Christmas time is here

Happiness and cheer
Fun for all the children call
their favorite time of year.

Sorry, I get that song stuck in my head.  Anyway, I haven't posted anything in a while, so I might as well update it now.  I knew when I started this thing, there would be long periods of time with no updates because I couldn't think of anything to talk about and my general forgetfulness.  Anyway, it's Christmas time and I should probably get started on my Christmas shopping.  It goes without saying that this is a unique time of year.  Some love this time of year, while others.. not so much.  I am of the former group.  Despite some of the stress involved with it and my hatred of shopping amongst heavy crowds, there is a certain emotional attachment to this time of year that I enjoy.  Part of that is that I still carry over some of that excitement from being a kid (as I'm sure many do).  The other part is that I remember what it is we truly should be celebrating. 

I discussed last year about why family is a part of that for me and for some, this is a negative part of Christmas.  I'm not a psychologist nor have I done any research on this topic.  However, I do think loneliness is another part of what many do not like about this time of year.  There is something about this time of year that seems to increase depression and loneliness in some people.  I say this (and I'm preaching to myself as well) so that we might remember that this can be a difficult time of year for a lot of people.  It's so easy to get caught up in our own everyday lives that we do not see the difficulties of others.  The flip side of this is, of course, to remember that Christmas time isn't the only time to show compassion.  As a Christian, I know the Bible is very clear on the matter of compassion. 

Anyway, that is my rambling on Christmas.  The other thing about this time of year is that the end of the year is approaching.  I'll try to but up another post later on this subject but 2012 hasn't been fruitful as I would've hoped.  As I am not privy to the future, I do not know what next year will bring and I do not know what God's will for the future will bring.  There are some things I feel I need to do and some changes likely coming next year, one way or another.  However, I'll try and talk about this more at a later time including the subject I orginally started this blog to talk about: the Appalachian Trail.

For now here is that song that got in my head.

P.S. What are the chances I actually post again before the end of the year?

A New Post or Something...

It's been a while since I've last paid attention to me blog so I thought I'd look at.  Even though this blog doesn't have a lot of posts, it's still interesting for me to look back every-so-often at what I have posted.  I don't really have to much to say right now but I thought I add a new entry since it's been so long.  I love this time of year (although I hated it as a kid for obvious reasons).  The temperature has dropped a bit and it feels great outside.  Football has started up and baseball is working its way toward the playoffs. 

However, not all is well.  My current job is growing more and more frustrating.  While I've mostly been very neutral about this job, added stress without added compensation is moving the job into and active dislike.  I find myself beginning to dread going in on many days.  I know there is an eventual end to it coming, it seems far away.  I'm hoping things change so I can make it to the end of this, but I can be patient.  It won't be too much longer.  Anyway, when I get a free chance, I need to drive down to Springer Mountain just to see it.  Hopefully, soon...

It's Time to Get Back at it

I haven't posted about backpacking in a while (or really anything in the last couple of months), but it seems more and more that I need to get back to my goal.  My original plan was to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail this year but my backpacking trip on the Foothills trail last fall made me think that I needed some more experience.  For a month or so after my trip, I didn't really think much about it at all or even go hiking, having been temporarily satisfied.  This, however, would not last.  Thanks, in part, to an unusually mild winter, by January, the desire to be out in the woods returned to me.  As Spring got here, my plan now was to take more backpacking trips on the occasional long weekend that my job would allow me.  However, these did not come as frequently as before,  Eventually, I was moved to a new position that once again gave me every weekend off but no longer could I get long weekends.  Since time off is hard to get, this means that I will have to plan shorter trips but a backpacking trip that last several days will be difficult. 

Also during the past few months, I have been continuing to search for a job as a park ranger; however, my efforts here have been fruitless.  Is it that this particular career is not in God's will for me or just not at this time?  The answer to this I do not know right now but if the former is the case, then I will go in a new direction.  I do know this, if I found a job as a ranger right now, it would likely derail my plans for thru-hiking the AT since I would be at a job then that I wouldn't want to leave for six months.  Of course, returning to school is always an option as there are several other areas that interest me, most notably is meteorology.

For now though, if nothing changes, I'm back to planning for the trail which I thought would be this year; now it's 2013.  The challenges ahead are ones that will test my will and my faith.  I took a small step with my first backpacking trip last November, but there is much larger ones to take.  The physical aspect is only one small part of the test of a long distance hike.  My understanding is the harder part is the monotony of doing the same thing day after day and trying to not tired of the freeze-dried food for several days in a row between towns.  This will also give me time to reflect on many things and hopefully time to focus more effort to listening to God.  Although, being alone will probably not be a problem during much of this considering the time I plan to do this trip.  There will be many others attempting the same task as me for many different reasons.  Most, like me, will start in early spring in Georgia, but statistics show that less than a quarter will make it to Maine.  God willing, I will be in that percentage that does.  The journey began long before I ever step foot on the trail in preparing myself physically and mentally for what I will encounter.  The challenges ahead will be difficult not only for me but for my family as well who tend to worry.  Regardless of what happens, I'm ready for something new.  I've waited long enough; it's time work toward my goals regardless of what challenges lie ahead.

