WildrLog

Bryan July 4th, 2008

I’m flying this one instead

That’s right. Today, Independence Day, I took down the American flag known as the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory and instead I’m flying the Gadsden flag. Yes, I still love my country. You see the Gadsden flag is one of the first flags of our nation, having been designed by Colonel Christoper Gadsden and presented to Commodore Esek Hopkins, commander-in-chief of the newly formed Navy, in 1775. It is certain this flag flew above this nation’s Navy before the one crafted by Betsy Ross.

It is also the spirit of that slogan, “Don’t Tread on Me,” that drew me to it. In 1775, this nation was fighting for freedom from a tyrannical, overtaxing government. The overtaxing, wealth-redistributing, tyrannical, anti-Christian, welfare state that the United States has become has much in common with King George. The line spoken by my friend recently rings true with me: I love my country. I hate my government.

Barrack Obama and the Democratic Party won’t change this. John McCain and the Republican Party won’t change this. Nobody will change this until the people change their hearts and stop demanding favor and benefit at the expense of their brothers and sisters here and around the world. And then they must stand up and demand that their leaders return this nation to one that promotes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happeness instead of death, tyranny, and the pursuit of mediocrity.

So, to all current and future leaders and office holders, I say to you: Don’t Tread on Me.

Gadsden Flag website
Gadsden Flag wiki

Tags: freedom, Gadsden flag

• Current Affairs , Personal , Television
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Bryan June 23rd, 2008

I thought WildrLog readers would enjoy this clip of Les Stroud (Surviorman) describing his best story ever: being chased by a male moose during the rut. Enjoy!

Tags: les stroud, surviorman

• Nature , Survival , Television
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Bryan June 14th, 2008

I just happened to be catching up on my blog reading and ran across this post on 10 Essentials for Happy Hiking from Tom Mangan at Two Heel Drive.  Whether you’re an experienced hiker or a newbie, you’re sure to pick up something from the article.

What did I pick up? Nylon hiking pants.  I always wear jeans or cotton cargo pants or shorts hiking.  I’m gonna have to get a pair Tom.

Tags: Hiking, how to

• Gear , how to
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Bryan June 13th, 2008

Here are some ideas:

• Tennessee State Parks
• Tennessee State Natural Areas
• Big South Fork National Recreation Area
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park

It’s such a brilliant place.

Tags: adventure, discovery channel, exploration

• Nature
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Bryan June 8th, 2008

Face to face with real death one does not think of the things that torment the bad people in the tracts, and fill the good people with bliss. I might have speculated on my chances of going to Heaven; but candidly I did not care. I could not have wept if I tried. I had no wish to review the evils of my past. But the past did seem to have been a bit wasted. The road to Hell may be paved with good intentions: the road to Heaven is paved with lost opportunities.
-Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World

Cherry-Garrard was part of the British expedition to study Antarctica in 1911-1913. He writes this in his memoir of the ordeal of being stuck in a hurricane-force blizzard in Antarctica in the middle of winter. Their tent had been blown away and thought they would never return.

Tags: adventure, death, exploration

• Books
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Bryan June 2nd, 2008

• Thanks to Randy at Ethos for mentioning WildrLog in his Love at First Site series.
• And to T.L. at Crosspolitics for picking up on the post I did on Global Warming a few weeks ago.

And I want to note an extremely eloquent post by Meg at Megaphone on Christians and the Environment.  Well said Meg!

Tags: notable, shoutouts

• Blog , Environment
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Bryan June 1st, 2008

Yesterday as I was in line at airport security, my friend Eric in Florida called to tell me a shuttle launch was scheduled for 5:01 EDT, about the time I would be arriving at his house in Melbourne. He suggested I go to Cocoa Beach and try to catch it. I was absolutely giddy because I’d never seen one in person.

It all started on April 12, 1981 in Ms. Stanfill’s second grade class. I was seven years old. She stopped class and allowed us to watch the first space shuttle launch, the Columbia, on a little 13″ black and white TV she had brought from home. Wow, the thunder and roar! I was in awe!

In 1983, my parents took me to visit my aunt in Titusville. Of course, I had to visit Disney World, but the main reason I wanted to be there? Kennedy Space Center. My aunt’s (now previous) husband Rick worked there. I even still have the old shuttle mission manual he gave me.

On January 26, 1986, I was at home from school due to snow. I still have the video tape of footage from that day. It was the day 7 astronauts “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”

I dreamed of working for NASA and even flying the shuttle and going into space. And as media interest waned in the space program, mine did as well. But it never left me the same. It steered me to science, engineering, technology and computers. And maybe it even planted in me the seeds of exploration and adventure.

Everything had to go perfect for me to get to the beach in time. The plane had to arrive on time. Baggage had to be there on time. Rental car process had to go smoothly. It did.

Traffic was absolutely atrocious on the Beeline and I thought I wouldn’t make it. I passed the last chance to park before getting on the causeway with 3 minutes left. Traffic creeped up the causeway. I knew I was done for. And at 5:00PM EDT, traffic stopped above the Indian River with me at the causeway pinnacle. I’m not sure I could have had a much better vantage point if I’d parked. I looked out the window and saw the launch pad light up. And suddenly I remembered why I studied so hard and why I went to engineering school. And I remembered just how easily and how far I’ve let myself stray from my dreams.

