Yep...

So,


me and two buddies from NCOBS (Lee & Bernie) drove to Marathon Key to see my friends Jessica and Thomas and Dan. We did. It was awesome. Then, we went to Key West for the night. It took me a second to remember the layout of the place, but after all of that? I remembered. It was fun. We stayed the night at a hotel on Duval St. fun times... We drove back through a monsoon. It flooded our base camp and made ouyr power go out. Scary. ...


Love,


Kshon

Back again...

Wonderful folks,


Hello, from Sunset Island, Florida!
I am back once again, yet going back to the field tomorrow. I completed the second session of Ransom Everglades... chilled for a day after post-course shenanigans.... then only to plan for a four day personal sea kayaking trip.

It was great to be in a sea kayak again with some of my good NCOBS friends. Well- I mean, I was in the kayak by myself- but there were five of us (each in our own kayak). We saw so many of the amazing south florida things to see: Dolphins fishing, a shark, sea turtles, sunsets, waves, sun, field food leftovers mixed with amazing freshly-bought veggies... But this wonder wouldn't be reality without mentioning the "bug hour" full of no-see-ums, mosquitos, and racoons that plague the human condition every evening as the sun goes down.


My buddy, Josh Harris, and I worked a lot on our bracing and sculling and other paddle work. It reminded how beautiful the kinesthetic art of paddle work can be. We paddled from our base camp toward an area called Goodland- over twenty miles travel total. We started off in some back bays and paddled towards the gulf. We hung out in the gulf of Mexico until the last four mile sof our trip and it was amazing. Simply amazing!

Many of the dolphins we saw were fishing for prey about 4 feet off of our bows...
At any rate. I have no photos of this trip -- but my buddy bernie took some I think... so if he gets them developed I'll post them here. Life is good at Sunset island and I miss many of you lots. Pleae drop me a line when you can... I'll try to do the same. More later!


Kevster

p.s. Courses are going great too!!!!!

Okay, okay, okay........

So,


Tomorrow, I go back in to the field for 5 days, working the second episode of Ransom of the Everglades 5 day GEP (Group Education Program) contract. I only have one measely picture to show you from session I depicting our innovative sleeping systems known as "boarding up" where we place planks of wood coated with Nautical grade sealant perpendicular to our canoes which becomes our floating home for the night. Yes - our "home" where we cook food, set up tents, use the bathroom, and store 5 days worth of supplies underneath. Pretty crazy; and by crazy I mean Amazingly awesome. This boarding system allows us to sleep, permit free, within the boundaries of Everglades National Park. The boards are normally stored underneath all of our equipment in the hull of the canoes.... so giving students opportunitites to set them up self-reliantly without aid from their instructors is a great team-building initiatve!

Check it...




And a few from my new satff training!


Jeff & Lindsay @ Gullivan Key


Josh Brown, Kelly, and Merle... Panther Key!

Swamp Thang...

I will edit more later.......


But basically... I am in the Florida Everglades...with some amazing people. In an amazing community. Doing amazing thngs. Please feel free to visit.

I just returned from a 5 day training expedtion.
It was awesome.

More on that later.
I leave for my first florida course in two days.


More later,


Kev

(s)Out(h)ward Bound...

Greetings all,

May this New Year bring you many good tidings, times, and tides- as the patterns and rhythms of life ebb and flow...

Today I leave for, ultimately, my winter destination of Everglades City, Florida. It is time that I experience flocking south for the winter... Usually more of a snow-lover, and one who loves working hard in white-capped peaks, I will exchange all of this for white-capped waves of the Florida coastal waters... Specifically the western coastal waters of Mexico's Gulf.

We OB instructors will be facilitating canoe and sea kayak courses in the Everglades. This will be my first time in the course area and I am really excited. However, my excitement has an all-balancing "other side". Last night I rang in this new year with the Chamberlains... Mr., Mrs., Maggi, Molly, and Sam & Gretchen! I miss them and my own family soooo much already and I technically haven't even driven away. You see, one of my best friends in the whole world (Sam) just returned from Iraq, and we were able to have some great quality time together- but tomorrow he and his wife, my other good friend- Gretchen will return to Alaska tomorrow. Maggi will return to North Carolina, Molly will go back to school... and the tide changes.

Sometimes the saddest part of saying "hello" again is knowing that, soon, one must also say "goodbye."

But... let's have a smile -- :)

And, smile once more, because no doubt- seeing loved ones and the closest of friends is priceless. Sure it's a melancholy affair of missing them and saying goodbye- but we all have our next great adventure waiting for us right around the corner! This is going to be a good year. These are the good times...

My ramblings of being happy about "hellos" and sad about "goodbyes" are part of the patterns and rhythms of goodtimes. They start, they stop, they linger, they go to quick...
Life is good. I digress...

I am super-stoked to be in such an ecologically amazing place as the everglades-and, although I have mentioned missing the mountains, the next time I write, I will be doing so from Southern Florida.

Happy New Year. Venture forth. Relentless adventures abound. For me? ... down south.
For you? ... Please, let me know.

Turn the corner, embrace the unknown, enjoy this year.


Adventure on,


Kev


http://www.nwf.org/everglades/images/mapEverglades.jpg


http://www.solcomhouse.com/everglvisear1.jpg


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKy9DUOaiU-xTRkT04PM2hbeCwuyw9OPmXW0v-b3BlAZE3G-2YMX_wuYQ5bOa4etGg8RkJ_sAyH-4MocYg4jTx3xKb6gMkENxLfzGYfos6TPqYabiXDHRDPsPQKRLAHKZuOHjRexY274C/s1600-h/looking+south.jpg