2007 December | The BackWoods Drifter

Archive for December, 2007

Dec 31 2007

Looking Back 2007

Published by Denny under Friends, Holidays

3000 unique visitors from 64 countries since August , over 8000 page views. That may not seem like much to some bloggers but to this lowly blogger it is monumental. It shows how much we can all be heard without even really trying. Just imagine what we could do if we tried.

I want to thank all of the visitors to my site. Especially the ones that, for whatever reason, keep coming back, all three of them…

I started blogging in 2004 because I had something to say. Maybe someday I’ll get around to saying it. But for now I blog about my travels, work, the outdoors, photography… my life in general. I blog about things I see, especially concerning the environment. And I voice my opinion on things that I think are just stupid. I enjoy blogging and meeting new people.

This post was supposed to be about looking back on 2007. I’ve decided that I’m not going to look back in relation to my life because, in that way, I’m happy to see the year go.

What I did get out of 2007 I’ll gladly carry into the New Year and that is all my blogging friends. Thanks for your visits and I hope to see you in 2008.

Happy New Year!!!

5 responses so far

Dec 30 2007

Zodiac Meme

Published by Denny under Meme, Tags

I was tagged by my new friend Hanna to do this Zodiac Meme.

Rules:
1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months.
3. Pick your month of birth.
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it.

Here I go breaking the rules… again. I don’t have twelve friends to play tag with, so I will just tag these people. If anybody else would like to play tag, comment and let me know.

Speedcat
Morgan

—

My birth month is November.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

—

THE MONTHLY FLAVORS, WHICH ARE YOU?

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

10 responses so far

Dec 29 2007

A Man and His Dog, The Beginning

Published by Denny under A Man and His Dog

This story is so long that I’m going to break it up into different posts.

I’ve told stories about my good friend Sam quite a bit in the life of my blogging. The reason for that is because Sam was special. She came into my life when I was otherwise completely alone and I came into her life just in time to save it. Sam and I had quite a few adventures in her short life and she developed quite her own personality. This is the story of a man and his dog.

In the beginning…

I met Sam when she was only two months old.

I was at a very low point in my life, having just hit bottom because of an under-financed custody battle. But, I’ve told that story already. Suffice it to say that I was homeless, staying with friends, sleeping in my truck… whatever.

Since I was broke and really had nothing else to do, I borrowed a friends digital camera and headed to the mountains. After a few days alone, I started thinking about getting a dog. The only thing that really stopped me for a while was the fact I was homeless and didn’t really want another living creature to share in my failure. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to take care of a dog. I did mention it to a friend that was helping me at the time. He thought it was a great idea.

I forgot about a four legged friend for a little while. Since I was taking all those pictures and had always wanted one, I started designing a website offline on the only thing I owned worth anything… my laptop. Thus was born West Virginia Outdoors… gone now but the origins of this blog and every other blog I’ve had since.

I was staying with a friend, whom we will call Bob, and his wife. One evening I come in from a hike and Bob wants me to go with him to the store. I do and he stops at a house I am unfamiliar with. As soon as we get out of the car seven puppies come running. It was funny as hell. They were still young, clumsy, big ears flopping and tripping all over each other. I thought they were hound dogs. I fell for the oddball. She was the only one colored black and tan. She was a lot more timid than the rest and she had these huge puppy feet. Bob wasn’t real sure he could talk the owner out of one of the puppies. So, although I fell for her that night, I had to leave her. I had already decided on a name, if I got her. Samantha… funny name for a dog but I wanted to call her Sam.

About a week later Bob brings Sam to me. I was very happy but concerned right off the bat. She didn’t have the energy she had the week before. Her eyes were sad. She didn’t want to eat. I thought it may be a sibling thing. She was given to me in the morning and by that evening I was wondering if she would live. She couldn’t hold anything on her stomach, not even water. I was really worried about her. It kind of put an exclamation point on my situation and is exactly why I was concerned with getting a dog. I had no money or I would have taken her to a vet. As it was the only thing I could offer her was comfort.

I tried not to let her out of my sight as evening turned into night. There is a small patch of woods beside Bob’s house and the one time I did let her out of my sight I found her curled in a ball in the woods. She was so sick by then that I thought she went there to die. Not on my watch my friend. I started to take her in the house. It was getting dark and it was January. She would most definitely not survive the night outside. And I wasn’t going to leave her outside either. I love Bob and his family for helping me but at the same time I hate them for not helping Sam. She wasn’t allowed in the house plain and simple. That was about the same time I decided I didn’t want to be anywhere that Sam wasn’t allowed.

