Off To Best The Elephant-- Loading up for a Field Reporting Trip to Nor Cal and "The Angle"--Reporting a Good Tale-- but no Leaping Lizards or Jumping Frogs Just Yet!

At last, I’ve completed the basic reading list needed to intelligently report the story I’m working on. The important stuff—raw notes, basic questions, clean maps converted from their native yellowed states into crisp PDFs now exist on a 750 GB backup appliance that’s sitting comfortably and safely in my bright red back pack nestled snuggly against my ThinkPad X61 touch screen portable, and the PDF printouts are in the first tabbed section of my “field notebook” which has grown from one inch to one and a half inches in the last ten days. In addition to sparkly black and white PDFs versions of maps,. I also have quarter-section topo maps of the area where I’m pursuing my winter research. Oh and a nice new warm oversize sleeping bag plus a pink Snuggy. Technology aside, the other essentials for this trip include a digital audio recorder, a large thermos and a new bottle of instant coffee, some granola bars and my winter and snow proof insulated jacket, The battery boosted heated socks are a sop to my age and physical condition. The gloves aren’t battery heated so, I’m also carrying a supply of chemical heating packs. I leave for the California Angle (Nevada County and the town of Alleghany) later this week. I‘ll be up there a couple of days, camping most of the time in my just paid-off Kia hamster van. Reporting stories was always the most enjoyable part of my career and I’m anxious to rekindle that spark. So off I go later this week to the Hills Across from Placerville Where the Winds Set my Soul Free—Jim Forbes Off on a Great Adventure 12/05/2010..

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[nibal]

X61 touch screen portable, and the PDF printouts are in the first tabbed section of my “field notebook” which has grown from one inch to one and a half inches in the last ten days. In addition to sparkly black and white PDFs versions of maps,. I also have quarter-section topo maps of the area where