Haphazard Success Story

Look, I'm totally cool with turning 30, okay?

2008-02-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

By the numbers:
2- days left in my twenties.
30- my exact age in years at 4:18 AM this Friday
946,080,000- my approximate age in seconds at 4:18 AM this Friday
624- approximate number of days from now until I reach 1 billion seconds old.

p.s. 840,000,000- distance in miles from the Sun to Saturn
75- approximate number of minutes it takes for the sun's light to reach Saturn

Bi-Polar Weather

2008-01-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

It is January 8. There was a time in my life when January 8 meant about 45 ski days on the year so far (this year it just means one month until my 30th birthday!). However, New Years' Day we saw a healthy storm drop a 12-15" white blanket on parts of Northeast Ohio, including the two places where the lake Metroparks maintains some excellent groomed cross-country ski trails and I squeezed in my FIRST TWO SKI DAYS OF THE YEAR!!! Then by sunday it was 55 degrees and every last flake of snow either was melted or decimated by an incessant rain.
Meanwhile, Aspen is getting completely dumped on with the most snow ever recorded in December and a strong start to '08 with like 40" or something already.
I'm super psyched for Aspen, even though I'm not there, because you know what? You gots to love what you gots while you gots it- whether it's 6 seasons of skiing the sickest pow or 2 days of XC in good ole' Ohio. Enjoy it while you got it, amigos.

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

2007-12-04T17:28:00.001-05:00

I totally added a few new links; check 'em the heck out! --> --> -->

Pretty cool sky, eh?

That is literally all i gots fer ya' fer now. I know that's lame because it's been so long since I've added anything, but here are several reasons:

I really liked that last post. Those photos make me really happy. I mean, it was the sickest fall ever. (Editor's note: Mike San Marco is bitter because he lives in the city in Cincinnati and that's why he was complaining about the fall not lasting long enough with all those comments on the last entry. I still love him even though I pushed him head-first into a door once during a pick-up game of front yard hockey- but after all, that was 8 years ago.)
We've been in a time of transition between the fall and winter, so I haven't taken many photos and I don't want to bore you with long stories, like the one about my team in the YMCA 25 and older basketball league (I'm serious) being 3-1. But since you asked, we recruited a high school friend of mine who's 6'8" and used to play in the NFL. Nice. It's not just him, though; everyone else is playing pretty awesome. Tonight we play the blue team, which is composed of a lot of slightly older individuals including 2 guys with grey hair, a woman that would crush me in a fight, and a fella that wears huge thick-rimmed glasses who could honestly pass for one of our fathers. Here's the catch: the teams's really good. They're super fundamental and they've been creaming everybody so we've got our work cut out for us. By the way, my brother Dave calls them "The Nerd Team." We're screwed.

Also, it is with much sincere delight that I let you know that it is officially winter in Northeast Ohio and we have received about 5" of snow in the last few days. Alpine Valley has been furiously making snow, and I hope to make the transition from running to XC skiing real soon.

Speaking of skiing, I turn 30 in February. I'm not one of those bashful people who don't bring up their birthday until the day after; I believe in extended celebrations... especially because I barely scraped by to this age by the skin of my teeth. So let's make it official: I'm starting to promote my birthday 2 months and 4 days in advance. February 8, 2008: Get ready for it.

I'm psyched to be turning 30. No, this is not denial; I feel like I've been in my twenties forever (almost 10 years, ya' know). Remember when you're young and all the old people are like, "enjoy this now because time flies... college is the fastest 4 years of your life" and all that crap? Well, I listened. My body feels like I'm 24 but my mind feels like I've been on this earth for 50 years. I've experienced the fullness of life and the nearness of death, and feel like I've earned 30. It's go time.

This time of year...

2007-10-31T15:51:00.000-04:00

There is no question that autumn is the best time of year to be in Ohio, and Fall 2007 has done nothing but reinforce this belief in me. Last year, autumn was literally three weeks of rain. It was downright nappy. I sought comfort by pretending that I lived somewhere where the rain made it romantic, like Ireland or something. There is no need for that this year, as it has been nothing short of glorious: cool, crisp, and colorful.
I've always enjoyed defending Ohio, so when I lived in Colorado I used to say, "Ohio is just as beautiful, just not as spectacular." Yes, it's hard to beat the azure skies, golden leaves, and snowcapped peaks of the Rockies. But Ohio's pastoral, complex beauty sure gives it a run for its money. Check it out:

The first frost of the year in the foreground, the morning sun has already begun burning it off the slopes of Alpine.

