Yup. I think I’m about rested up. It’s been almost two full months since I last had anything to say. Yah, I know. Lots of you readin’ this will respond that I’ve NEVER had anything to say…and you may be right. But this is MY blog and even though I haven’t written anything in such a long time the stats are showing that this ol’ blog is getting about 15,000 hits a day. Not sure how many subscribers that equates to…I’ll have to check sometime and let you know.
It’s been a good couple of months. Let’s see what all has happened:
I got me a little job as sales manager for a glass artist. First big gig was lining up some sales in Australia. I about drove everyone crazy with my “Crocodile Dundee” impersonations…”No worries mate!”
I had a winning picture in the Day in the LIfe of Asheville Project. That happened in May…after I had just been here a couple weeks.
I’ve gotten an officially, unofficial position as the photographer for the Southern Fried Blues Group folks. Yah…get into lots of concerts and shoot lots of pictures and drink lots of Coke.
Got married.
Became friends with a few country bands that have opened the doors for me to shoot lots of more bands. I actually have shot a band that is playing and recording in Muscle Shoals this weekend and they’re using my photo on the cover of their upcoming CD.
Got a pass to shoot the upcoming Wille Nelson, Bob Dylan and Mellencamp concert. Should be a blast getting to hang out on the Yellow Rose.
Went kayaking down the French Broad River.
Skydiving over Black Mountain.
And did I mention I’m going to be photographing Willie and Bob? Notice I didn’t say “shooting” them…there’s some folks reading this who take things literally and they’ll be calling the cops saying I’ve threatened the lives of two of teh most famous singers around.
So it’s been a good couple of months. Now that I’ve kinda caught my breath, I hope to keep you updated on a more regular basis.
Thanks for stopping by. Now, where’s my coffee?
PS Actually I did NOT get married. I just threw that in there to see if you were paying attention!
- Chris — Street Minister
Well folks. There’s all type of people in “this-here-part” of Carolina.
Yah, I’m not sure what the title means other than “Well, hello sports fans!”.* Bob Uecker always said it before every game in one of the best series of baseball movies ever made. Remember Charlie Sheen as “Wild Thing”?
Well, I’m in the mountains. Today the mountains of North Carolina. Sunday skipping over to the mountains of Tennessee and then Monday it looks like down to the mountains of north Georgia. And then back to the mountains of North Carolina.
Don’t have a whole lot to report on today…other than to say that the past couple weeks have been weeks of refreshing and renewing. The retreat that I was able to start at my buddy Bill’s house has continued. Thank God for good people.
And thank God for college educated, moronic nitwits. Without them you couldn’t appreciate the good folks in life. Yah, I know…I sound a tad bitter. So what! I’m working on forgiving a couple of folks in my life…somedays I can honestly say I forgive them…and other days the anger…the frustration…the “stuff” comes roaring back like a freight train heading down a mountain grade at high speed.
But tomorrow is another day and I might have a little more generosity in my heart. Or not…we’ll take it one day at a time.
Anyways, life has been good to this ol’ grizzeled vet. I’ve joined a great church here in Asheville that consists of maybe 50% transients and 50% rooted-here-in-the-mountains-to-stay folks. I’m doing some sales and marketing stuff for one of the premier artists here in the area. I’ve got a nice little three bedroom house to call “home” and I’ve adopted a little dog named Greentree. Stupid name, I know. But he looked at me weird when I’d call, “Permaculture…come here boy…”.
Oh yah, did I mention that several folks in the church are interested in starting an “Intentional Community”? This oughta be fun to watch.
Well, it’s late…I’m old…and tired. I’m gonna hit the hay. I’m taking some photos around town for a project the local folks are doing called, “One Day in the Life of Asheville”. So I’ve got alot of pics to take and I need my rest. In the meantime, click here and I’ll show you some photos that I’ve taken so far.
Now, where did I put that cup of coffee?
*You know, I imagine there’s at least a couple folks reading this that just can’t take things at face value. So for the both of you that are wondering what I mean by “Hello sports fans”, remmeber, sometimes a rock is just a rock and there is no hidden or alternative meaning to it other than in your warped little mind.
Well, made it out of sw Georgia on the Greyhound. Interesting bunch of folks ride the bus…all good folks…just interesting.
