False accusations at The Fireside Inn.

I had breakfast this morning at The Fireside Inn with my boss and a handful of coworkers. The Fireside Inn is a quaint, local "mom and pop" style restaurant that has a small intimate feel, while seating a surprisingly large number of people. The food is okay; nothing spectacular, but pleasing enough if you're in the mood for a simple meal in a "local" setting. I'm not sure why we all met there. I think we might have been celebrating something, but I'm not sure what. I felt like if I questioned the purpose of our gathering I might look ungrateful or put out to be there and neither was the case. A free breakfast with coworkers I enjoy in a pleasant local setting; I'm in.

We were seated in a comfortable room that felt like it might have been a greenhouse at one time. This gave it a light, airy, and open feel. At one point during the meal I noticed a projector on the ceiling pointing at a pull down screen on the wall behind me. There was a modest stage light with a purple filter that was also pointing at the screen. The best sense I could make of it was a possible karaoke stage although it seemed like an awfully strange venue for such a thing. When I finally asked about it the waitress accused me of being a karaoke junkie and some of my table mates playfully jumped right in. She went on to explain that they don't do karaoke, but they use to host small, local events there. She began to share her passion of karaoke with me under the pretense that I shared her obsession. At one point later in the meal she even brought another waitress to the table to inform her that I was a karaoke junkie. Those who know me well, know that this couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, I've done some in Japan, but it's nearly impossible to escape on that island, and during the experiences I was completely out of my element. Also, in Japan, you're in a little room with just your close friends as opposed to the American style where you're on a stage in front of every stranger in the bar. You couldn't get me drunk enough to do karaoke in America. The waitress had stamped me with a false label that couldn't be further from the truth.

This isn't the first time something like that has happened. One time in college I was on a date with my girlfriend and I chose to bring one of the little throw away coasters home with me because I thought it had a cool picture on it. This isn't something you'd want to do on a first or second date, but we were in a serious relationship of a couple years that allowed for such idiosyncrasies. It was a one time deal with that specific coaster. Well sometime not long after in a random conversation she informed my guy friends that I had a coaster collection. I don't know what in God's name possessed her to do that, but nothing could have been lamer or funnier to my friends than the idea that my girlfriend had just outed me as a closet coaster collector. For the next couple years every time one of them went to a restaurant or bar they brought home at least one coaster and gave it to me no matter how bland or ordinary it might be. They just couldn't get enough of helping me build my nonexistent coaster collection. Although I threw many of them away, so many friends were constantly bringing me more coasters (including repeats of places they'd already brought them from before) that I ended up unintentionally having a damn coaster collection.

Well, I don't collect coasters, and I'm not a karaoke junkie, but unfortunately sometimes a label sticks whether it's accurate or not. So the next time we're at a bar or restaurant don't volunteer me to go on stage and sing, and if you take one the coasters you damn sure better keep it for yourself.

Eat that beard, boy.

"They cut my beard; and forced me to eat it."

This story took place in Kentucky, but it could have just as well been Hendo. That's why I love it. These people are my neighbors, and I have a whole new appreciation for news like this.





It's one thing to whip out knives and guns at a lawnmower sale, but cutting a man's beard off...and forcing him to eat it. Shameful gentlemen...shameful.

A visit from Cashflow.

Tuesday night, my boy Cashflow rode in from the nearby WNC town where he currently resides. We hit up Margaritagrille, downtown, for dinner and a couple beers. It was a Guinness draft night. The bar/grill was fairly empty and the atmosphere was extremely low key. Nothing is set in stone yet, as I still need to try out Hannah Flannagan's (sp?), but M-grille is starting to feel like the go to place; much like The All Star Grill of Winter Haven. We ended up being the last two people there since it was a weeknight and not only did they not run us off, but they offered us another round. Something I can't say for The All Star Grill. Since I'm working on moving up to higher weight class I treated Cash to some milkshakes on the way home. Nothing like burgers, chicken wings, Guinness, and milkshakes. We watched some sitcoms into the evening which still takes me back to "early L.A." days. I ended up crashing though because I'd been awake since 3:50am that morning.