Until I one day reside again in the mountains, this'll do just fine.

Happy Halloween, everybody. Stay warm, and of course, pray for snow!

Happy Indian Summer... errr, Fall

2007-10-12T16:52:00.000-04:00

Our Indian Summer, which produced some nappy humidity and scorching high 80's temperatures last week- has left us and Autumn is back. Here's a few photos from Wednesday morning before the rains came... Beautiful Alpine Valley Ski Resort: my childhood ski mecca and current running grounds. My house is hidden in the trees behind the red barn in the middleground.

Moonset over Ohesia- Fall edition

2007-10-09T17:39:00.000-04:00

My last entry was my first ever photo-less entry. I sincerely apologize. Enjoy these images of the onset of fall, and don't forget to take a closer look.

I just kept running clear across Greenbow County

2007-10-03T17:26:00.001-04:00

Blogs are pretty funny because we just write in and tell stories about stuff we did that's cool. It's a little narcicistic, don't you think? I mean, I never write a post entitled, "All the money I lost for my business today" or "I sat on the couch last night and watched 'Maverick' for the 20th time in my life". Maybe the sparsity of my posts is testament to how many times I've watched 'Maverick' (one of my all-time favorite movies, by the way. Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and the dude that plays the Indian chief in 'Dances With Wolves' are very funny together).
Actually, I honestly feel like things happen everyday that are worthy to post. Sometimes the guitar just sounds particularly good and you need to tell somebody, or your coffee machine didn't blow a gasket that morning and burn your imported Hawaiian espresso. Or maybe you decided to go into work early to get some stuff done, and then also had to make an unplanned mad dash to an ARB meeting in South Russell at 6 o'clock, which conspired in an unplanned 12 1/2 hour day but also resulted in pushing back my evening run to sunset, which was far more dramatic and beautiful... kinda like yesterday.
Well, life is good friends. I'll make it a point to write some posts about a few particularly mundane things in the near future and then we can truly judge how rad our lives really are.

In the meantime, here's something else that's cool...
Remember my post from July 2 about my friend Timmy's brother who wheeled himself up a 10,000 volcano in Maui back in April? Well, I mentioned that he had inspired me to ride my bike 100 miles in a day. Saturday morning, my bro Dave and I spent 6 1/2 hours on our bikes, went through 4 counties, somewhere around 18 townships or cities and ended up at 102.6 miles. It was a diverse experience that included such polarized experiences as touring a 2 million dollar home in Aurora as well as an epic trek through the 4th largest Amish settlement in the world in Middlefield. We also got wildly honked and swerved at by some goofball (a-hole) in a Hummer.
In the end, it was strenuous but not all that hard as long as you're well-hydrated and eat some good chow along the way.
So in the end, it's dedicated to Sean the epic wheelchair volcano climber, who recently returned to Maui for a secong attempt of his climb. No word yet on whether or not the park rangers shut him down this time, but I'll keep you posted.
Keep on pedalin' amigos...

P.S. Movie trivia: do you know where the title of this post comes from?

That John Denver is NOT full of s@*#, Man!

2007-09-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

I hadn't been above 14,000' since climbing Pyramid Peak (left side, 2nd prominent ridge back) nearly 2 years ago so I was chomping at the bit. Pyramid Peak was also the first mountain I ever climbed in my life... how weird and ironic? (July 21, 2001... a very memorable and auspicious date for me). Here's the view from the summit of 14,092' Snowmass Mountain which... Aron and I climbed together via the seldom traveled "S-Ridge" on the West side of the mountain. What a happy lookin' fella. Incidentally, he climbed the entire day and therefore a lot of technical rock without the use of a prosthetic for his missing right hand; not easy... nice work, homey.
The Bri fro was in full effect and we had a gorgeous, off-the-charts, top-quality climb. One of the top 3 or 4 in my life. We started with a semi-off-trail wilderness approach after a 4:30 wake-up call and 1 1/2 hour drive, then climbed beautiful, solid granite for the entire 2,000 vertical feet of the ridge itself. Incidentally, Aron was mildly bummed that I wasn't looking at the camera in the photo below. Obviously, the ridge was fairly exposed to some serious drops. Would you rather insure the safety of your hand-hold or risk a precipitous drop by looking at the camera? I'm just being dramatic; it wasn't nearly that intense.

