Memorial Day Weekend 2011 Revenge Of The Nerds

Memorial  Day Weekend 2011

Sat. & Sun. & Mon

Camping near Byrds Nest Sat.& Sun.

GOLDEN WEEKEND

Sorry folks but the following comment is an insiders comment.

I am told that when I rank lead steward weekends that I make them self conscious, hmmmm I wonder if that is good or bad?   Not sure but just in case:

All lead stewards training days are now ranked equally with the exception that the last one I attended will always be just slightly  ahead.    You guys will just have to learn to enjoy riding the bubble of ever higher training excellence expectations.    For outsiders just understand that this is already truly top level outdoors training.  Think as good and better than NOLS and Outward Bound.

I will affectionately remember this weekend as the revenge of the nerds weekend.   From delightful conversations concerning the philosophy of science and nature of intelligence to hiking public who could as a group  spontaneously recite the value of PI out past five places Old Rag was swarming with funny, friendly, effervescent, sparkling, nerds.

A line from our intellectually challenging conversations that will  always make  me laugh (at least internally) was:

"Well I am no expert but I have had some dining table education from my dad who......"  

GAME SET MATCH!   HAHA

Without giving too much away I  have just added the dad's most recent New York Times reviewed book to my Kindle.

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Next video is sideways turn your head or computer.    At some point I will have the time to figure out how to turn the video right side up.  

The Stewards took some time late on Memorial Day to enjoy a Shenandoah swimming hole.

Memorial day weekend and it was a festival of learning Tech Rescue One and Tech Rescue Two skills.

While inspected by the Lead Steward anchors at the end of Tech Rescue Two are the creation of the students who then use their own anchors to rappel.

Stellar weather , the company of Stewards, learning new skills.  

LIFE IS SWEET!

Ho hum yet another day in paradise!

Sunrise over Old Rag from near Byrds Nest Shelter.

Looking down at the First False Summit in the late afternoon from near the Chute.

Looking down the Ridge from the summit in the very early morning.

More shots of the swimming hole.

Transitioning between worlds.

Home is where the heart is .

The 2011 Mountain Laurel blossoms have arrived.    Come and bask in their ephemeral glories.

A flutter or is it a kaleidoscope of Spice Bush and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.

Knots, knots, and more knots.   Tying the knot for life takes on a different meaning.

More swimming hole  fun.

Hey come on Bob snap that picture so I can drop in already.

Speaking of Nerds, Trebor Kool ask that I include the following:

On a personal level I have been told by  two people that if I can find the Trinity that they will be forever grateful.   Well I do not think I have ever had the opportunity to have someone forever grateful.  Especially from good folks whom I suspect forever will  be longer than just a lifetime.   So another new addition to my Kindle is C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.   I already had Einsteins God,  and Homo Evolutis in my reading Que.   I suspect that finding a deep belief in the Trinity is a spiritual and not an intellectual study.    Like listening to the wind talk to me there will be no words I can use to describe it but like learning to listen to the wind talk to me I think my time in nature will be critical to learning to just believe in the Trinity.