On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:12:44 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

A woodsman nicknamed Nessmuk from the American 1880s once said, "Were not
out here roughing it, we're smoothing it; it's rough enough in the city." I
can't say we were under any "hardships", unless you mean that we didn't have
TV, alcohol, chips, soda, stoplights, insurance, cops, or LDS knocking at
our door. We never thought of what we were doing as extreme, just hard work
at times, and not so hard at others. The first cabin I built didn't have a
door through the first winter, just a blanket, which was usually pulled back
even at 50 below zero; the wood stove kept the cabin too hot to keep it
closed.

Brad

Brad, Strangely enough, I've just finished reading Nessmuk's book
"Woodcraft and Camping"! (published 1920) A very entertaining read
....and what a neat surprise to find a chapter on ultra-lightweight
canoes of the period near the end!

I read a very similar book (similar style and similar subject-matter)
called 'The gentle Art of Tramping' by Stephen Graham, (also pre-WW2)
...but I preferred Nessmuk's book, somewhat.

Al D