Grace and glory

I mentioned recently that I would take a few photos when I finally dug my camera out of the trunk of my car. A friend did so today, so here are a few pix.

It hurts almost too much to check email today but I'm going to update for a sec. I used to be big on journaling every day, and then I stopped for a year or so when I got depressed over stuff going on in my life. Then I started emailing ppl again a lot and found that I was still journaling, only it was in the form of sharing my life and thoughts withothers. Then when I started writing the faith blog I realized that some of that old journaling instinct is coming out there too, and maybe even here. Still I have a million things to say and my body just won't cooperate. My hand strength is terrible and it hurts way up there in my shoulder just to tap a key with a finger.
Maybe I'll take some self portraits this week and some pics of my surroundings to post here so you can see where I'm spending all these hours sitting bored senseless. Of course, that means I have to find the camera. It's buried in the trunk of my car. And I'm not going to dig it out if it's too hard to find. House M.D. episodes help immensely with boredom though. Best show on television.
And I have a whole bunch of time alone to pray.

Hey ya'll. Not doing so well with this linking thing on Windows Live. Now I've figured it out. Here's the link:  http://orig.jacksonsun.com/outdoors/index.shtml

Please take a look and get an idea of where you might like to go this winter or spring. The Smokies are awesome in winter, especially when it's snowy. Just remember that black bears don't hibernate but estivate, which means that they are out roaming occasionally, so you still need to be aware of it and not spook them on a quiet trail.
Another area that is green this time of year is South Cumberland National Recreation Area a couple hours southeast of Nashville off I-24. See the pictures. I guarantee you'll want to go.

Also new and notable: I've added some links to my faith list that you'll want to see.

I'm off work so I won't be writing much for a few weeks. But if you're bored and want to read what I've written over the past three years for The Jackson Sun on the outdoors, visit www.jacksonsun.com/outdoors. You'll also find photo galleries of places I've been. Some are really fun to look back on and remember those long days out hiking in solitude. Other trips were taken with youth from my church, all of whom are a total hoot. And the pictures really reflect that, so check them out. When you visit the site, just view the links under Photo Galleries. My favorites are from The Smokies, South Cumberland and Greeter Falls, but all the galleries are fun because the places I've been are so different, each unique in its own way.

I expect to be out in my boat again by April paddling a new river and writing about it for our newspaper.

There are a couple of new photos I've added this afternoon, and that's only because I'm in bed trying to recover from a sinus infection. It's waaaay too much trouble to maintain two blogs, especially when one of them is getting nearly 6,000 hits a month, so this one is falling to the wayside.
If you're really interested in what I'm thinking about, visit jacksonsun.com and click on blogs. It's the only one that I can keep up with at this point and still maintain friendships and my relationship with God without stress.
Meanwhile, see new pics of Gracie and Conor, my favorites, and their fairly new puppy Benny. Conor came up with his name.