A Gathering of the Elders, part 1

On October 15-17 my Dad, my youngest brother, Bruce, my son Jonathan and I gathered in the mountains of west North Carolina for "guy time." My middle brother was unable to attend because of work but also because he was trying to give birth to stones. Unfortunately, it was more than a passing fancy for him! His son, Chris, was in school, as was Bruce's two sons, Adam and Jake. So it was just the four of us.

The purpose of our "guy time" was to hang out, do some hiking and kayaking. Being that we no longer all live within an hours drive of each other (I being close to 7 hours away), we wanted to just strengthen the bonds that remain. So we rented a cabin near the Nantahala river, between Waynesville and Murphy, NC, which is about 4 hours from Huntsville and Charlotte.

The place we stayed was, at best, in poor condition. We should have moved out the moment we walked in but, having emptied everything from our cars and having our eyes finally adjust to the darkness within the house (poor lighting), it was too late. The area where the cabin was located was beautiful and our first day was filled with sunlight and fall warmth. But the cabin was disappointing.


We had arrived a little before lunch time so we went to check out the whitewater place that we were renting from (Paddle Inn - highly recommend - very reasonable prices and great service).
We were originally going to do a raft together but ended up deciding we were going to do individual duckies (inflatable kayaks - I had my own boat and was eager to show off my skill). My biggest worry was my Dad, who, though has done a lot of canoing up until several years ago, had never done "kayaking." The lady who walked us through everything, Mama Wilson (I believe that is her last name) was one of a kind, a jewel of a lady and a devout Christian. My dad, jokingly, I think, mentioned having pains in his chest, to which she instantly placed her hands on his chest, rebuked the pains and asked for God's healing and protection. There was power in her words, folks.

We headed from there to do some hiking, albeit nothing long or strenuous. We did hike the Appalachian Trail (well, we walked 5 feet on a bridge and then back). We saw one of the waterfalls that is right after the whitewater run we would be taking on Tuesday. "This is one run you don't want to take. It's a class five with lots of sharp rocks," they said. When we saw it from a distance, it didn't look so bad.

However, when we saw it up close, we decided to heed their warning!









We then ckecked out the last rapid on the route, a class 3. We stood around and watched kayak's, rafts and duckies go through for about 30 minutes. It looked ... interesting, fun, exhilarating and wet. What we didn't realize then but would find out quickly the next day was just how cold 47 degree water really is! (That's not us on the right.)


When we could watch no longer, we headed home but took a detour and headed up one of the mountains by car. The leaves were beautiful, even if they still had a couple of more weeks to turn colors. We stopped and enjoyed several falls along the way and just talked. I think already we knew we were going to have a good time just hanging together, telling stories, insulting one another and just sharing.

We finally headed back down the mountain and headed back to our cabin. Supper time was upon us and we were hungry. We ate like kings and then sat around the table and played Rook for several hours. As the late hours closed in on us, and victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat in a heated game (Dad and I against Bruce and Jonathan), we opened the Sacred Scroll and closed the night with offering thanks to the Sure Right Hand. For the One who blessed us that first day together was about to give us one wild day the next!