wInterkingdom

[KiheBard at aol.com]

That great and bumbling lout (and exceptionally dear and understanding
friend) Burke spouted off:

> Amra!
> I am disappointed in you......
> As one of the founding members in Mooneschadow and having been 
> raised just south of the Wasteland I would think that you would know 
> and be prepared for Northern Ansteorra's random weather.  Perhaps 
> living in the more comfortable climate of central Ansteorra has soften 
> your skin?  :-)

It wasn't my skin, it my very *bones* that were complaining.

And, to have you know, I was at least as prepared as ever and taking normal
camping precautions / preparations. (Folks, my very first campout as a Boy
Scout was a winter camp with a low of 17F: I *know* how to camp in the cold
in Oklahoma! Change the clothing layer next to the skin before retiring [dry
socks and underwear at a minimum], cover the head with a stocking cap or
hood, *don't* breathe into the sleeping bag and trap moisture, no alcohol,
stay as dry as possible but drink plenty of fluids, *don't* use a cot or
other suspended bed unless the mattress is truly insulative or the chamber is
properly heated, DON'T use open flames in a tent! [there's more, I've ranted
enough for the moment])

The weather is certainly not Northkeep's fault, nor the slightly inaccurate
forecast. After all, what's the matter of ten degrees (Fahrenheit) between
friends?  <GRYN> As I commented more than once on Saturday "At least we're
not in Chicago!" (While driving to the event Friday night, in an area where
FM reception was particularly lacking, I chanced to tune in WGN and got to
hear the reports for the Chicago area that were in the single digits...)

Next time I am foolish enough to camp in the winter I will be even better
prepared, though: stopped by my parent's on the way back to the Steppes, and
my father remembered that there was an extra goosedown "mummy" bag just
sitting in a storage chest.  Even if it proves too small for my whole body,
the legs and feet will absolutely fit into this nifty new sleeping bag liner
... or I'll use it as a very thin but highly insulated mattress.

I've Got Another Point, however: 

Burke, *your* bright and smiling face was notable by its absence from the
wInterkingdom site.  What,  a knight of the realm scared off by a little
thing like the cold?

<VBEG>

Be well, my friend.

Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra
	currently residing in Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mike C. Baker					KiheBard at aol.com
Any opinions expressed are obviously my own unless explicitly stated
otherwise!