The obligatory "Consider your future" shot; The S-ridge is the one in the middle-top that's in the shape of- well- an "S."

This is also not nearly as intense as it looks, but it's a cool photo. This is where we stopped for our post-hike, pre-climb lunch at 9 AM. There was an easy way on to this beautiful rock bench where we dined, but Aron made me climb it. We were at about 12,000' at the time.
The obligatory summit pseudo-karate kid pose. Nicely done, Lefty.
The obligatory Rocky pose.
And of course, a photo for posterity. I have to say, almost all of my most memorable and exciting wilderness experiences have been with Aron- from 26 mile hikes to skiing 13,000' mountains to relaxing afternoon hikes, we've been through 'em all.

14,130' Capitol Peak in the background; our descent route is the ridge in the foreground. Nappy!

Looking down the S-ridge with a tired Bri Guy about 100' from the top.
The intrepid climbers after a quick natural rinse from an afternoon rain shower on the way out... safe & sound.
And of course, the route: Green = up, red = down.
The gully in the center is how we accessed the ridge on the way up. I went in the gully, Aron chose the rib in between the 2 gullies for technical variety.
Snowmass was the only 14,000' peak in the Elk Range near Aspen that I had never climbed. It was a beautiful, memorable, and pivotal 10 hours of my life, and it was truly inspring to stand atop that peak after the transition and life change of the last 2 years. It feels good to visit your soul from time-to-time.

I guess somethings never change

2007-09-02T20:05:00.001-04:00

My old front porch in Aspen. 9.2.2007 (the mountains are behind the camera... photos of them are forthcoming).

Aye' Captain; there's a storm a-brew

2007-08-08T16:25:00.000-04:00

Check out some light show photos I grabbed last night after volleyball. The Payne & Payne World Headquarters, looking a little ominous.

From the Big Apple to the middle of nowhere

2007-08-03T09:36:00.001-04:00

What's kickin' my little chickens?
I just want to put this out there: I have gone astray with my blog maintenance and I apologize.
But I have two excuses, though neither of them are very good:
1. After the sickest housewarming party in history, I spent every night of the next week preparing for my friend Dan & Faith's wedding for which I was playing all kinds of music (and Faith played the upright bass for a few songs at her own wedding, which is sick).
2. Our internet has been wicked slow lately.

So here's a couple pics from my trip to the Big Apple in February. I'm flying into LaGuardia today then driving up to Vermont for a few days with my friend Grant & his wife & his dog and our acoustic instruments.

Look at that giant city. Dang-o.

Keep on keeping on with it up in the heezy and keep o truckin' until it ain't so breezy.

L8, the doctor.

See Ya' There...

2007-07-09T14:45:00.000-04:00

Final Copy... with map!

Right Outside Your Door

2007-07-02T16:54:00.000-04:00

I have had a lot of interaction in my life with people who regularly do extraordinary things, especially when it comes to athletic endeavours. Aron's 100 mile mountain runs and winter mountain climbs, Timmy O'Neill spending weeks upon weeks trying to conquer big wall climbs in inhospitable places, Elliot Larson competing in a 40 mile all-night-time race across one of the most rugged mountain ranges in the country, my skier buddies launching 50 foot cliffs... upside-down; the list just seems to go on and on.

Well recently something clicked when I witnessed an extraordinary feat firsthand. You may remember my story in Maui about my friend Timmy's brother Sean, pictured above. In addition to being a persistent and talented rock-climber, mountain road-scaler, and all-around adventurer, Sean is also paraplegic. He had started with his wheelchair wheels in the ocean and endeavoured to scale all 10,000' and 40 miles of road up the Hawaiian volcano Haleakala under his own power. I flew to Maui early one morning in April with dreams of sitting on the beach with a Mai Tai, the sounds of the steel guitar serenading me to an afternoon nap, maybe even a nostalgic drive on the road to Hana...

