Catching Up

It's been a busy few months to say the least.  I'm a creature of habit, and I got out of the habit of jotting things down, so there's been a long gap here.
I had some photos laying around from when I disappeared from society to the Outer Banks in November.  I didn't get a full two weeks in like I wanted, but I've making up for it now in February.

Floating back to November~~~

Whenever I get the idea that I want to head to Nags Head, I have to go immediately.  I was coming off of a weekend of total debauchery, the most of any wedding on the circuit the last few years, then had to run a local seminar for work, drive to Atlanta for another meeting, then drive back the following day.  I arrived back in Raleigh around 9PM, and almost left for Nags Head at 10.  I decided to have patience, and bumped it back a few hours to 4:30AM.

Leaving early in the morning is practically a ritual for me.  It's only a three hour drive through eastern North Cackalack.  By the time daylight breaks, I only have an hour to go.  That way I get to see the very first light onward, and I'm heading due east the whole time, right into it.  Ever been to Eastern NC?  Well the whole damn place looks like this:

Pretty much nothing but soybean fields and factory farms.














Nags Head never disappoints in the off-season; chilly, windswept, and grey.

Having the Jack Dog along is a must.  Mattafack, I don't even know if I'd want to come out here for these trips if he couldn't.  He goes everywhere with me here.  At night he's on full guard and if he hears a bump or loud rattle from the wind, I hear a low-pitched, deep growl, or warning bark.  Here's the large guy doing his thing by the water.

That's his expression for being really happy...the same expression he uses for every other emotion, including frustration, anger, contentment, deep thought, exhaustion, and that one where you know there's absolutely nothing going on in his head.

Each sunrise is a fresh start.  Everything is quiet and calm--not even the wind is up yet.  It's the time when all in the world seems innocent, as if it hasn't yet been corrupted by the chaos of everyday life. 

 
Anyway I paddled out and caught a few waves.  I'm usually out with others, which I love doing, but being alone is fine as well.  Sometimes it's eerie being out in the middle of winter, without even another soul on the beach- the water is cold, often rough, and foamy.  If anything it makes me appreciate the warmer months, where I'm not confined to a wetsuit, and I don't get ice cream headaches every time I duck a wave.
I always tell my coworkers that if I'm paddling out early in the day and not on the 4PM conference call, that mother nature has won.

At night, I let Jack out and while he roams around, looking for the perfect place to take care of his business, I stare up at the sky.  If you look up here on a clear night, you forget about how cold it is.  I had no idea there were even that many visible stars.  It's like stepping out into a theater.  You can see the milky way streak across the sky.  There's something very humbling about the night sky without light pollution.  I'm not kidding when I say it nearly knocks the wind out of me.  I could sit out there and watch it every night for the rest of my life.

I've been trying to figure out the feeling I get when I'm here, and I think I'm finally onto it.  My family has had this place since I was 13 years old, which is over half of my life.  Homes, aside from being shelters, store memories.  Each time I'm here, I can practically see a film reel of the last 14 years of my life.  Not so much in terms of vacations or time spent here, but more so the chapters of my life that they represent.  As strange as it sounds, I was talking about this same concept before with my friend Rollen, who also plays guitar.  We were talking about how difficult it is to sell old guitars, even if you don't play them much.  They all represent different time periods of my life.  I've only sold one of them, and it was to my best friend's dad.  Even that was difficult.  I've got acoustics laying around everywhere at home.  As your boy Bill Shakespeare might say, "though this be madness, yet there is method in it."


I found this picture from home over Christmas.  I had to put it up somewhere, but figured it would be trashy to post on facebook.  As you can see, it's ok for a man to wear an apron, as long as it's a badass apron that gets your point across.