Blog-azic

I did travel to the woods of Strouds Run State Park this past weekend. A Journal on Friday I arrived at the car lot at 1PM. The car lot is next to a lake. My roommate advised me to camp far from a lake (for relief from a cold breeze). I oblidged. I walked nearly N into a hollow, then NE uphill, then E (as I came down the other side), NW along a ridge that eventually horse-shoed NE, climbed further (this time NNW). As I came down the hill, I was a bit frustrated. By now, I had been out there for about an hour. I had need to find shelter for the night. I'd left my blankets and tent in the car (but carried a poncho and extra sweater). A downed white pine caught my attention, so I decided it was high time I collect myself. This meant FOOD. (I'd already drank water earlier and noticed its positive affect on my outlook and nerves.) As I ate I thought, "This quest for the perfect shelter site must end." I looked at the downed pine and a shelter took shape. First, I gathered...

Much of yesterday I spent eating: Rabbit stew, rice, couscous, butter, nuts, potatoes, etc. No, I'm not prepairing to run a marathon, I'm planning on camping. Today I'll go to Strouds Run State Park and camp for the night (and perhaps tomorrow night as well). Below is a map detailing the area I plan to camp. Visit me if you can. What should I fear? Is it not written, "Surely, goodness and mercey will follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23)?

My back yard is full of creatures. It has snowed recently. This is the first good snow of the season. I took advantage of this excellent opportunity to track animals. That night, I went out back of my house where I have stalked a rabbit in the past. As I had hoped, his tracks were plain and visible in the snow. They meandered about the neighborhood, going from tree to tree to brush, etc. Eventually, they led to what I percieve to be his home (a hole leading under a pile of pine brush). While out I also noticed the prints from a cat leading out of a dense bush (which is likely his home). I have taken up the bible again. I started reading the book during the summer months and stopped about a month or so ago when I reached the Book of Psalms. Last week, I was told that the Book of Psalms is an excellent book, so I read a few before bed every night. Last night I read Psalm 6, which I enjoyed very much. Lines 4 and 5 were especially poinent: 4 Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because o...

I have a new fancy: bare skin in the woods. It's much easier to move through the woods without shoes. Much easier to be stealth. Also, I feel closer to the earth (or, spirit of the earth) when bare chested. I found a set of deer antlers in the woods this weekend (from a 10-point buck). I wonder if (and think true that) my mother's dog would enjoy gnawing them. I built a debris hut (a survival shelter with a skeleton of sticks and covered with leaves and debris for warmth). I've been practicing stalking techniques: the walk, the mindset, the patience. I stalked a rabbit behind my house. While watching it Sunday night, I noticed movement in the grass: the ground was alive with worms crawling about (Sunday night was moist and warm). I may have seen two worms mating. I went out on the town Saturday night with friends. From pre-game, to party, to Casa dance, to Blue Gater show, back to Casa, to after party, then to bed. It's lots of fun, but it wears down the body very quick...

Many days ago, God created the animals that today walk the earth. Below is a dramatic recreation of that event. (Give this page a moment to load, then pause the podcast box to the right before playing the movie. For those of you away across the sea, where dial-up is the only internet speed available, send me an email and I'll send you the script.)

From the Friday previous to this post until this yesterday afternoon, I have been unable to shower. Nor have I been able to use my toilet. I've had a plumbing problem. We suspected (because the plumbers had told us so) that our sewer line had broken, which explained the fact that everything that went down the drain (including that stuff that our bodies excrete ) gurgled up into the basement bathtub. Our neighbors developed the same problem two days ago, and instead of spending six days ho-humming over which plumber to use, they called the city department of sewer who promptly unclogged the street's sewer line. When we called the city the next day so that they could ensure our plumbling was now fixed (which it was), the city man told me that such clogs are common on our street because the sewer line lies flat under the road. Also, I am proud to say that my "poor old" mother is a fan of this blog. As proof, review the comments for the previous post. I have a tendency to...

From the boughs of a white pine - today - I made a tea. While drinking the tea, I began to notice a taste in my mouth: as if I were sucking on a metal pipe. It persists even now, seven hours later. The tea is high in vitamin C. Perhaps the taste is a side affect of a body saturated with C (for I drank the tea last night), though I have read it is also a symptom of cancer. At least I won't get scurvy. Lately, I have been making cordage from fibrous plants. I have been using dog bane - a woody perennial with a reddish brown color. It grows to a height of two to four feet. This time of year the plant can be easily identified by the paired, dried seed pods which persist on the branches. The fiber is very strong for its width. It makes an excellent necklace cordage. I took the deer (living near the Ridges) an apple this weekend. Some seemed comfortable with my presence, so much that one even pooped in my sight. This is an improvement (I think) since they normally just stare at me bobbi...

Just a few weeks ago, I was exiting the music building when I spotted a college chum. We exchanged pleasantries, and I had it in my mind to leave him then. However, he had something different in his mind. He suggested that I might enjoy playing in his band, a jazz-fusion group. I agreed that the idea tickled me to no small degree. So, I went to my house, grabbed my guitar and joined their rehearsal. Before fully realizing the weight of my decision, I had fallen headlong into The Jazz Workshop . Tomorrow we play our first gig. In Athens, on the north end of Court Street, in a funky, yuppie-esque bar known round these parts as the Blue Gator, jazz fusion and rock/pop will pour from amplifier to ear during a concert benefiting a local, angry-leftist printing called the InterActivist. From behind a guitar, I will paint my musical soul onto a funky canvas woven of saxophone, keys and drums. We play from about 9 (post meridian) until about midnight. For those of you who have not yet heard me...

I have recently been occupying myself with a book titled, Don Quixote, which details the exploits of that flower of chivalry, that pole star of knights errant, Don Quixote de la Mancha, the Knight of the Lions, and his squire, the droll Sanch Panza. Below is recounted an adventure I had one Saturday reworked so that it imitates the many adventures I have been reading of late. Don Quixote often embarks upon lunacies - such as the time he mistook a flock of sheep for an army and proceeded to slay the sheep as if they threatened his life. When he was finally persuaded to stop his madness (by the shepherds who had begun to stone him), he saw his army as a flock of sheep. But, instead of believing that he had been fighting sheep, he insisted that an “enchanter” (a wizard) had transformed the army into a flock of sheep in order to muddle with the knights affairs. My adventure which is reminiscent of Don Quixote’s. I awoke Saturday early as usual, for every Saturday morning do I host a three ...