Well, within literally a few minutes of stepping onto the tarmac, I was sitting in a rental car on the side of the road watching someone I had just met that day slowly wheeling himself through traffic at 6:45 in the morning. Of course, I was spending some quality time with Timmy as well (as he force-fed me triscuits and cream cheese), but there was still that anticipatory tension of desiring to 'vacation' while on Maui. As it turns out, 20 hours later I was doing the same thing, and a few hours after that I was on a plane bound for the Big Island.

But I wouldn't have had it any other way.

There were, of course, some personal kicks- the nighttime sky in the middle of the Pacific from an 8,000' vantage affords the best stargazing on the planet (literally and scientifically speaking), watching the sunrise from the top of a 10,000' volcano was pretty sweet- but what I truly took home was the realization that -although extraordinary- what Sean was doing was waiting for me right outside my door.

In other words: I was inspired.

This past Saturday morning I went for a bike ride and was feeling great, so I figured I'd shoot for a solid 30 miles. As the day went on I realized that there was no good reason why I couldn't push myself a little more- no better time than the present. The temperature was in the crisp mid-70's range with low humidity, the sun was shining and my pedals were practically turning themselves, so I went a little further south than I had planned, cruised through Chagrin Falls, and upped my psychological goal to 40 miles... grabbed a snack and some water, rode the length of County Line Road and then I took a left- away from my home- down Hobart Road. This cycle of perpetual extension continued on through three counties and 10 townships. At the end of the day I had ridden 60 miles and felt great. It felt like a 100 miles and 10 miles at the same time: Physically challenging yet natural. Next step: 100 miles. I want to ride to Pennsylvania and back. It will be my pilgrimmage to recovery and to Sean... because of all the examples that my friends- and even myself- had set before and all the daily inspirations that I let slip through the cracks, I didn't recognize it until that extraordinary day and extraordinary feat that Sean performed.

So thanks Sean, I'm on my way...

Re-Mark Your Calendars

2007-07-02T10:17:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna need everyone to change their airline tickets to my party from July 13th to July 20th. The house will be ready by the 13th, but I have decided to give myself an extra week to fully take advantage of a more thorough marketing approach.
AGAIN: CHANGE YOUR AIRLINE TICKETS!!! THE SICKEST HOUSEWARMING PARTY IN HISTORY IS GOING TO BE JULY 20 NOW.
p.s. I have a cool story to tell on my next post.

Milestones, Happenings, & Raining Threes

2007-06-12T16:50:00.001-04:00

Very exciting stuff... I started the remodel on my house last weekend and things are going smoothly- in fact, faster than scheduled. I will soon have "before & after" photos, which will be a prelude to my massive housewarming party that I will be hosting once the project is finished... a month or so. I realize that many who read my blog are far away from beautiful Fowler's Mill, Ohio- but I am asking you to come to my party anyway.I hit 1,000 miles on my road bike the other day. Rad.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, the Cavs are down 0-2 to the ridiculously good Spurs, I encourage you to read the Optimist blog at http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/features/optimist_spurs3_070611.html to find out why. I never thought I'd be so into basketball... you see, as a kid, I adored the Cavs' "Six-Pack", including such almost-legends as Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo, and uhh, the two other guys. Then I moved to Colorado, became a ski snob, moved back to Ohio, and "witnessed" the majesty of King James (LeBron James)- watching the Cavs beat the Pistons was one of- if not THE- highlights of my sports fan life. But now, we are in great peril- so let's hope for another amazing comeback. It would be truly an amazing underdog story for a very unique, entertaining, & diverse team. Go Cavs...

Man, they're gone.

2007-05-29T08:32:00.000-04:00

Allright, apparently I'm the only one who gets excited about liquid hot magma. Actually, that's not true... ...my friend Paul Anderson understands my enthusiasm and even recommended a related book (thanks, Paul!) but either way, this is my last post about it. In the words of Tom Petty, "It's time to move on, it's time to get goin', 'cause under my feet, babe, the grass is growin'." Move on, bri guy, move on.
My closing thought on lava is best summarized in cooperation with the photo above and the delicate words of Jack Handey:
"If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone."

P.S. How cool would it be to throw stuff into that 100' by 65' pond of molten lava? Here's a short list of stuff that would be fun to throw in: a couch, a shoe, an acoustic guitar (a crappy one, of course), a bike, a window, bread, a boat... basically anything that can float on lava for a few seconds and disappear. It would be fun to push a car into it as well.

