Bluff Spring Journal
October 10 2008
Another week of helping and being inspired by teachers has come to an end. I am still amazed at the dedication of teachers facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Some of our students come to us with several strikes against them. Yet our teachers help them stand up to the plate and many times hit home runs as they prepare for their future. These are some of the same kids that will go home from school today with a donated backpack of food. We know many of these kids would only have a couple of meals over the weekend if it weren't for this food. No matter what the situation is in their families the kids shouldn't be allowed to go hungry. I'm glad we can do something for them instead of depending on our government to take care of everyone. When the government does it, it is compulsion on the part of tax payers. When we do it on our own it's compassion.
Late night update. The cabin always welcomes you with the smell of cedar. It's always a reminder that nature spent many years preparing this resting place for us. After feeding the dogs and settling in on the couch I noticed that the moon was really bright, so... I got up and turned off all the lights. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the moon light streaming through the windows. Just then the stereo started playing, "It is well with my soul". I couldn't help but agree that it was well with my soul.
October 11 2008
5:30 am and we're awake. We were so tired last night that we went to bed at 9. I guess that's 8 and 1/2 hours. Not bad compared to our usual 5 or 6. The smell of coffee is gently wafting up to the loft and I take in a full breath knowing that my lovely wife is down stairs preparing a jump start to our morning.
After a quick breakfast we packed up the dogs and headed to Indian Creek. This drainage empties into the Buffalo River and can be a treacherous hike when there is water in the creek. The creek is usually dry this time of year when there hasn't been any rain. We started off down the trail and were soon overtaken by a group of middle school students. We stepped off the trail to let them pass when someone in the group said, "Well here are the Kissingers". Sure enough it was several of our school teachers who had brought a group of middle schoolers down to camp and hike in the Kyle's Landing area. One of the teachers introduced us to the kids and also mentioned that I was the guy one of their leaders had spoken about around last night's campfire. Seems like they had related the story of us sitting around a campfire many years ago making smores. One of the leaders, Dave Millsap, had sat across the campfire from me and had decided that he wanted to blow out his flaming marshmallow by bending the stick back towards him. But, he let the stick slip out of his fingers before blowing out the marshmallow, which now became a flaming projectile headed directly across the campfire towards me. The sticky missile hit me in the chest and stuck to my shirt. Luckily I had a thick wool shirt on. The wool kept me from getting burnt as I quickly brushed off the flaming wad of sugar. I was sure the shirt was ruined and this was a brand new Pendleton. Today these shirts go for about 90 to 115 dollars each. Luckily all I had to do was pick off a few singed wool fibers and the shirt was as good as new. By the way, some twenty years later this same shirt hangs in my closet today.
After saying our goodbyes we headed up the trail towards Indian Creek. The fall colors were spotty but I did find this American Elm that had put on her fall finery.
The dogs loved being outside and we managed to corral them long enough to get a family photo. That's Annie on the left and Sid on the right.
After a nice hike we headed back to the cabin to do some grillin'. Mmmm couldn't wait to get my mouth around a couple of small steaks. I haven't had steak in about 5 weeks. You see I'm in training for a trip we are taking where I plan to completely pig out on some of the best food in the world! Only 3 more pounds and I will have lost 20 of them over the last couple of months.
After eating a scrumptious meal we did the only thing I could do which was take a nap. I love Saturday afternoons. The only other thing we did for the rest of the day was to take a trip over towards Erbie to get the following photo.
After a long day the dogs were pretty tired. This was Sid's favorite place to kick back and rest after a day of 'hard' work.
Oct. 12 2008
I hate to admit it but we go through a little ritual each morning with our two corgis. We have crate trained them so that they sleep at night in their crates. Some people seem to think that this is cruel to put the little critters in a crate each night but they actually like it. Dogs are denning animals and will naturally seek out some sort of small shelter to sleep. In fact Annie will often go get in her crate with the door open during the day just to rest. So, back to the story. Each morning we go let the dogs out of their crates and as if we don't spoil them enough the each get a 'shoulder' rub upon exiting their crates. They have become so used to this that they come out of their crates and immediately lay down with their head down waiting for you to rub their shoulders. I know it's our own fault. We've spoiled them. I like to say they are spoiled rotten to the core'gy. Small joke I know.
