Outdoor Alabama Expo

We dodged downpours getting there, but later caught a break from the rain as the kids and I succeeded in our every-other-weekend quest to get out for something we'd never done...the Outdoor Alabama Expo.
Put on each year by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the expo was held this year at Oak Mountain State Park south of Birmingham. Of course I have known about that park since...well...let's just say a kid born the year I first visited is old enough to buy alcohol!! Plus, I have known about what Alabama has to offer with its outdoors even longer. There are always people new to the state, and a new generation of those who have not discovered the outdoors is always growing--and this expo was for them.
The expo was free, which was nice, but we've been places we had to pay admission that were not nearly as fun or diverse. And we did not even get to see and do it all.
Even before we parked the car it was impossible to miss one part of the expo--shotguns and rifles. Since that has been one of my favorite brands outdoor fun ever since I was allowed to play with one, I was proud to see the line to shoot guns was the longest we saw all day. It was packed with mostly teenage boys, but there were also girls and adults waiting, too. So this gun nut was twice proud, even though Griffin and Carlie were too young to participate...but we just might break out Griffin's .22 if the weather is nice...
Wow, quite the digression! But those who know me are grinning all the same.
Elsewhere at the expo fish and wildlife displays made use of the park's lake and pavilion. There were quite a few kids of all ages wetting a line, although I did not see anybody catching anything. That may have been because we spent more time with the hands-on part of the exhibit. In addition to each and every freshwater game fish being displayed on ice, there were tanks low enough for kids to catch and play with fish, crawdads, tadpoles, and snails. Nearby were tables of taxidermy exhibits.
There were other things to see relevant to the way humans use the outdoors, including conservation, enforcement, safety and rescue, canoeing and boating. Also represented were ways mankind is dedicated to making sure the outdoors survives our use and thrives, including the Alabama Forestry Commission, the Alabama field office of The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
I'm gonna be sure and catch this next year, and can only hope those in charge will let me demonstrate how cool it is to shoot pieces of junk from 100 yards away with a 60+ year-old military rifle...hey, we need more gun nuts like me!

Go fly a kite!

With Carlie nursing bronchitis we stayed closed to home for our day out this time, with an old kid favorite but still one we'd yet to enjoy.
Things started off great when I went shopping for kites and discovered there was quite the selection with choice of cartoon characters, complete with string and needing only about 15 seconds of assembly time for the princely sum of $1. At that price I bought extras for a nothing-to-do afternoon in the future.
We went to the best big empty spot I know of--ball fields behind the Pell City Civic Center. Its proximity to Logan Martin Lake certainly seemed to help the wind conditions, which were paltry at best.
Griffin had never, ever handled a kite before but with one or two false starts he was off and running literally. Carlie took some cajoling to join in the fun, and did so only briefly before making her own fun. She even was slow to play along with me shooting pictures!
It was another quick and easy afternoon being daddy, in a way I'd not gotten to do before, and we were glad.
On the way out, I noticed a group of 12 and 13-year-old kids leaving soccer practice, talking with their ultra-cool friends and pretending their parents were not with them. As we stopped to let them cross the parking lot, I could not help thinking that before I know it, Griffin and Carlie will be too cool to be seen with me, too.

