Pipe Dreams

It's not all over yet, but the cold is starting to break a little...reminding me of one of the sweetest weeks ever this past summer at the beach...

That week of surfing truly left an impact crater on my heart, mind, and soul. As plans drift towards getting kelley out of her current job and into sewing, we've been planning some much-needed "away time" for the summer. A study abroad is in the working courtesy of the Gregory clan, as well as yet another fantastic week at the beach courtesy of the Bateman tribe. These are exciting indeed and it's always good to get to hang out with the folks, but I think I might have gotten Kelley excited about another idea as well.

In an effort to trim down our "heavier loads" physically, we're working out to lose a few pounds each so that we can truly enjoy a week chasing the waves on the carolina coast. With her not working and me on summer vacation, how cool would it be to throw the dogs in car, the board on the roof, and hit the road for some camping and surfing....heading to wherever the waves are. That much exposure might even get me ready to catch my first tube.

Until then, the pipe dreams will carry me through the doldrums of spring term.

Launching KG THREADS (and other stuff)

My wife is deep into the process of starting up her own business. It's really way into the beginning stages right now, but it's fun and it's showing at least some progress! She is making handbags of all different shapes and sizes and has been selling them around the northeast area of Columbia, SC. She's REALLY good at it and the cool thing is that this whole business thing might allow her to quit her current job.













Today we oficially started her new website, http://www.kgthreads.com


Check it out and let me know what you think!

In other news: I was elected as Teacher of the Year for Spring Valley High School. I'm still not sure how to react to the whole thing. It is such an honor, but for some reason I'm hesitant to go shouting it from the rooftops. Putting it on my blog (that maybe 3 or 4 people read) is a big enough step for now! :)

Listen to the river

Back when I was at Furman for undergraduate studies, I sometimes had a weakness for skipping out on western civ or poli-sci and hopping in the Jeep for a day of fly fishing in the middle saluda river up in Jones Gap State Park. Jones Gap is a valley in the mountain bridge wilderness area, and a river runs through it. The river, more like a creek, is home to native rainbow trout. I've only gotten the small dumb ones to bite, but I've heard tall tale of anglers pulling 14 inchers out of the Middle Saluda in Jones Gap before.

It's been over 6 years since then and for a while, my fly fishing went dormant. I explored other avenues of life and forgot about my passion for listening to the river. Over the past 2 weeks, I've found that passion again, this time in Columbia at the lower Saluda below the Lake Murray dam.

Unlike the spinner fishing I grew up on, fly fishing is much more about preparation and awareness. Hours of tying flies on Friday night make the trip to the river on Saturday that much more worth it...especially when you pay attention to the insects around you so carefully that you can tie on a fly that almost resembles them...

...and then it happens. A rainbow trout rises, popping at the surface to bite the Blue Wing Olive fly that you spent so much time perfecting the night before...

...as the line tightens against the fish you feel the world slow its spin...the wind through the trees and the sun off of the river seem to harmonize in a chord that only you can hear...and for just a moment, the world seems perfect...

it's the kind of perfection you experience in your wife's embrace

or from the look in a baby's eyes

I plan to keep listening to the river for a while, and see where it might take me.

Chicken Joe

So quite possibly one of my new favorite movies is "Surf's Up". Sounds like a cheesy Disney cartoon flick, but it's filled with so much philosophy that I really dig.

One of the main characters finds his way from being an up-tight, fame-hungry, out-to-prove-his-worth-to-the-world surfer...to a pretty laid-back guy just looking for some fun.

The other character that I can relate with is Chicken Joe. Quite the oposite of our high-strung hero, Chicken Joe has made an art out of relaxing and playing it cool.

So let us learn from Surf's up a bit.

Recently I've been spending my Christmas vacation at home...much unlike the Christmas vacations of the past, which have been filled with adventures here or there at break-neck speeds. Most of the time those adventures made me much more tired at the end than I was willing to admit.

During the break I spent a lot of time working on little projects around the house that ended up being very fulfilling in the long run...and I think I made my wife happy as well...which is always good for the soul!

All this to say "thanks" Chicken Joe. I'm a little older now...a little wiser hopefully, and a little more able to know that the trail will be there when I need it, but for now, it's good to sit back and enjoy the homestead for a while.

Addicted

For some it's caffeine.
Others find themselves controlled by sex, gambling, or drink.
Some truly rebellious might choose their vice from hash, chasing the dragon, or even some black tar heroin.

My poison? Linville Gorge.

I know my last post was about that small slice of heaven, but we went back again with the OA crew from the Valley...last weekend (November 17th).

My time in between our adventures in Linville has been spent hanging out with my smokin' hot wife, getting behind on grades in the classroom, taking kids to Camp Greenville, going to weddings, playing music, and so on. It's been great, don't get me wrong...but there's something about Linville that keeps calling me.

