Otter's Outings

On the flight to Mexico City, I kept the company of a man on his first flight.  We went over immigration forms in broken English and Spanish.  Through the course of this exercise, he told me his story, or at least what he wanted to share.  I will never cease marveling at how willing people are to share the most intimate details of their lives with complete strangers. That being said, he was carrying a US Passport, which surprised me (judgment fail).  The short version is as follows.  In 1995 he was in high school in Mexico and during a fight in the school yard, his opponent fell to the ground, hit a raised surface with the back of his head and died.  Fearing prosecution, he fled to an uncle in the United States.  Of note, his father had been shot in the head in the street in front of their home.  Unable to continue his education because he needed to work to cover the expense he caused of living with his uncle, he began to do construction work....

I had the pleasure of the first laid back backpacking trip in years.  My companions in arms were my Dad and friend of friends, Mim.  We set out to tackle the ups and downs of the Buffalo River Trail from Ponca to Erbie.  Traversing 16.8 miles over 3 days, we were privy to the gifts of an abundance of water from the violent storms days before.  Nearly every creek was bursting and rolling.  Hillsides poured forth and over and around.  Every drop seemed to be seeking the bottom where it could join the Buffalo River and push ahead with all it's companions.  We started the trip with a herd of Elk at Boxley stretching and playing in the field.  Then on to the trail where we were quickly met with a crossing of Steele Creek.  Then up and over and around to a perfect campsite at Beech Creek.  We made camp in the small space between the valley wall and the rushing creek.  After a warm meal and a calming fire, we set to sleep to the sounds of ...