Another one in the books.

Just closed out another school year today. This year was a great one. Got through National Boards and this group makes me wish I could follow them up through the grade levels. They all got to evaluate me on the last day. Then, what began as a lark six years ago during my first year at Valle Crucis was tradition upheld, I asked each class to do their best Mr. Hiatt impressions. I guess I caught this group pretty off guard or maybe it's a testament to their sweet nature but they made fun of themselves and each other more in their impressions of me. Usually kids who really get into this are the ones I have harped on all year long for one thing or another. Most of the time these impressions give quite the insight into the world through their lense. Some of the kids who have given me the hardest time throughout the year usually do the best and most entertaining impressions. I guess they spend a lot of time rehearsing with friends and family. Either way its always a nice pressure release for the end of the year.

Twelve Years Ago Today

12 years ago today I graduated from college, went out to lunch with my family and then they departerd. An hour or so late I climbed into the back-seat of my friend Dan's Cheve Corsica and settled in for the short drive down to Asheville in the company of a beautiful young thing who I wowed with my mastery of 80's music lyrics. We ended up at the JCC contra dance in Asheville with a sizeable Boone contingent and had a blast dancing through the night. Post dance we grabbed a beer at Barleys before heading down to a friend's lake house in Brevard. The rest is history. Amy and I met and life has never been the same. Two beautiful reminders of our love rule most of our lives these days and neither one of us would have it any other way.

A sound of summer

I was sitting on the front porch last week in that peaceful hour between putting the kids down for bed and complete darkness. I was looking out over a pasture fairly glowing with green and the hints of leaves budded and almost ready to unfurl in the woods at the edge of the yard. A few juncos were at the feeders and a beautiful indigo bunting was nervously flitting back and forth between the farthest feeder on the porch and a few trees that gave him a good vantage point on the whole scene. There was a small amount of background noise from the creek across the way and some distant chirping when I heard it. A ghostly spiralling etherial call floated through the dusky air signalling for me an early beginning to Summer thoughts. It was the call of a lone veery sung out from the shelter of the deep woods. Amy and I call it "our bird". A playful reminder of when we both seemed to become aware of its haunting call during our first summer together twelve years ago. Its song seemed to follow us nearly everywhere we went that fine Summer (perhaps a testament to how much time we spent outside together during our courtship) Since that time we always seem to hear this call distinctly during our Summers in the high country. It is a seasonal song usually heard from the deep shaded green darkness of the trees. I have never actually seen the bird itself. Perhaps I have heard it this early before but with the leaves still yet to fully burst forth up here it seems a little early. Nonetheless, I am always glad to hear it and it never fails to make me smile.

Dusting...

Well this has certainly been neglected for quite some time. It's not as if there hasn't been anything going on. Perhaps it was just time for some balance. But now I think it's time to get back to this. I'm coming out of a fog. This winter has been a cloud of pressure. National Boards was although an alltogether positive experience still like lugging an imaginary elephant about in my day to day life. There was the physical presence of my old green messenger bag toting two binders worth of information I rarely ever looked at but felt naked without ready access to them both. This winter any other year would have been something I couldn't have dreamt up in my wildest imagination. I still tried to take advantage when I could but felt hindered. Not that I really did alot early on except worry about if it would all get done. I still got quite a bit of use out of my skins and skis in the old Christmas tree farm/ development just up the ridge from the house. Although short, the outings were always sweet and got me out even on some of the coldest days with my faithful companion Palmer who loved to try and bite the heels of my boots as he charged down the fall line to cut off my arcing turns. What an epic winter. I definitely got some great days in with new friends and old. Winter culminated with a trip out to Utah with Ryan, his friend Jimmy, and my old neighbor Paul from Idaho. We stayed at my cousin's condo in Solitude and skied four days at three different resorts. Needless to say, the free heel affliction has become a chronic condition. I'm hooked for sure. It was great getting to see Mom and Grandma on our last evening there.

Now it feels like summer already and with the sun I am awakening. Life has charged forward in most excellent ways. Swimming lessons are under way and should finish next week. T-ball began this past week and Carter is psyched. He also rode his bike without training wheels on Friday of course we have no pictures of this momentous event or his subsequent Greenway ride yesterday. We did get out for a Price Lake jaunt Gracen's first real hike all by herself. I hope this is a sign of what's in store for us this summer. Yes we are already training for our Western adventure. This time we will have a trailer in tow for some extended camping. We are all so excited we just can't stand it.