For some reason, this quote found me in a very receptive place today.  It's by a Norwegian writer many years ago.

For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.    – Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)

May you always recognize the deceptive shell for what it is, and may you seek the often hidden kernel of all things important.

Hiking with Clarence

Clarence and I went on a day-hike in the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness Area, which is a little known part of the Uwharrie National Forest.  It was a great day to hike... we did not see anyone else the entire day.

This is a homemade stone chimney in the middle of the forest.  It is the only remains of a cabin owned by the Christopherson family.

This fire ring was originally put together by Tyler and me 16 years ago.  It was our "secret" camping spot.  It appears that it is not so secret any more.

This is another picture of the campsite.  The creek is Hannah's Creek (almost dry right now).  Notice the tree on the left... it's the largest Beech tree I've ever seen.

Carvings that Tyler and I made in that tree in 1994.

That's Clarence checking out Hannah's Creek.

This greenery is commonly called "ground cedar".  It is not cedar, but a vine that carpets the valleys in the forest.

This is the sign designating an old family graveyard in the middle of the Uwharries.

Primitive head stone making one of the graves.

Sunken graves were often the result of settling long after the burial.  This is the main reason that burial vaults are used today.

Another view of the old Christopherson homestead site.

While it may be hard to tell from this photograph, this was a gold mine back in the day.  The miners would dig a deep hole, just large enough for a man to enter.  He would be lowered down to the bottom.  He would dig and fill up a bucket with rocks and/or dirt that would then be brought up to the surface using a pulley system.  Needless to say - this predates OSHA standards.

This is an example of an erosion wall.  The first European settlers built these to reduce erosion by storm runoff in the steep hills.  The stones are made of rhyolite.  This type of rock can be broken to make a very sharp edge. It is somewhat specific to the Yadkin River basin, and was prized by the Native Americans.  Called the "Yadkin point", these tools and weapons were traded to traveling bands - and therefore - they can be found hundreds of miles away.

My hiking buddy decides to cool off by bathing in Robbins Branch.

Back at the abode, taking a short siesta after a hard day of hiking.

Thanks, Robert Frost

Headed to the Birkhead Wilderness area for a day-hike with Clarence.  This will be my sabbath for this week.  My poem for the day can be found below.  I'll have a copy with me today... thoughts and comments will be posted later.


"Thanks, Robert Frost" by David Ray, from Music of Time: Selected and New Poems.  (The Backwaters Press)

Thanks, Robert Frost 

Do you have hope for the future?
someone asked Robert Frost, toward the end.
Yes, and even for the past, he replied,
that it will turn out to have been all right
for what it was, something we can accept,
mistakes made by the selves we had to be,
not able to be, perhaps, what we wished,
or what looking back half the time it seems
we could so easily have been, or ought...
The future, yes, and even for the past,
that it will become something we can bear.
And I too, and my children, so I hope,
will recall as not too heavy the tug
of those albatrosses I sadly placed
upon their tender necks. Hope for the past,
yes, old Frost, your words provide that courage,
and it brings strange peace that itself passes
into past, easier to bear because
you said it, rather casually, as snow
went on falling in Vermont years ago.

Momma Said...

As I thought about the poem,The Journey, (see earlier post), I was reminded of a saying that I had heard from my mom. It went, "You can't please everybody, so be sure to please yourself." Or at least I thought that was the way it went, until I asked her about it one day. You see, my mom is the most selfless person I know, yet the saying seemed very self centered, and thus - very out of character for her.  She corrected me (not the first, nor last time)... actually it goes, "You can't please anybody until you please yourself." That makes more sense (especially coming from my mom). One cannot supply water for others if his/her own personal well is dry. Sometimes you have to allow the needed time to dig your well just a little deeper.

Pictures from the Canoe

Mobile uploads while on my canoe camping trip.

Sent from my BlackBerry

Rosh Hashanah

I made made dinner last night, and thought it would be interesting to have a traditional Rosh Hashanah meal.  So we recognized the Jewish New Year with:

• Apples dipped in honey
• Challah (round bread loaf)
• Fish - smoked salmon  (not the traditional fish head)
• Olives

Actually - Granny Smith apple slices dipped in honey are really delicious.

For more information:

http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/Rosh-Hashanah-Food-Customs.htm

The Journey

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save. 

© Mary Oliver. Online Source

Personal Sabbath

Greetings All -

Well, this whole sabbatical thing seems to be harder than I expected.  You've heard of Parkinson's Law, right??? (Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.)  Well, I can attest to the veracity of this adage.  But my primary problem is that I must overcome the constant need to be "doing".  Instead... I must work on "being".  For a lifelong workaholic, this is much easier said than done.  One step in that direction is to establish a personal sabbath within each week. With Resa's work schedule, I am considering making it a weekday. No work... no projects... no shopping... no commitments - just think... just contemplate... just read and write...just be! I'm afraid that if I don't establish a regular routine (for example - every Monday will be my personal sabbath), then - knowing my nature - I will put it off until the week has passed me by. And for me, there does seem to be something significant to the whole Biblical seven-to-one ratio.

"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Gen. 2:3). The same idea is also stated elsewhere, as here: "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work" (Deut. 5:14).

My first foray into a personal sabbath will be tomorrow.  After staying overnight tonight with Family Promise (a nonprofit organization about which I feel very strongly), I plan to go solo canoe-camping on Friday.  I will have one short reading to contemplate per "sabbath day".  My first, for Friday, is The Journey - by Mary Oliver. (I will submit it as a separate post entry.)

Feel free to respond.  In the meantime - be well, and enjoy the weekend.

S

The Concord Socrates Café

With the help of my good friend, Nathan King, we will be starting a new series that will meet at The Branchview Tavern on the first Tuesday evening of each month at 6:00pm.  The series is called The Concord Socrates Café.  The Socrates Café is a national, grassroots movement devoted to bringing philosophical inquiry into our daily lives. The goal is for each of us to become better questioners and listeners. We can then use our improved skills to make better decisions in our personal lives, as well as better consider public issues.


The Concord Socrates Café offers an opportunity for residents to move from small talk to big talk, to get together in a casual setting to discuss a topic or idea and explore it from multiple angles and perspectives. As we share our differing views and opinions, we will stimulate our minds and encourage thoughtful and creative responses. No special knowledge is required; just bring an open and inquiring mind.  Together, we will nurture the "fourth R" - reasoning.


So - please consider joining us for our first meeting this Tuesday, September 7th.  The food, fun, and conversation will be great!

"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking." ~~Arthur Bloch