NOV 16, 2007 -

While the confines of my tent are familiar, they are indeed confines - I can sit up but can't stand (unlike Short Cut, who has a whopper of a tent next door ), and must lie on my belly to write in my journal while hanging off the air mattress. The buzz of traffic along US 441 a half mile away is a constant reminder that this is NOT a wilderness trail.

But the Big O is more than a hike. It's a gathering of friends old and new, a palatable sense of belonging, to set forth on an accomplishment that for some, is bigger than for others - to walk around the entirety of Lake Okeechobee.

Lying on my camp mattress triggers one primal response: go to sleep! Although the night is young, I will give into it for lack of a better stance in which to keep writing. Morning will come soon.