February 25, 2008
Bad Luck, thievery, and YKK

Well, luck wouldn't be luck if it never changed. On my return journey south to the lower end of Futalaufquen I somehow ended up in a series of events that I feel comfortable calling "Bad Luck." First, I would like to say a few words to the good folks at YKK, the zipper company.  What, exactly, is the deal here? How do you make your zippers all fail at the same time, and why? I have zippers failing on the tent, on my pants, and on my backpack. All YKK. Who else? Due to the zipper issue on the storm fly of my tent I had my hiking boots semi-exposed night before last and when I woke up the next morning they had decided to take a hike on their own.  Nothing else missing, they just walked off with someone who has big feet and good taste for quality boots and who I suppose must have needed them more than I do. I could hardly believe it, and just sort of wandered around camp all morning muttering words that need not be repeated here and trying to imagine the hike out with the pack in my five-peso chinelas (plastic camp sandals). Oh well; these things happen. The main loss is really sentimental, I had hoped to walk the whole trip in these boots and then have them as a sort of memento. I guess the biggest problem now is that I have to get to a city large enough to have a decent selection of boots to replace them with something else that will work. We'll see. I decided to go down to Trevelin to visit an old Welsh tea-house for a high tea. On the way my watch started to fall apart and I just though "what next?", but then realized how stupid that was, took it all back, changed my attitude by force of sheer will, and thanked God for everything that I have - which is not only enough, but A LOT.  What a beautiful world we live in.