It's very important to me that you check this out

2007-05-18T14:17:00.000-04:00

Straight up: lava is my new favorite pasttime. Please explore around this website and let me know what you think. You'll have to root around a little bit.
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html
I mean, there's a photo of a LAKE of lava. An f-ing lake. When Mark Twain witnessed the same thing in the kilauea crater, he stood near the edge and compared it to peering into hell. I think it's more like peering into heaven. It's incredible.

Liquid Hot Magma

2007-05-06T22:24:00.000-04:00

I just returned from an epic trip to Hawaii. I feel like I've been gone for a month or more, but it has only been about 10 days. Each and every day was unique and diverse- from sitting on the beach with a Mai Tai to an all-night hike up a volcano to an epic evening sprint to witness actual lava flowing into the ocean. I don't honestly think that you can watch a lavafall creating new land and not be changed. Since I believe in a personal creator, I find it a little ironic that the act of creation of the land on our planet occurs with burning fire- a product generally associated with hell and destruction. There is something incredible about wandering across a massive lava rock field- the black rock stained with sulfur, smoke rising out of cracks in the ground, the new earth crackling beneath your feet because it is younger than you are. The anticipation is pretty overwhelming, then... there's lava flowing into the ocean- the newest land on the planet is being created.
I mean, are you serious? The absurdity of the situation as my friend Timmy put it, "Don't people usually run from lava?"
On Thursday, I flew up to Maui for a day (how often do you say that?) to meet my friend Timmy and to assist his older brother Sean in an ascent of the 10,000' volcano Haleakala. The catch is that Sean is paraplegic and started with his wheelchair wheels in the ocean in order to fully climb the volcano by his own power. It wasn't exactly what you expect your typical day in Maui to be like- walking 1 mile per hour up a mountain road in the middle of the night with someone you met that morning. But we got to take turns sleeping in the back of the rental car and I was blessed to be able to walk from 12:30 AM to 4 AM where I saw more stars then I ever thought existed (not only are the Hawaii volcanoes one of the best places on earth for astronomical observation, but the air from the south point of the Big Island is considered the cleanest air on the planet- the standard by which all other air quality on earth is measured). Unfortunately, Sean got shut down at 4 AM by a park ranger due to early morning sunrise traffic- after 22 hours, 7,500' of gain and 3o miles! Here's the view from 5,000' looking over the "hourglass" of Maui and the town of Pahului:
I could go on for pages- and these are just 5 of the 100's of photos taken on the trip- but you get the idea. Sufficed to say, I am stocked up on Kona coffee, Mai Tai's, my eye's ability to absorb crisp colors, my lungs' ability to breath clean air, and many other intangibles that I could never communicate. I'm still alive- the adventure continues...

The Easter Blizzard of 2007

2007-04-10T09:37:00.000-04:00

First things first: Introducing la casa de Bri Guy! Pictured above is my new home at 12533 Fowlers Mill Road. Built by Milo Fowler in 1841, it is one of several historically renovated homes in the neighborhood, and is directly across the street from the Fowler's Milling Company and Alpine Valley Ski Resort (where I learned to ski). It gets a warm late evening light and an excellent cross breeze with its great Western view and hilltop position. I'm going to have the sickest Housewarming party in history once we get the place dialed in, so look out!

SECONDLY, Chardon Ohio received 30 inches of now in 5 days to celebrate Easter. I went cross-country skiing yesterday on groomed trails, making it a 6-month ski season for the Bri. Man, life is good, isn't it?

Easter Morning: April 8, 2007

100 inches and counting...

2007-02-14T09:17:00.000-05:00

There's something about snow that makes me irrevocably and quintessentially happy.

As of this morning, Chardon, Ohio is officially over the century mark: it has snowed over 100 inches this year, 75 of that in the last month.
After a depressingly balmy start to the winter, mid-January greeted us with an onslaught of lake-effect snow that has not let up for a month now. SICK! the most recent fluffy deluge is the result of the rendezvous of a moist system coming from the Gulf and a low pressure system complimets of Oklahoma. Kinda weird, but the result is that the rest of Ohio gets to share in the fun with us- it's not just a snowbelt thing.

You want to talk lake effect? Check out those lucky folks up in Redfield, New York, the recipients of 141 INCHES SINCE LAST WEEK!!! That is so sick I can't even believe it. Authorities are currently looking into it to verify that it is a state record. Best of luck, Redfield, I'll be pullin' for you.