Like the girl in the seat in front of me. I guess she was having a hi-tech fight with her boyfriend. Every 3 or 4 minutes her phone would ring. Customized ring tones…gotta love ‘em. Anyways, her’s was Hang Jr.’s song, “If Heaven Ain’t Alot Like Dixie”.
She’d answer the phone, mutter a few expletive deletives into it and slam it down. Well, however you can slam down the receiver on a cellphone.
Then there was the Asian guy that sat across the aisle from me. Seemed like nice enough fellow. Couldn’t speak any english…made us even, I could speak any of whatever he was speaking either.
Couple quick stops along the way…chance to chat with some of the other passengers.
The 57 yo lady who was heading to Jackson MS to resume her truck driving career
The “small person” (back in the day we called ‘em midgets…they still are to me) that was heading to Canada to work at a carnival
The teenage girl that was running away from home. Seems she’s found her answer to life’s problems in Atlanta and was going there to solve them
And the list of truly interesting folks goes on. Such is life.
Now for the coffee.
Well, in a little less than 24 hours I’m heading out. Georgia in the rearview mirror. It’s been a good year. Made some friends…had some laughs…pissed some folks off that probably needing pissing off and now it’s time for the next step in life.
Where to from here? Huntsville…er, no…Asheville…well, maybe it IS Huntsville. Anyway, I know it’s got a ‘ville’ in the name…and it’s in the mountains…and there’s friendly folks waiting there. So either place that the dog stops and lets me off will be ok with me.
What have I learned over the past year? Alot. Really too much to sum it all up here in “Nelson’s top 40″ or something. So I’ll sum it up in one brief phrase:
Don’t let the bastards get you down.
You know, as you go through life, you’re not gonna please everyone. So why try? No matter what you do there will always be some tight-ass so-and-so that thinks you need to march to the beat of their drum. Life’s too short for that. I’m gonna continue to be me… like it…don’t like it…don’t care. I’m gonna set my sails to the wind and follow the path that I feel the Lord has laid out for me.
Now don’t misunderstand me…I’m not gonna go out of my way to upset folks and make their lives hard. But by golly, I’m not putting my thoughts and feelings on the back burner just ’cause some body who spent tons of money and wasted alot of time at college thinks they’ve got this thing called life figured out.
No sir. As long as I can continue to lay my head down on the pillow each night and be happy with the way I’ve lived my life that day…I’m ok. Public opinion be damned.
Jesus was kinda like that too. Remember over in the gospels when he was talking about the meal? He told a whole bunch of folks there on the hillside that they have to eat of His body and drink of His blood. Well, seems like a bunch of them were college graduate types that had a whole lot of book learning but very little understanding of what life is really about. You know the type…point out to them how young and experienced they are and they get their panties in a twist really quick. But if you tell someone who IS knowledgeable of life and knows where the landmines are how little they know, they’ll shrug, lift their cup of coffee and say “I’ll drink to that”. Anyways, these college graduate types that were sitting on the hillside, heard Jesus and they talked among themselves and said, “This is a pretty rough teaching. Who can tolerate this?” And yah know what? They got in their cars and left. Jesus didn’t go running after them. He didn’t say, “Hey wait a minute guys…you didn’t understand what I said…hey now…c’mon back. We’ll throw the frisbee, roast marshmallows and sing Kumbayah!”
Nope he let them go. He looked around Him and he saw the only ones still hanging around the grill were the 12 original members of the club. He peered into their soul by way of their eyes and asked, “You wanna go too”? Jesus was ready to start a new chapter in His ministry if He had to. He was ready to walk away from everything and everyone — or rather He was ready for everyone and everything to walk away from Him.
Lesson? Hang on to your integrity. Don’t say one thing during devotion time on the mountain top and then share a different devotion in how you live out the rest of the day. Be consistent. Be true to yourself. It worked for Jesus and hey, I’m supposed to be a follower of His, so it’ll work for me.
So it’s off to a “ville” somewhere. Been to both before briefly and they both seem to be kinda nice places.
But first I’m gonna grab a cup of coffee and read up on landscaping.
Well, I’m here in Albany, GA. Not much to say for the town so far…seems kinda small. But more about that later.
I’ve got a friend here in town named Bill. I’m crashing at his place for a few days until it’s time to take the Greyhound northward. Bill’s got kinda of a ‘mini’ Koinonia going here. A house full of people…a garden…scuppernongs…a small orchard and plenty of animals. One thing he does have that Koinonia doesn’t is a swimming pool…or as the Clampett’s used to call it “a cement pond”. I’m going to try to check it out tomorrow.