"Let's Go!"

I've mentioned before about living near some woods and how I enjoyed walking through these woods.  I also lived within walking distance of my grandparents in one direction and my aunt and uncle in another.  We moved to this house when I was either 8 or 9 years old.  By the time we moved in, we had a dog, an Eskimo Spitz, named Foxy.  We got her while we were living in another house but she was living with my grandparents while we were living in an apartment while the house was being built.  Foxy remained outside and unpinned most of the time.  She was smart enough to know where she should and shouldn't go.  Particularly, she knew to stay away from the dangerous road.  She was also very protective, of me especially.   This would be a problem when she would remind visitors of this with a quick bite to the ankles.  However, she never would never seriously hurt anyone and I could always could count on her to go with me where ever I roamed.

Not long after we moved, my sister decided to get a new puppy.  It was a mix of German Shepard and Collie named Franky.  Foxy, having had puppies herself before, pretty much adopted Franky as her own.  He grew into a rather large but extremely laid back dog.  While he was not as protective as Foxy, he would also follow me where ever I went.  Eventually, I trained them to know when I'm walking somewhere and to follow me by saying, "Foxy, Franky, let's go!"  They would then immediately get up and start going in whatever direction it looked like I was going in.  Foxy would typically stay close to my side while Franky would go a little bit ahead of me.  Whether I was going to my grandparents, my aunt and uncle's, or the wondering through the woods, they were going to be there with me.  I never had that many friends but those two I knew I could count on to always be there.   The trick could be to get them not to follow me when I didn't want them but at least they knew enough not to follow me to the increasingly busy, Woodruff Road.

Of course, the lifespan of dogs is not very much when compared to our own.  Foxy was a very old dog by the time she died during my senior year of high school.  Franky took it the hardest and disappeared for few days before finally being discovered in an animal shelter.  My sister bought my mom a new dog we call Blue due to his one blue eye.  We thought he was a Sheltie.  I say "we thought" because he wound up growing into a full-sized collie.  While he was very intelligent, he never learned where he shouldn't wander to so he had to be kept pinned up.  This was very apparent when the church next door decided to keep their doors open for one Sunday morning service and he walked right in.  Still, he would follow me whenever I walked anywhere much like Franky and he would stay near as long as me or someone else was outside.

Unfortunately, the woods were disappearing more and more as time passed.  The two churches nearby where growing and needed the room.  While the churches growing like they were was no bad thing, I did miss my woods.  Also, age had finally caught up to Franky and he too died.  My family eventually moved away from that house when the church needed our land to grow more.  Blue seemed to not mind the new setting and had grown into an extremely obedient dog, always eager to please.  I had never even seen him angry except for one time when another finally annoyed him to the point of snapping at the other dog.  No one could blame Blue for that one either.

I share the story of the dogs I grew up with because Blue recently had to be put to sleep because of extensive health problems.  These dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember even though I haven't lived at home in a while.  I currently live in an apartment where owning a dog would be difficult.  Perhaps I will do something different and get a cat as my next pet.  I never could have a cat growing up because of my sister's allergies. Anyway, regardless of the future, these three dogs I talked about here were an important part of my childhood and my growing up.  Their companionship was invaluable.  The memories they provided will be with me the rest of my life.  I can only hope if I have children, they can have friends as good as they were.

Sports

Most of the people who view this blog have come here through Facebook and one thing I'm sure that most of Facebook friends (and the few followers I have on twitter) have noticed is that I talk about sports a lot.  I have many interests but sports is one of the easiest for me to talk about.  I'll talk about the various sports I follow and a little bit about my history with them.  I had been thinking lately about why I follow the teams that I do and I figured that today would be as good of a day as any to write this.  Of course, today is the day of the biggest annual sporting event there is so it seems appropriate.  I am going to work backwards in order of how much focus I give each sport.  Sports not mentioned here are sports I don't follow closely enough or simply have no interest in.

Basketball

Basketball is a sport that I cared very little for when I was a kid.  I never had much interest in playing it in any organized fashion.  To this day I still have very little interest in the NBA.  However, I have started following college basketball.  The NCAA tournament is one of the best postseason events that there is and I've enjoyed even when I didn't care anything else about the sport.  I suppose one reason for my lack of interest of watching basketball is that I am a Clemson fan and Clemson, as you may know, has had a horrible history in the sport.  I suppose I started watching the sport more some time after Oliver Purnell became head coach of Clemson.  I'm not entirely sure why but perhaps it was the new play style or maybe a slight change in the culture surrounding basketball in Clemson.  Basketball is still not a sport I follow as closely as others and certainly am no expert on it, but I do at least watch now when Clemson is on TV and when it is tournament time.  I would follow my alma mater, North Greenville, more, but it's really hard to follow division II basketball.