I went home for my lunch break and my brother dropped by on his way back to work from his lunch break... ON HIS SNOWMOBILE. Awesome. Actually 2 Payne & Payne employees took snowmobiles to work today. This is truly the experience that we all dream about: more and more snow everyday forever. Am I wrong?

The front walk: I promise I threw the snow into the yard; it really is that deep. The part on the left is under a second floor deck.

Look, I know my former Coloradans are not impressed, but keep in mind: we're at 1,000' above sea level, not 5-8,000 and I'm not in the mountains.

Right before my birthday, I had an epic night-time nordic ski (tracks pictured above). It was POUNDING out, but I really wanted to get out so I went anyway. A fella had just finshed right at dusk when I got there, and I figured I could follow his tracks, which worked for awhile until the tracks were covered. Well, I only managed about 2 1/2 miles in a half-hour (usually you go a mile in like 6 or 7 minutes) but I was just honestly happy that I wasn't lost back in the woods. I won't bore you with details, but sufficed to say my adventure included a downright sketchy low-visibility dark descent into a river valley on narrow, edgeless skis in a thick and secluded forest.

QUICK RANT: Everyday the headlines on Cleveland's major newspapers say all these terrible things about the weather and how horrible life is and how sick of it they are. Darn it, Cleveland! Let's quit the sad-sack routine. Now I know people have to commute and blah blah blah but I say that you moved to Cleveland! Can't we expect this? Look, we'll miss you and all but maybe you should move somplace WARM!

Oh yeah, I went to New York City for my 29th birthday last week. It was incredible and fantastic and I'll post some photos soon.

Pray for snow, friends. Pray for snow.

Starry Skies and Wimpy Black Eyes

2007-01-23T15:44:00.000-05:00

A few pics from the Dominican Republic... January 22, 2007. 6:00 A.M. Sunset, January 20. Dos Coronas, por favor... muchos gracias senor.

More to come soon, including how I got a black eye doing a Jimmy Superfly leap off the pool bar and how I got a 2nd degree burn trying to catch a salt shaker in my chef's hat at the Teppanyaki grill.

See ya'll in a week...

2007-01-14T17:50:00.000-05:00

Brothers, sisters, tribesman (or just all three people who read my blog)...
I'm going Kenny Chesney on your arses... tomorrow morning I'm boarding a plane headed for the Dominican Republic and won't be back for a week. Talk to ya'll's then.
mucho gusto, bri

Moonset over Ohesia

2007-01-04T13:29:00.000-05:00

This Morning...

Incurable tone addictions

2007-01-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

Rusty, you'll appreciate this...

I never thought I would ever be one of those people (I was gonna say "losers" but changed my mind) who posts pictures of his guitars or whatever on the web, but I just can't help it... I'm just STOKED. I guess it's what you do when you live in Ohio... and you're 28... and single. Pictured to the left is my Collings MF (mandolin) which I bought back in September. I don't have a pic of the front, sorry.

This purchase only served to dramatically swell my tone addiction, as my Collings guitar is being shipped from Aspen and will be here tomorrow.

I'll post some pictures when it shows up...

Once you hear the tone on one of these suckers, you're screwed.

Straight Out Of Zion

2006-12-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

Dr. C. Ronald Williams is Pastor, Founder, and Senior Elder of Mt. Zion Fellowship of the Brethren in Highland Hills, Ohio. We built a house on the edge of a natural promentory for Pastor about 6 years ago that is shaped like a cathedral from the bird's-eye view (like old European cathedrals) and has a 3 1/2 story litehouse built into it. The litehouse has a beautiful winding staircase that follows the walls of the 15 foot wide tower which leads to the 360 degree observation deck on top. I had never met him until I moved back to Ohio back in April.

He greeted me with a massive hug.

Of course, he had to stoop down to my 5'10" level due to his 6'4" frame.

I was greeted with many-a-mighty hugs when I went to his church a few months ago... more on that in a minute.