Today after another shoulder rub they bounded down the stairs to stand at the front door so they can go outside to do their business. After a quick watering of the shrubs they bound back across the deck and head inside for breakfast. I'm greeted with the smell of coffee and cedar which go together just fine for my taste. Mornings- I love em.
Oct 18 2008
After a bowl of hot oatmeal and a honey soaked best biscuit I took care of a few chores and headed towards the woods. I decided to take corgi number 2 (Sid) with me but as always faced the delicate proposition of getting out the door with one dog and not two. The both love to 'go' and taking one but not both usually results in some commotion. I tried to distract Annie with some food but that didn't work. I tried to motion to Sid to come while Annie wasn't looking but that didn't work either as by the time we got to the door Annie was close in pursuit. I finally had to resort to having Anita hold Annie by the collar while Sid and I made our get away. I was later to learn that the poor little thing cried and whimpered for quite a while after we were gone. I'd say we've done an excellent job of spoiling her.
Sid and I made our way over to Bull Creek where we were disappointed at the lack of color in the fall leaves. Most of the color was spotty with an occasional splash of red or yellow.
Sumac
We also came across this Woodland Aster. Below is a close up of the flower's center.
Closeup of flower center.
We also went on to Roark Creek where we were again disappointed with the lack of color. Even with nothing to photograph Sid and I weren't too put off. Who could not be happy with a bubbling creek and a beautiful day to enjoy.
After a day in the woods it was all Sid could do to keep his little eyes open on the way home. He could hardly keep his head up and several time he would doze off until some sound of the road woke him up. It wasn't too long after we got back home that he laid out in front of our fireplace dreaming about the fun day we had together.
Oct 24 2008
Sid and I are headed out to do some camping this weekend. The big trick is to get Sid (corgi #2) out the door without Annie (corgi #1) rushing the door to be sure she doesn't miss out on a 'go' opportunity. As usual food did the trick and while Annie was munching down dinner Sid and I slipped out of the house. Sid loves to go and while I like to have him along this weekend I am going to 'love' having him along. It's supposed to get a bit chilly and Sid is going to be my 'in tent' heater. The little feller loves to snuggle up against me when I'm sleeping and he really puts off the heat. I just now started to say 'and without giving off noxious fumes' but that wouldn't be true. Sid occasionally lets go of some pretty bad gas. He's quite comical about it at the time. He usually lets'er rip and then turns around to look back as if to say, "Was that me!?". Anyway, I can put up with a little smell if I can stay warm. I'll just have to be careful what I feed him.
I was a little concerned about finding the campground where I was meeting up with a group of fellow photographers. I had never been to this particular camp south of Jasper on Hwy 7, but the directions I had were spot on and even in the dark I was able to find the camp. After getting reaquainted with the guys Sid and I set up our tent and retired to a place around the campfire. Admist the good food, stories and smell of crackling firewood I was again reminded of what nature can do for the soul.
Oct 25 2008
It's 5 am and Sid did his job well of heating up the tent without too many fumes. He did stay awake for about 2 hours listening to all the new sounds outside of the tent. He was a little hesitant to go to sleep with so many unfamiliar smells and sounds of this new place. I can hear the other guys awake and stirring and I really want to stay in the warmth of my sleeping bag but you know that camera won't go out there and take pictures by itself so I guess I'll have to get up.
It's a quick cup of coffee and we were all off to catch the sunrise above the Boxley Valley. It was a peaceful site as the sun lit up the clouds still settled in along the Buffalo River.
After shooting the sunrise we headed over to Steele Creek to catch the morning light as the fog burned off. The color was spotty but what was there was beautiful.
It was a great morning to be outside with nature. About the only thing that tore us away was the promise of Bill Dark's famous sausage and gravy. Bill has this tradition of cooking 'brunch' for us on these trips and I hope it will be a long lived tradition.
After a hearty meal and seconds of biscuits and gravy we sat around and swapped photo tips. It's one of the best parts of these trips. Everyone has so much experience that it's good to just sit and learn from each other. It wasn't too long though that we headed out again to catch the afternoon and evening light.
Here's a gallery of some of the many sites we saw. (I know, cute play on words)