Anyway, it appears that Bill lives right in the middle of town. I’ve rode with him today as he did some errands and kept pestering him with questions before we left the mini Koinonia estate.
“Where is the library, and how far is it” I asked.
“Bout a mile that way” said Bill…pointing north.
“How far is the grocery store”?
“Bout a mile that way”…pointing south.
“How far is the McDonald’s?”
“Bout a mile that way”…pointing southwest.
So I figure that Bill lives pretty near the center of a small town.*
It’s kinda nice to have friends that will let you come crash at their place for a few days. Kind of unwinding and stuff. Getting a little respite from all the drama of late. I asked Bill what I could be doing for him since he’s allowing me to put down very shallow and very temporary roots here. He responded by walking me around the 1.7 acre estate…pointing out asparagus that needed to be covered up…weeds that need to be pulled…a black garden hose that needs to be buried and some other stuff.
This morning I got up and promptly went to work on the garden. I planted about a dozen tomator plants and weeded two whole rows of crop. Then went and got myself something to drink…and fell asleep for ’bout an hour. Seems like my recovery from the heart surgery is still going painfully slow. So my pattern has kinda become…
Work…cough…rest…rest…work…cough…rest… Get it?
Despite that stumbling work pattern, I think Bill is acting out one of Jesus’ teaching.
I think this might be what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Whenever you do it to the least of my brothers, you’re doing it to me”. And the message I get out of it? Well, it’s a little different than when I was in Mrs. Shaver’s 1st grade Sunday School class.
Then she kinda taught that when we give someone a cold drink…we’re also giving it to Jesus. When we give a homeless person a meal…we’re also giving it to Jesus. In short, what I got out of her teaching was that anything “good” we do for someone, we do for Jesus as well.
But the opposite is true also.
When we fail to practice Christ’s love with others…we’re doing it to Him too. When we gossip and backbite about others…we’re gossiping about Him too. When we fail to practice pure, brotherly love with one another…well, we’re spitting on the cross.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I’m perfect and I get this right 100% of the time. I’m just saying that having a few days to rest, reflect and ponder have given me this new insite.
Catch ya later. I’m going to get me a cup of coffee…and see if He wants one too.
*PLEASE NOTE: This isn’t EXACTLY how the conversation went down. It is, however, based on a real conversation we had. So lighten up and understand that it’s NOT meant to be a documentary. Thanks.
Saw an item on CNN.com this morning. Seems like a whole lot of gun shop owners are reporting a run on bullets and ammunition.
And there doesn’t appear to be any logical reason for it.
Oh yah, some meatheads have gotten the idea that President Obama and his administration are going to tighten up the access to guns, bullets and related items.
But he hasn’t said anything about doing that. It’s all happened in alot of people’s imaginations.
I think it would be a great idea to tighten up on gun control. But you know what I think would be a better idea?
Bullet control.
Let’s raise the cost of bullets to something like $10,000.00 each. That’ll put a stop to some of these morons who think the answer to any problem can be found by a ten pound pull on a trigger.
By the way, ever notice in the old Superman TV series something? Superman would bravely stand there as the bad guys fired shot after shot at him…never flinching. But let them throw the gun, he’d duck.
Don’t believe me? Check it out sometime.
PLEASE NOTE: This blog entry was originally scheduled to self-post on Saturday after I’ve left. I don’t want this to appear to be a “hit-and-run” posting and I would welcome the chance to speak with anyone about my thoughts here. So with all that in mind, please read on:
Yep….I’m outta here…heading north to Asheville for a season — drop off some stuff and then over to Huntsville, AL to reconnect with a friend — the two-wheeled kind — then who knows. I’ll be in Asheville for a season and then Huntsville for a season and just how long is a season? I’ll let ya know when I return.
My year at Koinonia has been real…it’s been fun…but at times it hasn’t been real fun. Guess that’s a common thing when living in community.
But I’ve been thinking…If I were King of Koinonia for a day, what would I do? I’ve got a few thoughts on this.
Make Nash and Kurt stewards. Koinonia needs some stewards that can and will think outside of the box…bring some diversity to the the thought processes. Right now the stewards all look alike, think alike, smell alike and talk alike…let’s get rid of the homogenous strain of leadership.
