Metanoia

I feel like I need to lead into this with a disclaimer of sorts. I am a firm believer that if one goes traveling into the wilds of Alaska (and in some cases the concrete jungles of Los Anchorage) one should always have a firearm. I personally like to carry my .357 while hiking, and along with that you can often find me toting an airhorn. I usually give the airhorn to one of my kids, so that if the noise doesn't deter an angry bear, I can be ready with some lead pursuasion. Teamwork. This morning as I was getting the farm chores wrapped up and getting ready to load Kimber up in the Ranger for our daily walk, I neglected to grab my pistola. I always have an airhorn in the glovebox of my ranger, but it is only part two of my two part self protection system. Part one being my loaded gun. I didn't sweat it when I parked the Ranger and realized I had ambled off without part one of two. I shoved the airhorn in my pocket and we went on our way. A good two miles into our walk...

I recently watched an episode of North Woods Law. There was a woman who hiked the Appalachian Trail and had disappeared. Her husband, authorities, and volunteers searched for weeks, following many promising leads...but ultimately they came up empty handed. It was years later they learned that she had walked off the trail to use the restroom and got turned around. She decided to stop after wandering aimlessly for miles and hoped that help would come. She set up camp and tried to survive on what little rations she had. She was found deceased in her sleeping bag, sadly just mere miles from a logging road that led to civilization.  Even though you know the outcome, you still find yourself desperate for a better ending. I have had my share of scares, wandering off the beaten path into the woods. One time in particular I was with my parents moose hunting, the fog set in making it hard to determine what direction you were headed. The Alaska landscape didn't help either, everything...