But first, back to Pastor. He gave me a tour of his home, which I had not been to since it was finished. Apart from his incredible house (nice work Payne & Payne Builders!) I was most impressed with his aggressive sense of humor that included a few well-placed jabs about my brother Dave's pregnant wife and how "it was going to be a little black baby." He also insists that my stepmom's ancestry is black, not Italian, due to her extremely tight curly hair. He took me to his garage where I met his 30 chickens that he was raising for a trustworthy egg and meat source (you know, no hormones, chemicals, extra heads, etc.). There's only one catch: He didn't eat any of the chickens he laboriously raised last year. "Why not?" I asked Pastor.

"Because I made the mistake of naming them..."

What a heart. He did, however, eat the hog he raised last year which I can only assume he did not name. Hopefully he'll get some good chow time out of his unnamed chickens this year!

So, my friend Kristin just moved to Australia for two years to work with YWAM. Dang-o! It's hard sometimes to find a friend; she will be missed.

However, before her departure, she and I (pictured above with a mouthful of apple before a we went to a 3-d movie) went to Mt. Zion Fellowship of the Brethren one sunday morning. It was requested that anyone new to Mt. Zion please stand up for recognition, which helped us identify that we were 2 of the 4 white people out of about 800 or so in attendance. After being welcomed with about a full minute of clapping, I was hugged by a procession of women sitting around me. The next hour was filled with a lot of passion, some SICK bass lines from their rockin' band, an incredible sermon, and clapping to every song that was extremely tight and in perfect time with the song (not a characteristic of my suburban church).

On our way out we were greeted and wished well with many a hug, so thanks to the incredible people in the Mt. Zion community. It was a beautiful place to be.

Here are some highlights from the sermon:

"Mama, you still look good, baby." (when speaking of his childhood and upbringing)

"Pastor's comin' up after the devil today!"

"The devil can't diss you unless God ain't there!"

"It's best to stay with God!"

"You don't miss the water 'til the well runs dry!"

Moving from Colorado to Ohio was a tough move and a massive transition filled with more obstacles than I expected. It was an incredible blessing to meet and be encouraged by such a unique individual. I hope to be back at his church again soon.

Pancho & "Lefty"

2006-12-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

You have to be super careful about making people with one hand angry. They always have a harmful weapon firmly attached to their composite limb. Their temperament is also highly susceptible to the effects of altitude and temperature, as evidenced by this photo taken two summers ago at 14,000' (where my t-shirt-clad amigo was overwhelmed by the frosty high-altitude temps and took it out on his climbing associate... me).

Yes, this is the dark side of my former Aspen roommate Aron Ralston, who I'm very happy to announce will officially be making an appearance in Northeast Ohio next May in between travels to Europe and Colorado. This is a very sweet opportunity, as he is speaking at a special event for the Green Building Initiative that I'm part of, and we will be raising money for the Wilderness Workshop (a wilderness conservation non-profit out of Aspen). We'll just make sure to keep a warm temperature in the room so he doesn't go on an ice-pick hand attachment beating spree.

I hope this doesn't hurt his public perception... next thing you know Tom Brokaw's gonna have another special, "When Good 2nd-Tier Personalities Go Bad."

Ummm... Does the "six inch rule" still work in Ohio?

2006-12-04T09:54:00.000-05:00

The "six inch rule," of course, refers to taking the morning off work to go skiing anytime there is more than six inches of snow.
Well, my office is right across the street from the skiing epicenter of Geauga County (Alpine Valley Ski Resort), but nonetheless I think ditching work would be a little premature, considering this is the first significant snowfall so far this "season." I think it was a little gift from the Big Man Upstairs so that we didn't get too jealous of Aspen's 44" inches last week.
Either way, I'll take it. It was nice to wake up to a big blanket of white... and now the sun's coming out. Mmmmmm.
Keep your eyes to the skies and of course...
pray for snow.

Dang-o!!!

2006-11-15T17:14:00.000-05:00

Dang-O! It's been too long, ya'll. I remebered from days of old the cool, crisp air and deep blue skies that the Ohesian fall brought with it. Memories of throwin' the football around in college, long walks through amber pastures. Mmmm, lovely. I guess memories are not only idealistic but deceiving, 'cause it's been wicked nasty in Ohio! This is bullcrap, but I'm dealing. It's been raining for like 5 weeks straight.

