i just finished into the wild by jon krakauer.

i lived in annandale for a few years, not too far from where chris mccandless grew up. and my daughters’ godmother works at the high school that he graduated from. i know how discouraging and overwhelming the d.c. suburbs can be, and i’m definitely someone with a lot of wanderlust. so i could identify with parts of his struggle, and i can remember that as a younger person, like around the time i graduated from college, the appeal of a life without commitments and without responsibilities was very appealing. i even took a cross-country trip with friends to camp all around places in the west. we stayed in questionably legal sites (which brings up one of my three run-ins with the law – 1 citation for illegal camping and 2 speeding tickets). we were proud of ourselves for our free spirits and we were happy to get away. but i can’t see trying to live off the land. so much of modern life is suburbs and order, just getting by and being part of society. what i felt the most after finishing the book was sorrow for the parents. i am father myself now, and losing a child, no matter why, would be tragic.

to my chapel hill guys – remember the dooflotchie? that was a good time.