I made an easy decision. I made a bed in the cab of my truck and spent the night outside with Sam. She was deathly sick by that time and just barely had the strength to move. I lay down with her in my truck. She lay on my arm looking up at me every once in a while with those sad eyes. My heart broke for her. I felt helpless. I lay awake all night petting her, coaxing her to drink water.

Sometime around daybreak I drifted off to sleep. I don’t know why but I felt in my heart that if Sam survived the night she would be alright. A couple hours later I wake up and look right into Sam’s eyes. There is a love there that had replaced the sadness from the night before. I was overjoyed, I had a new friend. I think the feeling was mutual because even though she stayed sick for a few days, she wouldn’t let me out of her sight.

It took Sam about a week to really get back to being a puppy. And there begins the journey of a man and his dog.

—

Next post in this series. A Man And His Dog, The Backwoods.

To be continued…

5 responses so far

Dec 27 2007

An Optical Adventure

Published by Denny under Blog Promotion, Optical Adventure, photography

The new website opticaladventure.com is up and running. I don’t have any photos there yet but the layout and theme are pretty much set. I been slavin’ over a hot keyboard for hours. But anyway, go check it out let me know what you think.

While building the latest new site I couldn’t help but think of all the old new sites. I have ten domains. Two of them I now use, two of them I sponsor and the other six are bad ideas or sites I just lost interest in and parked. I guess I’m kind of hoping that someday I’ll be able to dig them out like an old baseball card and one of them turn out to be worth a million bucks to someone… or something like that. At any rate, I have good feelings about the new site. I simply love to take photos and with the new site I don’t feel constrained to a certain niche. For example…

This is one of my favorite photos. I took it last year, about this time, while working a job at Mt. Storm, West Virginia. It was the way the sky contrasted with everything else. Getting to the point… I have a story to go with this photo and had no place I was comfortable telling it because of its industrial nature. With the new blog I don’t feel restricted to the outdoors. Don’t get me wrong, I love the outdoors and it would be a safe bet to say that eighty percent of the photos on the new blog will be outdoor related but the other twenty will be whatever catches my fancy… so to speak. I guess you could say I’m expanding or broadening my horizons. Yeah, that too… but mostly, I enjoy sharing my view.

I hope everybody is having a Wonderful Holiday Season!

4 responses so far

Dec 25 2007

A New Endeavor Sparks Creativity!!!

Published by Denny under Blog Promotion, Optical Adventure, Trail Hike

The BackWoods Drifter is leaving the realm of localized blogging. 2008 promises to be a big year of travel for this drifter. For the longest time I have needed a place to display photos that don’t have anything to do with West Virginia or nature for that matter. I already own the photoblog located at boltmountain.com but if you visit there you will see it has been a while since the last post. I haven’t stopped taking photos, they are just not from Bolt Mountain.

Introducing… OpticalAdventure.com. Going to that address now will bring you to a dead end. I bought this domain for two main reasons. My photos can be more diverse and that is where I’ll tell about my AT Hike this year as well as post slideshows from the hike. I hope to have at least a home page up and running by the 1st.

I don’t intend to abandon this blog because it is home. Home is where roots run deep.

Anyway, please join me in 2008 “The Year of Change” for an Optical Adventure.

2 responses so far

Dec 21 2007

Sam "The Cosmic Drifter"

Published by Denny under Friends, Personal, Trail Hike

You might be a redneck if you name a star after your four legged friend.

I’m going to tell you a story. I’ve told this story on the old blog and it is about my good friend Sam.

I don’t know how most people are but I think they are a lot like me. I get attached to animals. They become part of the family. Sam became part of my family about four years ago. She was just a little puppy and I fell in love with her on sight. Right after I got her she nearly died which served to only tighten the bond between Sam and myself. The site WVOutdoors.org and subsequently this blog was started because of our adventures in the mountains.

Sam was a very intelligent animal. She had a nose like a hound. We were coming back from a hike one evening and were about a hundred yards from an old building that was located on the edge of my property. Sam started acting real weird with her attention focused on the building. The thing about Sam was that she was afraid of everything. But in this case her curiosity overcame her fear. I knew almost immediately that there was something or someone in the old building. Sam was never afraid unless there was something to be afraid of. She approached this building behind me. I was curious too. I wondered if she had actually smelled something in the building from that distance. Sure enough when I opened the door. A local drunk was sleeping in a corner. He had a home not far from where I lived at the time but I knew him to be basically harmless so I let him sleep there for the night. Then went to get Sam a scooby snack.