In and out of Shades Creek

The kids and I always love getting out for my weekends with them, and I always make a point to make those getaways are to places we've not been before.
Shades Creek park in Homewood was a place I had been meaning to check out ever since it was developed as such in the last 10 or so years. The creek drains Alabama's wealthiest town, Mountain Brook (suburb of Birmingham) but with the exception of a ritzy mall, its banks are a respite from development despite the fact the locale is built-up not far away.
Wow, sorry for that run-on sentence! Maybe it's appropriate since the creek runs on, I guess.
Best I can remember, the park and exercise path were built using federal funds made available for watershed protection and the Americans with Disabilties Act. There was also some involvement with an endangered species--a salamander I think? And a tiny fish by the name of vermillion darter? Either way, I have never ceased to be amazed at the diversity of critters in and around the creek, given its proximity to population, pavement, traffic, garbage and general indifference most humans have to the world around us.
The trail is flat as a board and paved, which makes it accessible to handicapped persons, and I think it was created with an agreeement that the park can't be redeveloped for anything else.
It was a beautiful day, so we saw a good number of people jogging and walking for exercise. I was struck by repeated sightings of single women jogging by themselves, and tried to remember the last time I ran without being chased...it's been awhile!
I also noticed that just abouy every jogger we saw was wearing a digital music player and earphones, or earbuds, or whatever you call those things. I never have quite understood the need for those things while exercising outside. I mean, heaven forbid a person just listen to the water and woods out there...or meet and talk to somebody there. But hey, maybe that is just me being uninitiated to the insular world of personal fitness?
And anyway...the kids and I were there to play. The trail isn't much more than a mile long, which was about right for them and their short legs and even shorter attention spans. Once we walked it, I found a relatively flat and undergrowth-free spot to get in that creek.
The water was not warm, but it was not cold, either. They did not flinch getting in it and splashing around, but I did make sure their clothes stayed dry, because I know from personal experience a car ride home in wet clothes makes a good mood go away in a hurry.
I saw, but was unable to catch, some crawdads in the creek to show the kids and maybe let them get pinched...also saw some tiny fish and mussels, which I liked because their existence means the water of the creek has remained clean enough for life.
There is a more of the creek that could be added to the park. As I see it, the park could be extended all the way to I-65 in the future, and who knows, maybe it will be. It is off to a great start towards its goal of giving people access to nature that it right next to where a bunch of them live and work. And the more people know about their world, the better off that world will be, I say.

A few miles through Porter's Gap

75 degree weather in early March made the chance at another afternoon on the woods took good to pass up, so my lily-white children and I went and walked a few miles through Porter's Gap in the Talladega National Forest.

It had been awhile--too long, really--since I had hiked the Pinhoti Trail. It runs a total of 140 miles, mostly in the national forest from the Alabama-Georgia line to near Sylacauga. I have walked most of that length over the years, most of which is quite physically challenging since it traverses mountains along most of its length. Along the way there lakes, creeks, springs, practically untouched wilderness and cuts through the heart of Cheaha State Park. So in addition to the things brochures for the Pinhoti tout--like hiking, camping, fishing and taking in the flora and fauna--I have also had a wide range of fun that can only be had in the middle of the woods where no one is a trespasser.
Saturday the kids and I were at Porter's Gap, a break in the moutains near the Talladega County/Clay County line. If you have ever hiked or want to hike the Pinhoti, Porter's Gap is notable because it is where the trail crosses Alabama Highway 77 and has parking--both of which are important for accessing it.
There was only one other car at the parking area when we got there after lunch. I had with me two faithful pieces of personal Pinhoti souvenirs: hiking boots that are 15 years old and a Kelty backpack that's 16. Although having brought them out reminded me how long it had been since I put them to good use, I was very glad that I spent good money for good stuff all those years ago because they served me liked they did new. I'd learned early on that a cheap pair of boots and a pack without modern waist and shoulder straps takes the fun out of toting your way through the woods, and fast.
Even though Saturday's load of camera, sandwiches, fruit and drinks was incredibly light (I have humped as much as 60 pounds up to 15 miles a day before) I'd only planned on doing a mile or so with Griffin and Carlie because I was not sure how much they's like it. That question got answered soon after we set out, when they asked for and were given permission to run down the well-worn open trail. A mile got gone quick, and they wanted more, so with the intention of stopping at the next spot that looked good for eating lunch, we pressed on.
The terrain changed from gentle slopes and smooth earth to increasing inclines and rocky ground just enough to remind me: a whole bunch of the Pinhoti is not for tender feet. About the time we had slowed down and there were no more requests to run, I spotted a nice collection of rocks with tabletop-like faces, free of undergrowth and well off the trail. So lunch--and rest--was had.

We worked our way back to the trail and backtracked slower, looking closer at what there was to see. Griffin did his best to make sure that no clump of moss went unkicked along trails edge and Carlie made sure I was made aware of muddy spots she needed to be carried over. It was about the time I could see the gleam of the Civic's windshield in the late-afternoon soon that I heard the first hints of whining from Griffin when he asked how much further was it back to the car. When I paused and pointed it out to him through the woodline, he threw on one last sprint to the parking area. And with that, a beautiful afternoon in the woods was done.

25: The Internet and computers

1. I have been online since 1998, when a cheap computer cost $1000 and a dialup modem was the only connect a person could get in Pell City.

2. It did not take long before I learned the hard way that sharing an email address with someone gets old very, very fast.

