Today I was having lunch with my girlfriend, Miriam, at the deli near work.

There are two small tables with a few chairs flanking the main entrance. At one table sat a pleasant looking man in his 50s; the other table was empty save for a bottle of Sobe.

As we placed our lunch on the seeming empty table a woman came outside and said to us, “Excuse me, I was sitting there.” She sat down and was later joined by another woman, neither one of them said a word to each other the entire time.

OK, OK, no problem. I picked up our things and was looking to sit elsewhere when the man sitting alone said, “You can sit here with me, if you like.”

And so we did.

We smiled and laughed and chatted as we ate our meals. The man was very nice and had led an interesting life. His descriptions of Colorado had us mesmerized.

And when the conversation turned towards, “Where are you from?” the man let us know that he was from Oklahoma.

“I knew you weren’t from California,” I said. The man smiled and asked me how I could have known that.

“Because you offered to let us sit at your table.”

Once again I am wired.

Two weeks without Internet was a very strange thing. City-Tom needs his Internet. I need to check my email and read my news. I need to check my friends’ blogs. I need to pay my bills and all that stuff.

Outdoors-Tom has no such needs.

City-Tom checks the weather on the Internet in the morning. When he gets home, news websites are read. And before going to sleep, City-Tom relaxes in bed with the wireless laptop.

Outdoors-Tom mocks City-Tom.

O-T sleeps under the stars on the cold, hard ground next to the fire. O-T wakes up to the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops.

O-T takes cold baths in the river. Shaving is optional.

O-T flyfishes all day and brings fresh trout back to the campsite for dinner. O-T’s legs ache from all the excercise.

C-T and O-T fight. Who will win?