This was not the first time I had attempted to place pen to paper in an effort to begin a journal of my outdoor experiences. I had muddled around with writing a journal off and on for years. One of my first journal posts read: "12/1/97- Monday - Dad's Pine Tree - The morning was cold. At 7:00 a.m. I saw three deer. 7:30 a.m. I saw a bear." That was it, the extent of my experience summed up in a few short words of, well, nothing really. As time progressed future entries weren't any better. I was listing times, places, things without ever describing an event or emotion. My outdoor experiences were numerous. I had taken adventures to the wilds of Alaska in pursuit of black bear, where I unexpectedly happened upon a bear sow and her cubs. She was stomping her feet, clacking her teeth, false charging, huffing at me in a display of dominance and disapproval as her cubs clamored up the nearest alder tree. On another adventure a small bush plane delivered me to a grass airstrip nestled in the heart of the Bob Marshall Wilderness area in Montana. I was living the dreamed exploration of my childhood. All of the content was there, however as I read through my entries it was apparent that they were lacking detail and the true sense of the experience. My experiences were remarkable, however my journal entries were banal at best. The entries were to be a future connection to my past life in the wilds of North America. As I gazed forward decades into the future, somewhere there was a new generation of my family sifting through the long forgotten possessions of a distant relative. Sheltered in dust, with its leather bound cover worn from neglect, my journal would be rediscovered. A link to times of yore would be revived and my passion for the outdoors would live again as the entries were read. But in reality drastic changes would need to be taken if my legacy would live on through the written word. I began making rules for my journal writing. No one word entries! Descriptive details about my experiences! Each time afield warranted an entry! I thought certainly if I forced myself to write every detail it would surely have the meaning I meant to convey. Right? Wrong! I ended up composing longer yet equally banal entries. All hope was lost and af