About a minute later, the thundering sound reached me. For just a brief moment, I was a seven year old little boy again.

Pictures

Tags: adventure, space shuttle

• Personal
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Bryan May 30th, 2008

Let’s face it, if you’re in Tennessee and waiting for a spring or early summer day where the forecast doesn’t mention rain or showers to go hiking, well, you probably won’t do much hiking. Tennessee weather is so unpredictable. Someone once told me that weathermen are right often enough that you can’t ignore them, but wrong often enough you can’t depend on them.

My advice: pick a day and go prepared. Here’s what I suggest:

• Communication. I make sure my companions know there’s a possibility of rain. There’s only one thing worse than hiking unprepared and being soaked to the bone: hiking with others who are unprepared and soaked to the bone (and probably complaining loudly).
• Proper Footwear. Hiking in soggy tennis shoes is about as close to miserable as I want to get. And hiking in the rain I will inevitably have to wade through at least one 1″-2″ puddle on the trail. That’s why I wear waterproof hiking boots for longer, rougher treks. For most shallow puddles, I just walk right through. For shorter, lighter hiking, I just wear water sandals like Teva, Chaco, or Keen. My feet will be wet, but at least they will drain quickly.
• Rain gear. I always carry my rain jacket and pants in my day pack, sunny and clear or not. But you don’t have to spend that much money. For a short walk, a cheap $2 poncho or a trash bag will suffice. They don’t breathe very well though, so you might end up soaked with sweat instead of rain.
• Hat. I wear a nice wide brimmed hat will help shed the rain when I don’t have the hood up on my jacket or poncho. I got a Tilly hat as a Christmas gift and it is perfect for keeping the head dry.
• Change of clothes and a towel. Once I come off the trail, I change into dry clothes as quickly as possible. A drive home while soaked is not an enjoyable experience.

I avoid severe thunderstorms, lightning, hail, tornadoes, high winds or other such severe weather. But I’ve found that hiking in a light rain shower can be downright enjoyable. I saw quite a few frogs out and about on my last drizzly hike.

What are YOUR suggestions for hiking in the rain? What did I miss?

Tags: Hiking, how to, rain

• Gear , how to
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Bryan May 25th, 2008

“I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use our natural resources, but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.”–Theodore Roosevelt

That has been the quote at the end of my personal email signature for over a year now. It pretty well sums up my philosophy of care for our planet. And while some blindly reject (and others blindly accept) anything and everything “green”, I take a more moderated approach.

But as right as Teddy was, we have a biblical command to care for the planet as well. And I’ve been very frustrated that many churches don’t mention this as they discuss biblical stewardship, much less practice it.

I think in caring for our world, the church has a critical role to play. People are largely apathetic about the environment because, well, they’re good people. They don’t dump toxins into the air or water or club baby seals. They reason their vehicle emissions aren’t their responsibility because, after all, they didn’t make the car or the gas. I believe the church can wake people up to the fact that their lifestyles and purchases affect others. Those others are our unborn and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Well I met John Voelz, a pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, MIchigan, at a Web 2.0 conference about a month ago. I added his feed to my Google Reader. And what should I read there than this post on the bring your own mug initiative at his church. They were throwing out 10 industrial sized garbage bags full of used paper coffee cups every Sunday. Now a standard tall kitchen bag is 13 gallons, so they were trashing at least 130 gals of paper coffee caps every Sunday. And starting today, zero. John, reading this was a great encouragement to me. Somebody does get it. You guys ROCK!

Tags: green church

• Environment , Uncategorized
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Bryan May 21st, 2008

This is a post for Watercooler Wednesday.

When I first signed up for Twitter months ago, I must confess I didn’t get it. Who wants to keep refreshing a web page to see what their friends are doing? Apparently they added the interfaces to IM and SMS after I signed up or I just missed them. Updating my twitter from the web, Facebook, my instant messaging client or my phone allows me to share some really cool (and some really ordinary) moments with my friends. But best of all, those special moments my friends choose to share with me get delivered to my phone automatically.

Twitter has really helped me to know more about my twittering friends, like fellow blogger Randy Elrod of Ethos. And I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised at all to learn that another fellow blogger, Tom Mangan of Two Heel Drive, twitters as well.

It surprises me how much detail people can actually share in 140 characters. But what has really surprised me is how much people twitter from unusual places. Such as

• Randy has a great post on what he calls Light Work (checking email and updating Twitter at red lights)
• I’ve twittered from the hiking trail before (it’s not every day you run into a modeling shoot on the trail)
• You know you’ve twittered from the bathroom… Don’t lie

But this tells me that Twitter has arrived. Crow will be twittering a journal of her thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. That’s right. No more waiting to transcribe a journal entry (wifi coverage is pretty spotty in the backcountry you know). Now all she has to worry about is keeping that Crackberry charged up.

What are the strange places you’ve twittered from?

Tags: Hiking, Twitter

• Web/Tech , Weblogs
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