Introduction

This is an attempt to capture some thoughts, stories and life in general as the current year passes.  The idea came through a conversation with a friend who recommended that I put some of my travels and stories to print for the purpose of sharing.  This came up after learning of a pheasant hunting trip I was about to embark on for the first time, then led to a recent trip to Alaska he had taken, and then spun further into some old memories.  Even though our friendship spanned some 20 years back to when I first began college, I was amazed to hear an epic (huc fin"esk" in nature) tale of hopping on a moving train and the ride that took place while he was on co-op from college.  A really cool story and great example of just taking a chance and seeing where the rest leads you, the impact it had on me at the time was evident....its spontaneity, and the intrigue of how I hadn't heard this story made clear what I needed to do and follow through with his idea.

Too often we are complicated with things that fill our daily lives, some very important, some not....regardless it is space occupied and time spent.  Family and friends all struggle with how to manage life’s toils and for better or for worse it is usually time spent together that brings about how well our time management skills are being utilized.  If you are as lucky as I am....and have a close nit family spread across the states, or an immense and diverse network of friends reaching even further spans of the globe, then you quickly can ascertain that its difficult at best to maintain cohesion. 

I have tried throughout the years to put a label and sometimes even prioritize friendships; I only stayed in touch with those who stayed in touch with me. After all there's only a certain amount of time to keep up with sometimes too many people.  However, a lot can be lost by this strategy... not only some good memories, but also some lessons and friendships as well.  Ultimately it comes down to staying in touch no matter what form may be justified.  Relationships like any number of analogies can be characterized to suit your understanding, like access with the freedom of choice.  I like to think of it in this way.... they are like a telephone, it's a two way device that has an open line and a message recording option should you not connect, it just takes one or the other to initiate the process and make it happen...the choice is yours.  Regardless of where you are in life, our families, jobs, and maturity usually dictate how successful we are at maintaining these relationships and what priority we assign to making them work.

It's my hope that this collection of stories past and present will affect you in a way the train adventure of my friend did with me that night last year....whatever it may be or whatever form it takes, just take notice and more importantly take time.  Again, time and its spans are very different requirements for most of us.  I've lost some some documents to computer crashes, laziness, fear of the unknown.... when or where to start, or what will be thought of it.  Regardless, I have not given up and made the attempt to call... so to speak.



Just Another Morning, Wrightsville Beach NC



A term used back in the early days of surfing, it describes the action of riding a wave and keeping ones board in front of the crumbling whitewater of the wave breaking behind you. This is done mostly to increase your time on the wave but more importantly in larger conditions to advert the dangers that come with a wipeout. Regardless of your need or view of what that entails....it is a great analogy for life and how we operate during its challenges or respond after its wipeouts. I hope you enjoy my stories for which this term has affected my thinking throughout a lifetime of memories understand my gratitude to my family and friends who have made all of this possible.


The title....