PEOPLE OF LESSER PLACES: Our little site has turned 3!
In the past we’ve celebrated such things by picking out the best post from each month since the site started. However picking out 36 posts seemed like a lot of work, so instead I decided to focus on what we do best: absurdly long gear reviews with more literary allusions and quotes from podcasts than useful information HITTING YOU RIGHT IN THE FEELS. Below you’ll find my 10 favorites. Some feels are funny, some feels are sad, but I promise after you get done reading these you will have felt all the feels.
Thanks for coming along. It’s been a hell of a ride.
10.) Small streams and tiny fishing partners
Our little fishing hole will still be there, waiting for us to introduce our newest member. I, for one, can’t wait.
9.) The Disappearing Middle Class of Outdoors Lovers
Jack is getting old enough to have opinions now. Too soon these opinions are going to shift from which sippy cup he wants to whether he wants to go hiking with his old man. And that’s okay.
Stay gold, Pony Boy.
7.) The eternal sunshine of the spotless landscape
The land is patient, the land is kind.
6.) Oh, the places you went! Saying goodbye to a pair of hiking pants
“So…
If we should meet at the Great Trailhead in the Sky,
Know that it’s because some other pants let me die.
We went to great places
But today is your day.
Thank you for everything,
Godspeed on your way.”
5.) The Best Laid Plans
Checkov’s Apple Fritter
4.) In defense of cabins; or, wow my kid is super cute
Cabin posts aren’t about The Cabin.
3.) Now, More than Ever, We Need Nature
By the time we reached our destination we were exhausted, but our minds were spotless.
2.) Getting better at getting better
Getting better is going to require getting better at getting better. It will take practice and time, patience and learning. Getting better will make me better. A better hiker, a better fisherman, and probably a better person. Yet, as I schedule my billionth doctor’s appointment, as I get ready for another day of PT, all I want is mountains and all I hope for is to be outside again.
1.) On the simple and profound sadness that comes from losing a place
Forests change, faster than we thought. Life changes, faster than we thought. Forces of impossible strength move us, shake us, alter us in ways we can’t imagine or predict. And our little family is stuck in the middle, struggling to think like mountains, and searching for what all this means to us.
You can follow Lesser Places by email, or on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram using the menu at the top of the page. Or, you could click the links below to share with your friends directly. Or, copy and paste the URL someplace you think people will find it useful. Or, print the story, place it in a nice envelope, and send it to one of your friends. Basically we support any way you want to share. No, we aren’t above begging.
Max Wilson is a graduate student studying ecology at Arizona State University. He writes here at Lesser Places, occasionally for Backpacker.com, and even more occasionally for scientific journals. You can follow him on twitter @maxomillions.
