No, not quite an outdoorsman - more of an OutdoorsGeek. OutdoorsGeeks are a strange breed. We're not quite the same as the classic outdoorsmen. In fact, the only real difference between a regular geek and an Outdoorsgeek is that all of his gadgets are battery powered. The true mark of an extreme Outdoorsgeek, of course, is a solar battery recharger, with which we can go virtually all day without having to plug anything in. Nonetheless, our attachment to gadgets doesn't temper our enjoyment of nature or our appreciation for a peaceful evening.
In fall 2003, I spend five straight days and four nights camping in Tennesse near the Oakee river as part of the Peach State Star Gaze, and I'm hooked. It's an amazing feeling to live so close to nature. I used to think it hokey when someone described a "connection" to the nature, but after a few days in which you're under sun from dawn to dusk and under stars all night, you do almost feel connected. Slowing down the pace of life brings peace and calm to the soul. After a while you can tell what time of day just be listening. Because this was a star gaze, I stayed up all night for two of the days. "Incredible" is the only word I have for feeling the night chill take over after sunset, and staying around to catch the gusts of wind that preceed sunrise and the rising of fog into clouds. Eventually you tune into a rythm that is too slow to notice in everyday suburban life.
One day after writing the above blurb on Geeks camping, an article titled When Geeks Go Camping article was published on CNN about 200 uber-geeks camping in California.
For those of you that are looking for gift ideas, I've listed what I have and would like for camping.