Develop a bi-cameral form of leadership. Just because someone makes a good steward, doesn’t make them a good business manager. And just ’cause someone has a good head for business, doesn’t make them a good spiritual leader. Establish two bodies…one to take the reins and responsibility for the spiritual growth and direction of the community and one to manage the fiscal side of the house.
Figure out what the mission is. Yah, I know the mission statement calls for helping to reduce militarism, racism and such through showing the love of Jesus Christ. But someone explain this to me like I’m a three year old. Exactly how does the religion of permacultureism do this?
Take Stock. Why are productive people being asked to leave Koinonia and people that would benefit Koinonia leaving voluntarily? Precisely what is the problem here? The problem is NOT attracting and keeping good people…that is just a symptom of the problem. Tell me why this revolving door exists.
Eliminate “off-campus” housing. Either someone is going to be a member of the community or they’re not. Why should some folks be allowed to “retreat” to the sanity of priviate homes away from the farm when the irritations of communal living get too close? C’mon folks…get off the fence…either join the community full-time or leave.
Decide what Koinonia is. Yah, I know this is awful close to an earlier idea…but it bears repeating. Is Koinonia going to be the beacon for sustainability, green-living and permaculture in the southeast? Or is it going to show the love of Jesus to combat racism, nationalism, militarism and other “isms”. It can’t do both.
Just two things left to say in parting.
Tell Elizabeth I love her, and…
Have a nice life.
‘Nuff said.
Well, you’ve read a little about Salamander Springs and what a vacation spot it is for the right folks.
Let me share with you some of the things I’ve learned over the past five days while I was sojourning there. I like the sound of that word…not sure what it means though.
While I was at Salamander Springs, I had plenty of time to reflect and contemplate. I know what both of those words mean and I’m not sure I like either of them. But who knows, at my age maybe it’s about damn time I learn.
Anyways, here’s a short list of what I learned…and in a ways, kind of “re-learned”:
1. People are more important than things.
2. Reconciliation isn’t real unless people are willing to put it into effect and not just pay it “lip service”.
3. I have my head up my butt more often than not.
4. Gardening is fun only if you don’t mind having just your thoughts for company.
5. You never know what you had until you don’t have it anymore.
Well, there you have it. I won’t bore you with the details of the impact that each of these five revelations have had on my life. I’ll kind of leave it open ended and vague…like they do with Fortune Cookies. Seems to have more “oomph” like that.
You know, alot can happen in 5 days. Here’s what I’ve been doing. My fiance broke up with me and called off the wedding, my sister has been put in the hospital on life support and I went to Salamander Springs.
I suppose the first one is redundant…I mean if you break if off with your fiance, then of course the wedding is off. All I know about Kaye (my sister) is just what I told you. Salamander Springs?
That’s something I can talk a little about.
When Elizabeth told me to take a hike, my mind immediately…well, as immediately as a 50 something old mind can…flashed back to some of the old movies I’d seen as a kid. You know the ones where the hero loses his girlfriend and goes off to join the French Foreign Legion, fight pirates, die a heroic death all the while making sure that the girl he left behind got all the newsclippings so she could kick her self for lettting him go?
Well, that’s EXACTLY what I did…sorta.
No French Foreign Legion close by. No pirates either. But Salamander Springs…YESSS…. Salamander Springs is a 30 acre nestled among the rolling hills of middle Georgia. Well, that isn’t true ether. It’s 30 acres, but it’s plopped down in some of the densest forest you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s a triple canopy of trees and that means that even at high noon it’s pretty damn dark in those woods.
Guess you already figure out how it got it’s name…Salamander Springs. Well, there is a spring there and I think I saw a salamander…so let’s be generous and allow them to call it as they want.
Salamander Springs is what is called “off the grid”. That’s a fancy, 21st century way of saying they don’t have electricity. They also don’t have plumbing…or refridgerators…or screens on the windows…or a kitchen…or, well, don’t have much else for that matter. But that’s ok.
Salamander Springs is an attraction for WWOOFERS. I’m not gonna explain that one…be resourceful and look it up. Needless to say, I’m not a WWOOFER. But I did get 5 days to rest, reflect, contemplate, play in the dirt and look at my life and how I’ve messed it up.
And for that I’ll be eternally grateful to the folks at Salamander Springs.
NOTE: The picture of the old break truck? That was my accomodations while I was there at Salamander Springs