Hockey

I live in the south where, until recently, I think the only thing people knew about hockey is that it's played on ice. Obviously, this is not a sport I grew up with.  I started paying a little bit of attention to the sport in 2002 when the Carolina Hurricanes made it to and lost the Stanley Cup Finals.  My interest was fleeting but at least I had a team to follow.  I started to pay attention again at the beginning of the '05-'06 season.  This was also the first good team the Hurricanes had since last making the finals.  Part of the reason I started paying attention again is that I was about to move to Raleigh where the team is located.  I lived in Raleigh and the Canes continued to surprise everyone with how well they were playing.  As the end of the season drew near, my personal life took a turn when my wife left me, leaving me alone in Raleigh away from my friends and family.  I chose not to move home until I had finished the semester at seminary but I desperately needed a distraction and the Hurricanes' fantastic run through the playoffs provided just that.  They would win the Stanley Cup that year and it was fun being in a city with pro team to win a major championship.  I learned to appreciate the sport of hockey during this run.  Also, I learned that playoff overtime in hockey is one of the most intense things in sports.  I know hockey is not the easiest game to watch on tv but I would suggest to anyone with any interest in sports to check out a game in person.

Football

This is the sport I have the most experience playing.  I was always on the line and prefer that to any "skill" positions.  Football is by far this country's most popular sports.  When it comes to sports in this country, NFL is king.  However, here in the south, college football rules.  I enjoy both.  I'll start with the pros.

NFL: As a kid, I don't have much memory of watching the NFL much except for the watching Super Bowl and going an Atlanta Falcons game one time.  This changed in 1995 when the Carolina Panthers started playing.  When I was fourteen, everything about the new team seemed cool to me with the colors, the logo, and the uniforms.  Also, the team played their first season in Death Valley in Clemson.  I regret never having made it to a game when they played there before they moved to Charlotte.  It also helped that they were one game away from the Super Bowl in only their second year of existence.  They later made it to the Super Bowl and even though they lost, that was a very fun year.  Another thing with the Panthers is that my mom occasionally gets free tickets to their games.  I've learned enough about Charlotte that I have a much easier time getting to and leaving the stadium than I do other teams around here.

College: Since there are different levels of college football, there are different teams I follow.  Division II is easy: the school I went to and the team I played for myself, North Greenville.  At the division I-AA (now FCS) level I pull for the Furman Paladins.  I consider them to be pretty much the home town team for Greenville and everyone in my family has always pulled for them so I do to.  Division I is, of course, the Clemson Tigers.  I have lived all my life around the Clemson/S. Carolina rivalry.  My family was odd in they never did choose one over the other when I was growing.up.  However, when I was young, my family happened to vacation at the same week and place as Clemson head coach Danny Ford for several years.  Although my memories are vague, he taught me how to swim.  This leaned me toward Clemson and I became more and more of a Clemson fan as a got older.  My one difference is that unlike most Clemson fans, I do not hate South Carolina.  The rivalry is fun and I certainly want Clemson to win every year but I don't pull for SC to lose when they're not playing Clemson.  I have one final word about college football.  As great as the sport is, division I is ruined by what is the worst post season in all of sports.  I'll save my rant on that for another time.

Baseball

Finally, we get to baseball. While baseball has been eclipsed by football as the country's most popular sport, it is the sport with the most history. It is also the sport I have the most history with.  On Summer nights as a kid, I could usually be sure that one television somewhere was turned to a Braves game.  Both my dad and maternal grandfather were huge Braves fans.  Everyone in my family was.  It should come as no surprise to anyone that I became one, too. Before I pulled for any other team discussed here, I pulled for the Braves.  For the longest time, the Braves were awful with Dale Murphy being the lone bright spot for them.  Then 1991 came and everything changed when the Braves made the World Series.  With the Braves now a good team, baseball became even more fun to watch.  Even now, I'm still always learning more about this sport.  I look forward to the start of baseball season more than any other season, especially when the weather begins to warms.

As I finish writing this, the Super Bowl has just ended.  This is the worst time as far as sports are concerned.  Even though I enjoy college basketball and ice hockey, baseball and football are the two sports I look enjoy the most. When the Super Bowl ends, I'm ready for baseball to begin.  I'm finally done now.  In hindsight, I should have split this up into several posts.  I didn't realize it would be so long, but I enjoyed explaining my relationship with different sports.  I'll have other posts about sports in the future including something about expressing faith in sports and why I hate the BCS so much but until then, it's time to rest.

By Popular Demand

I have received complaints about my recent lack of updates on my blog so here is a new post. I really don't have anything interesting to say right now and typing on my phone gets annoying. At least a certain bored individual will have something to read at work however short it is. Anyway, I do have a real update planned for sometime in the next week and a half but that's it for now. This thing isn't dead yet.