This time Lonnie Hoke and his son Tom came with us to take some pictures and share the trail.



The adventurous highlight of the trip was a slackline that we set up over the Devil's Cellar.

Inside The Devil's Cellar

Last January I had the notion of going on a hardcore backpacking/rock climbing/survival trip to the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area in North Carolina. I wanted to pick a time in the semester when the escape and visceral experiences of the wild would make the most impact on my conscious and subconscious alike...so over spring break of 2007, I packed up some climbing gear, warm clothes, and brought 2 adventurous high school guys along for what turned into a trip of perseverance.

Our original goal was to find a place called "The Devil's Cellar" to go climbing in at Linville. Due to the fact that Devil's cellar is not as popular of a place to go to, the topographical maps as well as internet resources don't have that much info about it...and we never found it. The trip was great in its own way that spring though and it inspired us enough to want to go back....and so we did.

This past weekend, 7 high schoolers who had a profound impact on the formation of the Spring Valley Outdoor Adventure Club (as well as myself, Kelley, our dogs, and one of the guy's mother) packed into a bus and headed up into the Gorge. We arrived around 10pm at the Table Rock Parking Lot and piled out of the bus, eager for what the weekend had in store.

We quickly met "Bob", one of the contributers to the www.linvillegorge.net website that catalogues much of the park's trails and geographical features. Our meeting must have been providence, becuase he gave us the exact trail head that we needed to take in order to find the Devil's Cellar.

We ended up camping at a spot near the parking lot the first night and waking up early saturday to set up some top rope climbs at a place to the south called "The Chimney's". It's a fairly popular spot and we ran into several other climbers and hikers. We enjoyed some fairly casual climbs and then packed up for our quest for the "Devil's Cellar"

Some obsure photos and blogs online describe Devil's Cellar as a being a cravass between the north face of Table Rock Mountain in Linville and a pretty impressive butress that must have fallen from the main mountain ages ago. The result is a 30-40 foot wide miniature slot canyon that plays host to some great rappelling, top-roping, and trad-climbing. From the top of the butress that is accessible from the trail, there is 180 degree exposure to the north of linville gorge which allows you to see Mt. Mitchell and beyond to the west, Granfather Mt. to the east, and the entire north end of Linville gorge. It was sure to be magical to say the least...if we could only find it.

We hiked the summit trail to Table Rock and took the 2nd fork to the left like "Bob" advised. Everyone stayed back here except for Kai aka "Sky Ember" and myself. We were determined, since he went on the spring trip with me...he felt the anticipation just as I did.

A hard hike through thick rododendrons and thorns put us at the base of an enormous cravass...gray rock towering on each side of us like guardians to some promised land. We had found The Devil's Cellar...

What ensued was a full 24 hours of camping, rappelling, top-roping, and even a trad climb by our own Scott aka "Walkabout" Bolte. I can truly say that an effort to put our enamored state of emotion into words is futile. Suffice it to say that it was the best outdoor experience I've had...ever.

I get by with a little help from my friends

A couple of days ago I had a sleepless night. I evidently caught some funny little viral parasite that kicked me into a post-nasal-drip frenzy. The next day at school was tough because I ached from fever that was fighting the little cellular vermin crawling through my tissues. I dedided to take today off as a recovery day so that I can be effective in class tomorrow instead of being like a zombie, which is how I felt in class yesterday.

When I got home from school yesterday, my amazing wife had bought the entire cold and flu section of CVS for me to experiment with...I'm serious....she bought me those effervescent shower tablets that release this amazing smelling "get better" vapor, she bought cough syrup (the gold standard of "get well"), and she got me some daytime sinus relief for when I get back in the classroom tomorrow. I was overwhelmed with gratitude, so I tried to clean dishes today in my sickness and hang a window curtain she was wanting hung. I hope she understands how good it made me feel to have her care for me.

In addition to my super wife, I had some kids from school call me to see if they could bring me ice cream since I was sick. What is that?! Who does that for a teacher?! It made me feel so good, I'm about to explode! the picture at the top of the page is a couple of these kids on a tubing trip with our Outdoor Adventure Club at spring valley.

So...I used to think that I was an island. I sunk deep into chair cushions under direct lighting and read the tales of Louis L'Amour about adventurous loners who made a way for themselves in the woods. The romance that poured from the pages attracted me and made me feel comfortable in my awkward social status during high school and even college. I tried to appear fiercely independent as a way of errecting some sort of defense to hide my insecurity. But now, older, fatter, possibly wiser (I'm still not sure about that one), I realize that it's by the grace of God that I can live from one day to the next...through the love of my wife and family, and...with a little help from my friends.