As you can see, the 'ole jeep hit 100,000 miles. Last time I hit a milestone like this was with my Pontiac Grand Prix when it hit 200,000 miles (on the original transmission, by the way. Sick!) a few months before I sold it to a non-English speaking Mexican for its advertised price of $800. He seemed relatively astonished that I would sell it for $800, even after he drove it and heard the struts thumping away like an elephant trampling a herd of frogs. Plus, I had never had eight $100 bills before.
I love the Jeep. She's taken me far and kept me warm for many a diverse miles, and I plan on havin' her around for awhile.

Thanks for checkin' in. I promise a post in the near future that will chronicle in great detail Mt. Zion Fellowship of the Brethren and their Pastor, who raises chickens in his garage (I'm serious).

Skinny Rednecks and Snowy Octobers

2006-10-25T09:07:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more glimpses of life in Ohio. First of all, I live in Geauga County, but I call it "Racoon County" because Geauga is derived from Sheauga, an Indian word meaning Racoon.

IT'S SNOWING IN OHIO!!! THE POW POW IS GONNA BE GNARLY! SICK-BIRD!!! (Non-skier's translation: "The skiing will be good. Wonderful.")

I love it. My lungs were forgetting the crisp cool air that snow brings with it. Although in all honesty, I could have used a little more fall, as it is the most gorgeous time of year to be in Ohio. But I tell you what, I'll take what I can get. I'm not in control of the letting of the Heavenly storehouses, so to speak.

The drive to work. Later in the day, it was fully white-out; and later that night, I was able to execute the year's first donuts in the ole' Jeep.

Big Mike just got back from a month-long RV trip, where he grew that gnarly beard. Unforunately, he shaved it before I could fully document it. But here's the two of us on Saturday before we attended a Catholic wedding, which is the complete opposite of where my friend Kristin and I went the next day: went to Mt. Zion Fellowship of the Brethren in Cleveland. More on that to come in the near future when I can give it the time it deserves... it's worth the wait.

This skinny redneck is my great friend Jon-David Joseph Reeves. I was his best man in his wedding almost 5 years ago. He currently lives in a remodeled barn with his wife and two young boys, Solomon David and Samson (catching a little theme here?). He's not as right-wing nutjob or redneck as it would appear, but sufficed to say he and his wife Jen seriously considered hiring a mid-wife so their son could literally be born in a barn.

Life in Northeast Ohio is rich... rich in color and humidity? Yes. But especially rich in relevant and appropriate absurdity. Stay tuned; there is so much more to come.

Gettin' my keister kicked

2006-10-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

My Peoples...
I worked really hard on a funny blog about skinny rednecks and snowy octobers, but then something went haywire down in shipping and recieving and it never got posted. My apologies; please don't ditch me. I will try to re-do it sooner than soon!
Late!

Big Mike Saddles Up

2006-10-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

As some of you may know from my stories and my impression of his hearty guffaw (laugh), I find my father, Big Mike, to be very entertaining. I currently live with him in the same house I moved into when I was 2, and have had the good pleasure of helping him maintain his beautiful and clean forest estate. This includes such basic tasks as picking up sticks so we can burn them, blowing the lawn with his 8 horsepower super blower, cutting down trees, splitting wood, filling interior wood boxes for our nightly fires, clearing log/ stick jams from our river, etc. etc.... Basically anything that ultimately leads to burning wood.

This leads to me to a mini photo project in honor of Big Mike:

Big Mike Mowing the Lawn...

Big Mike Pushing a tree over with his bare hands...
Big Mike cutting down a tree...
Big Mike's friendly disposition, even while hard at work.

More to come; hopefully it will stop raining and we can get some other chores up. Stay tuned.

The Man Has A Face

2006-10-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

Oh hey, one more thing. I really like pictures, so here's a few to get rolling with. The one was from an airplane, the wee little girl is my niece Emma, and the black & white one is what you should use if I ever need to be on a milk carton or a "wanted" poster. Just some ideas.

Keep an eye out in the near future for some captivating photos of Big Mike and life in beautiful Racoon County Ohio.

P.S. One year ago today, I had no idea what a blog was, for real.

The Man Comes Around

2006-10-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

Allright Rusty, it had to happen sometime, kid. Bri's gone and found himself a little outlet for the wicked rad life and crazy adventures that have come his way. I'm actually super stoked to share some good pics, ideas, etc. from this my pilgrimmage. So please stay tuned in, and if you see something you like, spread the word.

Until then, my friends, Cheers, take care, lots of love, bye bye.