Leave it to me to do something crazy. I am so new to hammocking that I have spent all of 2 nights hanging. (But I've been backpacking for years and have been known to seek out storms...)

This weekend my wife was cramming for semester tests and finals (yes, they are different here) and I knew I better get out of the house. We had massive storms approaching. Here I go... heading for the trees. Got the gear all set up, tooled around, read a bit, and fell sound asleep. 4 hours later I was awakened by the snaps of lightning and the booming thunder.

It pounded and blew. I had not a care in the world since I was a good 18" above the wet ground. Laying there swaying away with lashing rain pounding on the tarp, with the smell of burnt ozone in the air, and the whoosh of mighty wind...it was a great night being out in the woods experiencing the grandness of nature.

I made dang sure there was not a dead branch anywhere around me. And I set up on the leeward side of the approaching storm. Man, what a great night.

Am I stupid or just plain adventurous?