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On the way to Nashville, I discovered a nearby bouldering spot. I only had a vague concept of what bouldering was, so I researched the subject. Basically, it is rock climbing on the small scale. Rope is generally not used, just a mattress to fall on, and instead of quickly scaling, the goal is to work out the most efficient way to scale. Boulderers refer to their courses as "puzzles". I was highly intrigued. The site gave a poor description of where the rocks were located, but the backroads were fun to drive on, and I was listening to some metal, getting pumped to try this new sport out. Finally, after driving up a dirt road past a bunch of farm land, into an abandoned logging area, I saw some big squarish stones, and pulled over. ... read more

In Charleston, W expressed his distaste for the word "supernatural", suggesting its use frequently if not always correlated to something simply undiscovered or misunderstood. I've never been able to blindly accept things like mystical powers of the universe, psychic readings, spirituality, religion, or any explanations that require suspension of logic and rationality for something called "faith". Science is my belief system, and because of the recent advances in neuroscience, it is beginning to be able to explain things like shamanic trances and near death experiences. Not to say that science can disprove the existence of God by explaining visions of divinity as epileptic seizures. "If God wants to use that mechanism to transmit His revelation, so be it." (W. Grassie, http://www.metanexus.net/essay/neurosciences-religion-meditation-entheogens-mysticism) It is just a place to start th... read more

Wake up at the campground after sleeping in the car, white truck pulls up and dude starts shouting. Too early, what does he want. Ticket? Hanging on the mirror, plain sight, is this really necessary? Wrong campground, eh? Seemed like a good idea last night. This spot is for overflow only, noted good sir, carry on. I'm leaving soon anyway. Lay back on the seat, listen to the birds chatter. Five birds, same calls over and over. Does it have different meaning based on timing, or volume or something else my untrained ears are missing? Maybe they're just very adamant about the one thing they have to say. "Good food here. Good food here." Maybe "Ladies, check out my set up." Driving through Charleston, been in the car too long, need to stop and stretch the ... read more

Gas up before leaving Richmond. 10:17 pm, this is really it, no more safety net. Too tired to make a go of it tonight, crash at the next rest area and get going in the morning. Front seat can actually be cleared, score. Gotta love the Buicks bench seat. It's a little short, maybe kick the legs up on the window. What about belly. Hmm. TV is like a warm glass of milk. Start the new season of Underbelly. Second episode, sleep will come. Maybe write a bit. Nope, not feeling it. What about driving? That feels like the thing to do. Where to go, phone? Meet E out in Roanoke tomorrow then south to Florida, or...Virginia Beach. Sounded like he probably won't make it. Beach it is, four hours until sunrise. Can make it there ... read more

Spent some time with Ma in WV before the trip officially began. She had been taking care of Betsy for over a week, and they had a pretty solid routine worked out. Betsy was super spoiled with an entire room to run around in and explore, climbing on the bed or just straight up curtains, catching wild stink bugs despite our best efforts to stop her, and nestling in any number of towels or cloth scraps scattered about. Ma and S always have deer meat on hand that S periodically hunts down, and Ma cooked up some venison stroganoff that I couldn't get enough of, my body knew it was time to pack on some heft before living on truck stop sandwiches and whatever I can forage for or catch in the woods. We mostly just ... read more