3. I did not know it as the Internet at the time, but my first contact as such was working at the Samford computer lab in 1988. You could do a very limited amount of school work on the network (as it was called) and send email to people from school. Hardly anybody did unless it was required for a class.

4. There is not a good way to deal with friends who endlessly email forwards joke that aren't funny, causes you don't care about, and myths like "forward this email to a bunch of people and Bill Gates will send you a check!!! But you have to figure out a diplomatic way to do it, or soon, those will be all the emails you get.

5. There was a time when you actually had to know how a computer worked to use one. But that time is long gone...Apple and Microsoft amassed quite a fortune making personal computers accessible to anyone that wanted to use them. I think about that every time I hear somebody say, 'oh, but I am not very computer literate!'

6. The email address given me by my ISP I use for email that matters, like bills. I have another that I use for 'casual' stuff, and still another address that I use when I have to give an address to a place I know will spam me.

7. I installed yahoo! messenger because I like chatting, but I always leave it running because it instantly alerts when my yahoo! address gets mail. Usually it has to do with having mail elsewhere, or spam, but it's still nice not to have to check it.

8. I guess it would be different if I had to have it for work, but I have never quite understood why someone would need or want to have Internet on a handlheld device. As much as I like being online, I also like getting away from it. I guess that sort of relates to the reason I don't have a cell phone.

9. I pay $18.67 a month for Internet service from the local cable TV place. That's about all it's worth, but it's always on and fast enough.

10. I have been reading and contributing to a gun collectors message board, gunboards.com , for more than 10 years to keep informed and learn about the hobby.My nickname is Bama there. I never realized how many people had been reading me until a friend told the folks there about me being in the hospital after The Wreck. My buddy printed out the responses and brought them to me and I was amazed at many people 'knew' me from there and wished me well. I still have that printout and it's been 7.5 years ago.

11. It did not take long to learn that free stuff from the Internet like programs or services are not only not worth having, but can be annoying and/or dangerous. Facebook is a notable exception, but then again, it doesn't make you install crap to have it work.

12. I used to love eBay for buying and selling crap. I actually sold pine cones and empty beer bottles on there more than once. But at some point the place became just businesses shilling their stuff instead of just average folks unloading stuff. and that was too bad.

13. I got a new printer/scanner/copier and didn't have it very long before it died when one of my kids spilled apple juice on it. I was bummed, but since realized that I never, ever used the thing.

14. Internet nicknames that include the words "cute" "pretty" "sexy" or similar adjectives usually reflect considerable optimism on the part of the person who so named themselves.

15. I could probably make some people I know in real life feel embarrassed with what I have seen about them on the Internet. But I don't dare, because they could probably do the same to me!

16. Remember when there were actually search engines people used that weren't Google?

17. Years ago using the Internet to research my genealogy I learned that in1942 my grandparents went to a town where they were not from to get married. Only a few months ago did I find out why.

18. Computers are many things to many people, but it ought to be remembered that about 92 percent of them would get by just fine if the whole shebang just suddenly quit working tomorrow.

19. I have a myspace page that I just about quit using once I started facebookin'. Once in a while I consider killing it off and then wind up meeting somebody who asks, "Hey are you on myspace?"

20. Know anybody who still uses AOL? Is it even still around? I used to love getting the freebie program CDs from them because they came with a free CD case.

21. The skinny LCD monitor has got to be the best thing that happened to desktop computers in years. Although, the old timey monitors are still great fun at the rifle range when I can get 'em.

22. Seeing facebook relationship status changes can be silly, sad or uplifting. Or it could be somebody screwing with their friends. If I ever have anything to report there, don't know that I will unless I'm coerced.

23. The thing that is not the Internet which I use my computer for the most has got to be Adobe Photoshop. I learned it working for the newspaper, and man, it has served me well. It's the photo program all the others wish they were.

24. Can't remember the last time I played a video game on the computer and I have never used it to watch TV or a movie. That could be because I have a video game system and a TV.

25. Wow, this list took enough and time and introspection for me to realize I have a life that doesn't require sitting in a chair and typing.

Cheaha State Park and through the woods

The kids and I made the most of the good day we had Sunday in the schizophrenic Alabama winter with a drive to Cheaha State Park to see and play, including a drive through the woods on a road that really wasn't.

