Days 80 & 81
Day 80: December 22, 2021:
I don’t have any photos from either of these two days.
Listened to my audio book Words of Radiance in the morning. Finished it! Brandon Sanderson writes epic fantasy in a way that slowly builds. He explains the rules behind his magic and describes the world and its people in extensive detail, setting an expansive scene. Then troubles build, the plot thickens, and while the pace remains slow, the pace then becomes a source of tension, stringing out plot points until it reaches a crescendo at the end. Interludes make you wait even more, and the next book continues where the former left off, just from a different viewpoint character’s perspective. I couldn’t put the book down in the morning, so I listened to it all the way to the end. It was a sunny, quiet morning, and by the time I was done, it was nearly 10:30 am.
I could have - and should have - left right then. But I was feeling lazy. It was a comfortable morning. Today was the 22nd? So I think the solstice had already passed, so Achill-Henge wouldn’t look as cool, and could wait. My original plan as discussed with Bro last night was to be in Sligo for Christmas, but that wouldn’t happen now. I’d probably be out in the middle of nowhere up north of Nephin by then. Instead, I opened Edgedancer, book 2.5 of the series, and listened to that through mid-day and into the afternoon. Did I really want to stay here all day? It was past 1 pm now. It felt hardly worth packing up the tent now, with just three hours of sunlight left. And as I continued listening, each minute made it less worth it to get up and move. I finished Edgedancer. Good novella. Still have a few questions about who Darkness is and the Skybreakers are though. Thought a little about the Cosmere as a whole. Heard that some characters are shared between books. Who from Stormlight Archive did I recognize in other books, like say Elantris or Mistborn? And how would that make sense? Different stages in history? But then why isn’t the magic system the same across eras? And if it is the same universe, even if these are different planets, why isn’t magic the same across the universe? Is magic not like the laws of nature, and constant? Is it possible that the laws of nature change over time - even in the real world? That’s a cool idea. Seems unlikely though.
Also thought about the cover art for books in the Stormlight Archive. Shouldn’t Words of Radiance have Shallan on the cover, and Oathbringer have Dalinar? Shouldn’t the cover art reflect the viewpoint character whose backstory is covered in each book?
It was now mid-evening. I would definitely be staying here all day. Okay… time to open Oathbringer. Listened for a few hours.
My stomach grumbled. I should go to the store. Closest is the gas station I saw in Mallaranny. Grudgingly, I put on my shoes, unlocked bike, and rode up the path back to Mallaranny. It was a bit farther than I had remembered it being. Uphill, over the highway bridge, through the forest, past the modern looking houses, past the old rail station, into the parking lot, along the row of hotel rooms, down and past another house, then down to the gas station. I got some deli items, including two chicken sandwiches and a questionable BBQ burger. Also some bread and fruit. Forgot to get water.
Back at campsite, ate food. Then listened to several more hours of Oathbringer. Got thirsty. Realized I actually had very little water left.. maybe 200 mL. Drank it. Hoped that would last me until the morning, but got thirsty again. Parched. Got a headache from the dehydration. Could wait until morning, but that would be really unpleasant. Store was closed at 8 pm due to the covid restrictions, so I couldn’t go there. Actually, all the stores were closed. It was raining outside, so I put my pans out to collect some water. It wasn’t hard rain, so they would take hours to fill up. What other sources of water did I have? Well, I have my filter, but the water in the bay below is salt water, and my filter doesn’t help with that. The bench had a lot of water on it from the rain. So did the tent, and all the nearby leaves. I took a plastic bag out of my panniers and laid it out to gather water. It had a larger surface area than the pots, but this also didn’t really work. And unlike the pots, I couldn’t get what water had collected into my mouth. I put the bag over some leaves and shook the branch. Some water did fall off, but again, I couldn’t get enough of it. I took off my gloves and used my hand to try to move water across the bench into my water bottle. This was more successful, but again, not enough. So I dug around in my clothing bag and used a piece of clothing to absorb the water on the bench. Then I wrung it out into the pots and drank. Ugh. It didn’t taste clean. Whatever was in the clothing wasn’t good for drinking. A bit more desperate now, I checked my maps. A lough was a few km down the path. If I took my bike that way, then clambered over the peat bog with my filter set, I could get to the lough and get tons of fresh water. It sounded a bit risky, since I’d have to be careful not to twist an ankle going cross country to the lough, but it was the best idea I had. I also checked for nearby streams, but didn’t find any on the map. I set off. I didn’t go far though before I saw a freshwater stream of rainwater flowing beside the path. It wasn’t deep, but would be deep enough to use the filter. I could only get the bag to fill up about 1/3 of the way at a time, but after several cycles, I filled my 1.5L Nalgene bottle. This was enough for now. I could get more in the morning. I drank up, my thirst quenched, then went back to camp.
Day 81: December 23, 2021:
Next morning, discovered that I had fallen asleep still listening to Oathbringer, and had now lost my spot. Needed to turn back the chapters to remember where I was. In doing so, I found myself listening to it again. Was I really going to spend a second day listening to my audio book? Well, the best place to take a break day is when you’re camping. It’s the cheapest way to do it, and I don’t feel guilty for giving my body the rest it deserves. It was raining anyway, and I didn’t want to have to go outside into it. As soon as I did so, I’d be committed. So as I waited for the drizzling rain to pass, I kept listening. When the rain did stop, I decided to keep listening. I drank a little more of the water I had filtered yesterday, and figured I’d actually have enough. I ate the last of the bread I’d purchased yesterday. As the hours passed, I made my peace with staying another day in this spot. I was enjoying listening to Oathbringer, I was comfortable and cozy in my sleeping bag, and I felt weirdly low on energy. I napped a little, and in the evening, I realized I only had half an hour to get up and cycle all the way back to the store if I wanted to get food. If I’d have left right then, I would only have just made it. But, feeling lazy, I just lounged through their closing period. Later in the evening, I did get hungry. If I wanted food, I had just one option: the eggs. I had some eggs I had brought with me since the gas station just east of Croagh Patrick some… three days ago. They were probably still good. In hindsight, I also could have cooked my last freeze-dried meal, but I forgot I had it with me. So I got my cookware setup out, got the eggs, and cooked four of them. I wish I had had some salt or pepper to make them flavorful. I also should have cooked them a bit longer, since the eggs were still moist when I ate them. Cooked through, I thought, but still… They weren’t very tasty. I ate them, sort of grudgingly, kicking myself for being so lazy again today that I had let this happen. It was my own poor decision making with the water yesterday, and again with food today. Tomorrow would have to be different.