Wednesday we ended up sleeping in a little (much needed). After a low-key morning of discussing future travel plans and possibilities over coffee we headed out to hit up a Chik-fil-a for lunch and more milkshakes. (I'm at the heaviest I've ever been in my life...I might move up several weight classes. I haven't quite decided yet.) The local hop was way too busy so we went to the Biltmore Square mall which has a modest food court of which Chick-fil-a is one of the vendors. It was also on our way to the Arboretum.

Cash had never been to the Arboretum before so I was disappointed to find that most of the plants were no longer blooming, the fountains had been turned off, and some topiary displays had been completely removed. We were able to walk through the bonsai exhibit though which elicited much reminiscing over Japan. We also did some trail walking during which we tried some trails I had never done before. I really enjoyed the new trails, especially one that is several miles long and does a large loop around the property. It would be a great place to go running (assuming you have the year round pass) or to simply hike again. It was nearing closing time when we started the trail and we hiked the last quarter mile or so with just barely enough light to see. It was dark and the moon was shining through the trees.

Today I got up at 3:50am again and went back to work, and Cashflow headed back to his digs. It was a quick visit, but we packed a lot in and it was a lot of fun. I'm off now for dinner and a milkshake. I think it will be Chick-fil-a......oreo.

Wasps, robins and a new focus.

I've become quite comfortable around wasps since moving to the mountains of Western North Carolina. Upon first moving here I was uncomfortable to be within any proximity of them. Now, I still kill them more often than not, but they really don't phase me beyond a normal, healthy respect. Today, I went up to the trailer to get a few things and while sitting on the couch realized that I was surrounded by them. (Okay, it was only five, but the last thing you want when you're relaxing inside is five wasps in your immediate vicinity.) In the early days of NC living I would freak out to find that I had one wasp inside with me, let alone five right next to me, but today I found myself hardly reacting and simply methodically killing them one by one. It's little things like this that make me pause and realize how much I've changed and adapted since first moving here.

As I looked out one of the windows some movement in the grass outside caught my eye. I noticed a little robin hoping about and pecking in the yard. I then noticed two more nearby. Three. Four. Suddenly, I realized the yard was full of them. There were about thirty and more were joining them from the trees. I walked to the other side of the trailer to check the back yard and there were at least thirty there as well. I usually consider myself fortunate to see a single robin or two on rare occasion, and here I was with sixty of them all around me. I had never before seen that many robins in one place together. It was quite enchanting. It's the newest on a growing list of magical moments of nature that I've been blessed with since beginning my journey of mountaintop solitude.

After observing them for awhile from inside I went outside as a mighty chorus of fluttering wings erupted all around me. They almost all flew into nearby trees although a few of the brave (or stupid) continued as though I weren't there. Slowly they began to return one at a time to their feeding in the yard upon seeing that I wasn't an immediate threat, and I was surrounded once again. It was a really neat experience for which I'm quite grateful.

Despite these great mountain moments and being so content here, I'm really starting to feel an itch for world travel again; specifically something with a mission or creative focus. I plan to renew my lease in March for another year, so it will be awhile before embarking on anything major, but it's never too soon to start preparing and planning. I already have a few ideas and a traveling buddy set up, but that's all I'll share at the moment. The interesting thing is, the more I dive into planning and preparing for some major travel, the more I find myself appreciating the area around me as one might who was forced to plan, prepare, and travel a great distance in order to experience it. I'm grateful for this renewed perspective. Through it I will get that much more out of my day to day experiences here over the next year and a half or so. I'll do my best to blog about it as though I were sharing the experiences of a grand, romantic overseas trip because after all, we're constantly surrounded by the exciting and romantic in our day to day lives even if we've been deceived to perceive it as simply the everyday and mundane.

Essentially, although it will probably be more than a year before I embark on "the next big adventure", as far as I'm concerned the journey starts now and I'll begin to live it and share it as thus. On that note, I'll stop here for now so I can enjoy a freshly baked chicken pot pie and some local Cabernet Sauvignon (yes, I know it's better paired with red meat), and then continue my research on a possible destination of travel/project.