It had been a while since we got to see the park, and the drive through what passes for mountains around here was quite the treat with its many curves, twists and turns. It seemed that in traveling by car we were in the minority, as we passed gaggles of middle age folk wearing overpriced leather outfits and riding motorcycles that cost more than my car were more or less continuous.

Once to the park we checked out Bald Rock overlook, took in the view and stomped around in the woods some. Given the gorgeous weather it was a nice surprise that the place was not crowded with others taking the place in.

Then it was past another flock of weekend bikers back down Talladega Scenic Drive into Clay County toward Talladega Creek,which I know for its accessible beauty in the middle of more or less wild country. I found that part of the scenic drive had fallen into quite the state of disrepair and too late saw that it really was no place to be driving my Honda Civic! But I pressed on, past mudholes and craggy rocks that had to eased over with hopes none reached up and broke something...luckily none did.

I talked with the kids as we crept down the 'road', and for the first time shared with them where my heart is at about why our family won't be back together as they, and at one point I, had hoped. It was past time for that to be said, and the fact that at any point the car could have been disabled and us stranded in the National Forest seemed somehow appropriate. I did not mind the car getting scratched up by limbs and branches and muddier than it has ever been, I just concentrated on the speaking my heart to them and navigating us through the woods where I had not really planned on being. Again, the ride and the talk shared eerie parallels.

Then it was back to play time as we acted silly and threw sticks and rocks into the creek, took more pictures and watched the sun go down before heading back west to Pell City and their mama's house.
When it gets to be predictably warmer weather at night I am going to have to take us camping out there. There's just something about the kind of quiet the woods has.

25 more

It's gone around again since last time I did it, so why not do it again?

1. In high school I was very proud when I got a letter saying I'd been accepted to Samford. A year or two later I learned they'd not turned anybody down in years.
2. I never quite figured out why anybody would want to be in a fraternity. I was friends with a bunch of guys who were, and I didn't have to pay them.
3. Every time I carry a pistol I pray that I will not need it, and for God to help anyone who leaves me no choice but to use it.
4. I think that everybody should talk abut hard times with someone who lived through the Depression before all those folks are dead.
5. Once in a while I run into the woman who taught me senior English in high school, and I act as if I liked her.
6. I'd go back to Alaska if I could take my son and daughter with me, but I might not want to come back.
7. I have still not figured out the appropriate course of action when someone I don't know wants to be facebook friends.
8. There is a big difference in fighting for one's country, and being sent to one's death in some God-forsaken part of the world for no good reason.
9. Even though I can take 'em or leave 'em myself, I grow tomatoes every year because people love it when I give them some.
10. Mick Jagger is within a couple of months of being the same age as my dad.
11. After 6 weeks of being incoherent after The Wreck, my first thoughts were how tacky the Thanksgiving decorations in my hospital room were, and the body odor of the nurse changing the dressing on my feeding tube. The morphine dreams don't count.
12. The smartest guy I have ever had as a friend--George McNinch--was also the only person who seemed to like Neil Young and distilled spirits as much as me.
13. My lawyer saw me through my divorce for free, and one of these days I'll figure out some way to return the favor.
14. God is not good, God is not bad, God is not your buddy, God is not your enemy. God just is. What are you going to do about it?
15. It frustrated me to no end that the radio station I liked for new music added overplayed stuff from the 80s to its playlist. I didn't like the Scorpions when they were new, and now they're supposed to be classic??
16. Slinging pizza is most assuredly a dead-end job, but my, there are some fun twists and turns along the way.
17. I've only ever shot at paper targets, bottles, and miscellaneous junk, but I am still proud that I can hit stuff with an old military rifle from a couple hundred yards away.
18. I am descendant from Appalachian hill folk on both my mother's and father's sides of the family.
19. Whether it's a car, electronics or plum wine, stuff made in Japan tends to be better than stuff made elsewhere in the world.
20. I laughed all day after I read the headline in The Onion: Black Man Given Nation's Shittiest Job.
21. I go to Wal-Mart not so much for the low prices, as I do for the walking anthropology study a trip there soon becomes.
22. Arguing on the Internet is like cheating in the Special Olympics.
23. Made-up baby names never cease to amaze me.
24. I thought there was going to be something to turning 40, but there wasn't really.
25. It's been years since I was through there, but I can still direct a person to an address in North Shelby County with ease.