The Girl and I just returned from our nine day vacation with her family, and we had a wonderful time. Some of the views, and the activities, will be remembered for a long time to come. I just got the entire set of pictures onto Flickr, but you can see one of the better ones below, a view of our ship, from the beach on Labadee, Haiti.

The urge to smoke while on vacation was almost non-existent. As a matter of fact, I completely forgot to put on a nicotine patch a couple of days. Add that to the fact that cigarettes were, for the most part, completely unavailable, and the week was pretty smooth sailing, on that front. It also didn’t hurt that food was always available.

Hopefully I’ll have time to expound on our wonderful vacation in the next few days.

I wanted to wait until the first official day of winter to make the transition from the fall site design to the winter version, but I banged out the work over the past weekend, and I just couldn’t wait. Additionally, this year the first day of winter coincides with what may become another annual tradition, the Christmas road trip around the south.

This year, I’m basically making the same round trip that I did last year, only this year The Girl will be along for the entire ride. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, the route looks something like this:

We’re set to leave at about 3 AM on Saturday morning, so that we can cruise into Athens around lunch time on Saturday. We’ll spend a few days with The Girl’s parents there, and then we’ll head out to Mississippi on Christmas day to spend the remainder of the holidays with my family. Sure, we’ll talk to and spend time with everyone, but I have a feeling that these two will get the bulk of the attention, and deservedly so:

I love being on the road, and am really excited about our upcoming trip. The Girl holds less excitement in her heart for the average ‘Great American Road Trip’, but she’s pretty excited about this one. I don’t know what it is really, the sense of being on the open road, and opening up the V6 sleigh, and putting the miles behind us. Getting to see the big cities and the small hamlets that make up our country, and especially the south. Maybe that’s to saccharin and nostalgic, I don’t know, but I still enjoy the feeling, and this time is no different.

We’re going southbound, home, and we’re leaving soon.

What a perfect weekend to get away. The weather agreed with us, for the most part. With the exception of some strong winds, and short, but heavy rainfall on Friday night, this weekend was picturesque as The Girl and I traveled down to her old stomping grounds, to go camping on Loft Mountain in Shenandoah National Park.

We arrived a bit after 10:00 PM on Friday night, to find our tent already set up, a fire going strong, and drinks being poured by the remainder of our camping crew. We woke up early on Saturday a little worse for wear, and, after a great breakfast over the camp fire, we set out to do some hiking and generally interact with nature. Saturday night was spent recuperating from our day’s hike, and enjoying more good food and drink, and a ‘dramatic re-enactment’ from The Girl as entertainment.

This weekend was exactly what I needed. I really appreciated being able to relax and take my mind off of everything but the world around me for a couple of days. No worrying about work, or fretting over Ole Miss football, or planning for the wedding, was just what the doctor ordered, and I’m very appreciative of the rest of the crew for really doing the bulk of the planning to make the weekend happen.

The scenery that we encountered was breathtaking, and I only wished that the pictures that I and The Girl took could honestly do it justice. I leave you now with a photo of our fateful camping crew, as taken by L, she of the engagement photos, and a photographer so knowledgeable of the ways of her craft that she is actually able to be in pictures that she takes:

(click on either photo for a link to the full set)

Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading a lot of work by or about Willie Morris lately, I honestly don’t know. But there was something about sitting in Central Park’s Great Lawn on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, with the sun shining on us, completely alone in a city of twenty million. The Girl and I lay on our Ole Miss blanket, her snacking and people watching, my head in her lap as I read Larry L. King’s words about Willie, that helped me to understand even more the man’s motivation in his actions, his concern over the complications of being a southern expatriate, and his desire, and eventually his will, to go home again.

I think that the reasons that I’ve become so wrapped up with the works of Willie Morris over the past few years are the same reasons that most people follow the careers of great writers. Aside from the obvious entertainment value derived from reading quality works of literature, the work of certain great writers help us to define in a way who we are, by describing who they are; putting into words the emotions and realizations of shared circumstance, albeit decades apart. No one who has grown up in the south and eventually moved away can read from or about Willie Morris and not be struck by at least a passing familiarity to their own situations.

One difference between Willie and I stands out glaringly to me, however, and brings me to my eventual point. Willie Morris, for the majority of his adult life, struggled to find a loving soul to play counterpoint to his. Once he found his soul’s match in JoAnne Prichard Morris he was finally complete as a writer, and a man. The difference between Willie and I is that I have had the world’s luck in finding my counterpoint some two-odd decades earlier than he, and as I sat in Central Park on that sunny Saturday and contemplated such things, I was happy in the thoughts that the Good Old Boy would have loved The Girl.

Allison, you truly are my counterpoint. In much the same way that you allow me to be your advisor, you are my inspiration. I strive, every day, to become the man that I should be, for you. You keep me focused, and grounded, and still allow me to have my fun, as all boys will sometimes. You have saved my life, and I can no longer imagine it without you.

I love you.

