Here are some images from my camping trip of death. We went to Grandfather Mountain afterwards and it was very enjoyable. It is truly a beautiful area.
Humor
8
Apr 10
The Fear and Exhibition
April has been a productive month so far.
Yesterday, I was able to set up an exhibition at Appalachian State University displaying some images from my wedding portfolio. I must say, there is a nice sense of accomplishment when you see your work hanging somewhere. I am really excited about the exhibition and I hope that because of it, my work will be introduced to many new people.
This past weekend contained a series of events that I will surely remember for a long time to come. One of my best friends and roommate, Jason, and I went on a little adventure deep in the heart of Pisgah National Forest. There are several free camping areas in the Forest and we decided that this weekend, due to the exquisite weather, would be a great weekend to take advantage of these areas. I received some information from a good friend Lynn Willis as to the whereabouts of these camping areas.
After driving, for what seemed like hours, down a treacherous and windy we finally arrived at a location that suited our camping needs. We unloaded the car and immediately set up our ENO hammocks. Now I have camped many times but usually it has been in a tent. This was my first hammock camping experience and I was already a little nervous about it because I had no cell service, no weapon and bears and mountain lions have been spotted around in the area.
Yes, lets hang from a parachute 3 feet off the ground so that the animals will have great access to my flesh….
After hanging our hammocks, or death beds rather, we attempted to find some fire wood, with the key word begin attempted. After over an hour of searching and chopping, we were only able to get a small amount of hardwood to keep a fire going. We decided this feeble amount would be enough to cook with and proceeded to create our stove for the evening.
The fire lasted just long enough to cook our corn on the cob and potatoes. They were nothing but delicious, if you overlooked the burn kernels and nearly raw pieces of potato. We then sat around the fire until there was no more wood to keep the “blaze” going. It was then off to the hammock-o-death.
Three feet off the ground is simply not high enough. I didn’t verbally say anything about it, but I was extremely nervous. It wasn’t the “first day of class” nervous but rather the “flesh is going to be ripped from my body” nervous. After 30 minutes of adjusting straps and hooking bags to trees, we settled in for the night. Jason is a member of the United States Army and this stuff is normal for him. I, on the other hand, not so much. Jason fell sound asleep soon after settling in but I on the other hand, stayed wide away, listening to all the sounds of the isolated forest. Owls, rabbits and deer were all easily heard. I was just waiting to hear the bears.
I feel asleep after some time of hearing odd sounds I haven’t heard in so long but I certainly didn’t sleep well. With every snap of a twig and screech of an owl, my eyes popped open wide with my heart racing faster than the winner of the Kentucky Derby. Over and over in my head, I imagined a ferocious mountain lion gazing at me from a distance, thinking to itself what limb it should devour first.
Maybe it was the exhaustion that made me finally fall asleep or maybe it was my body shutting down from the overload of fear. Either way, I slept until morning.
I didn’t get eaten. I didn’t get mauled. It was a good trip.
I suppose the moral to all this, if there is one, is that sometimes you have to do things your not comfortable with in order to grow.
Pictures from the trip will come soon.
24
Nov 09
“So I click on this…”
My parents bought a computer. After I left home, I took my computer which I’m pretty sure was the only computer my Dad had ever touched. Since then, my Dad has been getting more and more electronic savvy and decided a laptop would be a great investment. This whole experience of showing him how things work and how to do this or that has been really awesome because for one of the first times in a long time, we have a major common interest. My Dad is a big time hunter, like most men in the great South, and I’m a tech kid so to see my Dad jump into my world, it’s really stinking cool. I guess it’s kinda like teaching a kid how to walk. You help him with the baby steps and before you know it, he’s off and running, all grown up and going into Kindergarden.
Next list on the “Things to show Dad about computers” list is YouTube. This should be great.
18
Nov 09
Recollection: Part 2
Thanks for waiting. Here is the remainder of the series “Recollection”
We played basketball here.
This actually means I watched people play basketball. I retrieved the ball when someone overshot the goal and the ball would go into the woods. Now, when I say “woods”, I mean the huge briar thicket that was directly behind the goal.
I was the retriever every time.
This rocker-swing-chair-thing always gave me the creeps.
The paint was always peeling off of it in a few places so therefore I was always afraid that if I sat on it, my skin would begin to peel off.
I don’t know where I would have ever gotten that idea from…
This shed by the woods always smelled like moth balls.
I asked my brother once why the shed always smelled weird and he then replied with the obvious answer, “A giant man eating moth lives in there. Don’t go in because he gets really mad, really easily.”
Forget that. There was no way I was about to go into a confined space with a flesh eating, killer mutant moth. I haven’t been in that building for years. I’m sure it’s safe now.
I had my first snake experience next to the trees beside Nanny’s house. That snake peered into my soul with it’s demon eyes and told me that he would make sure that his family would terrorize me for the rest of my years.
Now, I don’t have documentation to prove it but believe me, it happened.
I hate snakes.
When you spend so much of your time in one place, you have to be able to mold, to adapt. This home became my fortress, teepee, castle and bunker. I owe my life to this place and for my grandmother. She helped mold me into the person I am today and I am forever grateful. This home indirectly helped me decide what I want to do with my life.
18
Sep 09
˚
I awoke the other morning to a dreadfully gloom day. It was rainy, cold and less than pleasant. I took my normal morning shower to get myself fully awake. As usual, I checked Apple weather to see what the Lord had in store for the 828 area and this is what I saw.
I thought it was humorous to say the least. I chuckled about this all day but I’m not really sure why. For one thing, Boone never gets near 100˚ even when it’s in the middle of August and sunny. I also loved that there was a 50˚ gap between the hi and the low for the day.
We rely so much on technology now-a-days.
If you have ever been to Boone or even close to it, maybe this will be as humorous to you as it was to me.