Pactola paddle

When I found out I was moving here, one of the top things on my list to do was to get out on Pactola on my kayak.  I did it today.

I thought it would be great but it made me sad b/c it made me miss my friends.

I don't mind cycling by myself.  But kayaking is something I see as a social activity.  I guess that's what threw me off.  How can I describe it?... It's like drinking a Coke without rum.  It's fine but it doesn't seem right.

Anyway, it was a good day out.

Batch #1

Looks good!

I have work to do.

"Further up and further in"

That's C. S. Lewis.  It's from the end of The Last Battle where the children and the talking animals go to heaven because they seek it out and go to it.

Popular belief is that, at some point, we step through a doorway.  But could it be that we're here to collect the pieces?  Could Heaven be the sound of falling snow and a thousand other things all put together just right?

I believe heaven is a place you find when you seek it out.  It takes concentration and determination but it's there if you have the strength to find it.

Sometimes it seems shrouded like in a fog in front of me- like something I can only slightly see more clearly if I don't look directly at it.

I haven't found it but I'm a lot closer.  I keep looking under rocks and behind trees.

It's not always there, but sometimes it is.  The seeking out is what's important.

And when I do find a little piece I get a little further up and little further in.

Ahh... Spring!

Today I shoveled the walk before I got called into work.

I'm told this is normal weather for the Hills.  I believe it.  I was up here last June and it snowed on me in the Northern Hills.

Still, it is the "Banana Belt of the Midwest".  Wait... what?  I think that is a running joke I'm now becoming privy to.  No matter, I'll take it.

A Day of Adventures

My good friend Brian came up for a visit and we had a fine day out.  He's from Asheville, N.C. so it was not going to be easy to impress him with our little hills up here.  Well, I'm happy to report that he had a big grin most of the day.

We played in Black Elk most of the morning and into the afternoon.  We did a lot of free-climbing and just played on all the rocks.  I remember hearing- and saying- "Oh! let's go up there!" more than a few times.

It was overcast all day which meant no shadows, but we kept Harney in site the whole time and managed to not get ourselves lost.

And then we went 4-wheelin'.  ...and did some trail clearing.