Yeah, I think that tinge of anxiety is healthy, as long as it’s not overwhelming. It feels helpful for keeping focused in any activity where safety issues are frequently disastrous, even if they might occur infrequently. And recognizing there’s a danger there kind of enhances the enjoyment of doing it.

I took that last year, never having ridden before and knowing I’m terrible with clutches in cars, but it was a lot of fun and much easier than I expected, and it really made me feel confident about riding. Then I got my license endorsement and put off buying a bike til I was able to save enough for one I wanted (and a good set of protective gear), and now I’ve lost all my confidence to even take one for a test ride. None of my local friends have bikes so I have none to practice on. I will probably end up paying to repeat the same course just to re-familiarize myself enough to feel comfortable enough buying one.

This sounds tasty. How do you filter the water, or do you filter at all? I’ve heard a lot of references to Berkey, but they do seem to take up a bit od space and the price seems high, accounting for filter replacements.