That is just one of many stories that I have about Sam. A little over a year ago, I was gone to a job and Sam got away from the sitter. Since I was always in the mountains with her she had no life experience with a road. She didn’t know how dangerous it was. I probably don’t need to tell you what happened.

Losing Sam as my friend was just absolutely devastating. It went a long way towards taking the wind out of my sails. I didn’t want to hike, the blog floundered big time. I just hurt when I tried to hike without my friend. I still haven’t gotten back into the amount of hiking I did with Sam. I think about her a lot when I do visit the mountains.

Recently I was given the opportunity to name a star. I thought it would be kind of cool to name a star after Sam. That way, when I go on the AT hike, I can kind of take her with me. Foolish?… maybe. But I feel good about it.

Sam is located in the constellation Sagittarius, my birth sign. Maybe she will bring me good luck.

5 responses so far

Dec 19 2007

2008 The Year Of Change

Published by Denny under Personal, Travel

Little River Band 1983
Cool Change LIVE with John Farnham

I look out my window, watch the deer play in the field and think to myself, it’s time for a cool change. I love camping and hiking in West Virginia’s mountains. I love the people, the laid back lifestyle, almost everything about it. I don’t like that there are few jobs to be had. Unless, of course, you have a mind to dig a lump of coal for the man. Personally, I’m not going underground to get a lump of coal for anybody. The job I do have takes me out of state and away from home for days on end. It’s time for a change.

2008 plans to be a big year of change for this drifter. I have the AT hike starting in June and I am making plans now as far as where I’m going to be and how I intend to mold my life around the hike. The first order of business is to preserve my sanctuary or home. Just in case I get out there and fall on my face, I have a doable plan c… go home.

I’ve mentioned chance and circumstance before and the reason I bring it up is because, for the most part, that’s how I travel. I get a destination in mind and head there with the confidence that I’m going to find work quickly. I usually have just enough funds that I had better find work quick or it’s go straight to plan c. Being an electrician, finding a job is not normally a problem. But there is always a first.

In 2008 I plan to take away as much of the chance as possible. My first destination is going to be New Orleans. The reasons I chose New Orleans are threefold. First and foremost, I’m pretty sure they could use an electrician there. Second, I want to experience the city and finally, milder temps.

It may not seem logical to go south if I plan to start the AT hike from the northern end but there is a method to the madness. This is the first winter since losing my fingers and you would be surprised how much they hurt in the cold. If I stay here then I will end up on layoff because of my fingers. If that happens, there goes my plans for the hike. That is unacceptable, so, I’m moving south so that I can work through the winter. “My logic is undeniable.” … at least, to my mind. You never know where I may be blogging from next.

I think I have rambled sufficiently in this post. And to think, it all started with five deer in the back field.

I chose to post the Cool Change video because I love that song, I was born in the sign of water and it’s time for a cool change. See, there is a method to the madness.

One other thing, anybody in New Orleans looking to adopt an electrician?

5 responses so far

Dec 15 2007

I Approved This Message

Published by Denny under That's Just Stupid.

It started with the Bush campaign. The candidate would read their message and at the end, I approved this message. I would certainly hope they approve. I think it would be interesting for a political candidate to read off their 30 second spiel and at the end say…

I do not approve this message.
I have no idea what I’m talking about or who wrote this.
I don’t recall the message therefore I can’t, in good conscious, approve of it’s contents.
Nobody told me about the message.
The preceding message was completely irrelevant.
I am aware of the message but know nothing of it’s contents.
See Spot run.

Maybe they say “I approved this message” because it is the only part of the message they can say with any conviction. I don’t know why they feel the need to say it or why such an idiotic statement would catch on so well in the political world. Wanna know what I think?…

That’s just stupid.

—

btw- I approved this message.

7 responses so far

Dec 13 2007

Link Love Train

Published by Denny under Tags

My life is suddenly so full of trains… My friend Morgan gave me the opportunity to get on board the Link Love Train and since I’ve been wanting to go on a train ride… well, here I am. She was asked to come aboard by Colin.

Here are the rules: When you get tagged, you have to add your name below the person who tagged you and by doing so you are letting the list grow.