With the holiday season fast approaching, and my rigorous work schedule winding down, it’s time for me to begin enjoying myself a little more. My dreadful schedule over the past month and a half has been mentioned ad nauseum on this website, so there’s no need to rehash it again now. But the girl has been suffering as well, less vocally, and she deserves a bit of a break herself. The struggles of becoming acclimated in a new job and new office environment, and with putting up with me throughout my busiest time of the year, and all that comes with that (i.e, imagine a two year old, whining and crying every time he wants something, except with the ability to precisely vocalize what it is that he wants, often with cursing, but I digress) has made her sick with exhaustion. Literally. Pile on top of that travel, while still ill, and you can see that The Girl is much more of a trooper than I am.

So, in the spirit of looking forward to a less stressful time in both of our lives, we sat down a while back to plan our holiday schedule. Anyone that has done such a thing knows the types of questions and discussions and honesty that such a planning session necessitates. “Shall we spend one, both, or neither holiday together?” “Shall we spend the holidays at your parents’ house, my parents’ house, or in our own house?” And on, and on, and on, until the questions and discussions about the holidays become more stressfull than the daily grind that the holidays are supposed to be a relief from.

An agreement was in time reached. We chose to spend Thanksgiving with The Girl’s parents in Athens, GA. A compromise was reached though, so that we didn’t have to fly (Which is a topic for another post at another time. Suffice it to say though, not many people have picked me up at an airport and heard me utter the words, “THAT was a great flight”). It was determined that we should make a whole week of it, driving, and making pit stops in North Carolina on the way down and back. The intent is to take it slowly, and to enjoy ourselves, and each others’ company, and our surrounding scenery, and generally do what the holidays are intended for. Which means we’ll be arguing about how fast I’m driving, and what station to put the radio on, and which route to take. I am excited, nonetheless.

For the Christmas holidays, and even more intricate plan was devised. For myself, having a vast amount of personal time to use, and not a lot of pressing work to be done during that time of year, driving again seemed like an optimal plan. But there was a hitch. The Girl, having just accepted a new job, with a new company, would not have so much personal time at that point so as to be able to make a journey by land. The compromise reached was that I would drive to Athens, once again, for Christmas. The Girl is flying into Atlanta, and I’m picking her up and carrying her in my Hunter Green, 140 Horsepower sleigh to her parents, for a wonderful weekend of Christmas merriment. On Christmas day, I’ll continue on to lovely Oxford, Mississippi, where I’ll spend the week enjoying the company of friend’s and family. The Girl will fly back to DC after Christmas, and the subsequent Friday will fly to Memphis, TN, so that she can accompany me to my sister’s wedding on Saturday, and to various bars and other unmentionables Sunday night, New Year’s Eve. She’ll then depart through the air again, towards DC, as I take the long romantic ride back, through Tennessee and Virginia hills and countryside’s alone, left to ponder this great country of hours, and the effect that travelling it by land seems to have on me.

Thanksgiving Trip Details

The Map:

The Rest:

• Miles Round trip: 1,198.5 Miles
• Estimated Driving Time: 19 Hours, 47 Minutes
• Dates: November 21 - November 26
• Stops: Durham, NC; Athens, GA; Winston-Salem, NC

Christmas Trip Details

The Map:

The Rest:

• Miles Round trip: 2,413.65 Miles
• Estimated Driving Time: 39 Hours, 7 Minutes
• Dates: December 22 - January 2
• Stops: Atlanta, GA; Athens, GA; Oxford, MS; Jackson, MS; Memphis, TN

And on the first day of the fifth month of the year of our lord two thousand aught six, they headed west, towards the mountains, for they had work to do. And they settled in Denver, and it was good.

For five days they worked with the passion bestowed a project so great, and often their work took them past sundown and into the night. When their work was done and night had fallen upon them, they ate of the finest foods in the land, and drank of the finest wines, and celebrated their good fortune and current happiness, and it was good.

And nigh, as the sun fell upon the end of the fifth day, as they celebrated Mexican victory and French futility among their peers, partaking of the finest barley and hops from the South, they came upon a plan for a journey of great importance to them, and they determined it crucial that they embark upon this journey immediately. And it was good.

And in the dark of night in the early morning of the sixth day they travelled to the west, and continued on to the south, and they came upon their destination. They slept through the night, under the stars of the Western sky, to be awoken at first light by the sun in the East, and it was good.

And at daybreak of the sixth day of the fifth month of the year of our lord two thousand aught six they awoke, and they came upon Red Rocks, and it pleased them. And they travelled further down, until they came upon the amphitheatre, and they descended into it’s pit, and they were in awe. And as they stood in the pit of the amphitheatre as the sun rose in the east, they contemplated the the reality of their situation, and of all the names and faces that had been there before; Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic, The Allman Bros. Band, the Dave Matthews Band, and countless others, and they were humbled by their good fortune and the pleasure that such contemplation brought, and it was good.

And they recorded their exploits in order to commit their journey to hearts and minds of future generations, and they placed these photographs and videos in public places, so that all could see.

And, of course, it was good.