What Was I Thinking

I apologize for not posting the last few days. Bette the mail carrier was a little under the weather and her replacement refuses to deliver mail without a stamp so I had no easy way to get them to Irene.
I mentioned in one of these posts that every once in a while I like to put some gear together and head out in the afternoon to camp on different parts of my land overnight, even in the winter months. The following and completely impractical thought came to me on one of these recent overnights.
Many cultures in our world have or had a rite of passage for their youth. The aborigine have the “walkabout”, Native Americans have “Vision Quest” and the Amish “Rumspringa” to name a few. They all involve a change of lifestyle for an extended period of time and they all involve a continuing appreciation for a life style traditional of their forefathers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, I thought, if all Americans had a rite of passage that involved spending six months alone in a cabin on a piece of land in the woods? No TV, cell phone, computer, newspaper or store bought food, just a chance to learn and appreciate a simpler, traditional way of life. The unfortunate thing is that America is not one culture these days, it is many subcultures and a universal rite of passage just wouldn’t fly.
If Dooley became President (or King) we could change the Constitution to include a mandatory stay in the woods. Then,of course, we would “need” a federal regulatory agency to oversee and enforce it. There would be forms to fill out and fees to pay and lawsuits when people suffered psychological trauma from not being able to “tweet” or update their Facebook page on a regular basis.....
The more I think about it the less I care for the idea. I came here for peace of mind, and I found it.
The rest of you are on your own