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| Survivor |
My friend Reid publishes a weekly newsletter, "Email for Talking." Each week there is a segment titled "Things That Treated Me Well." Coincidentally, Email for Talking treated me very well. It is in that spirit that I publish this year's third annual list of favorite things. These are the things -- food, gear, media, places, and people that treated me well this year.
Survivor
Though this list is in no particular order, it must start with binge-watching Survivor. I talk about Survivor the way sports dorks discuss fantasy football: gameplay, strategy, player strengths and weaknesses, I slurp it up. My heart belongs to the Golden Age of the mid-2000s where Yule is God, J.T. is Jesus, and Parvati is the Holy Spirit.
Survivor Wednesdays
Rebecca and I fell in love with Survivor streaming i.e., binge-watching. Now that Survivor is back on the air, we're watching it the old-fashioned way: on T.V., week-to-week, with our friends. I'm betting the farm on DeShawn.
Cherokee National Forest
Ancestral lands of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee) and S'atsoyaha (Yuchi); currently under the management of the U.S. Forest Service. Miles upon miles of gravel an hour east of Chattanooga.
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
The history of the world's youngest and second-fastest religion is WILD and Krakauer is a literary giant worthy of writing about its most diabolical sects.
my friend Brooks
Brooks is easily one of the most generous persons I know. Here is an honest-to-God text thread we exchanged before a bikepacking trip in which Brooks cannibalized his own bike to give me his brake levers so I could put dirt drops on my bike:
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| What a guy! |
the COVID-19 vaccine
Get yours!
Olympic National Park
Ancestral lands of the Coast Salish, S'Klallam, and others. Currently under the management of the National Park Service. I haven't visited many National Parks but I quite liked this one. Very green. I think I understand Wolves in the Throne Room now. A definite highlight of 2021 for me.
Velo Coffee
Chattanooga's best coffee. I love everything they do but the Boneshaker roast brewed in the Moka pot? Oh, baby. That's the work of God.
@pondero on Instagram
Get a load of this bio: "Leisure Consultant, epic lollygagger, specializing in bicycles, hammocks, and coffee outside." Chris Johnson is my bikespiration. Great follow.
@goodolearya on Instagram
Another bikespiration, another great follow. Arya emanates a certain kind of joy that's infectious, even through a screen. I want to be more like her. The thread has been repurposed for Himalayan art, which is still rad.
Prentice Cooper State Forest
Ancestral lands of the S'atsoyaha (Yuchi), Shawandassee Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee), and Tsalaguweiti (Cherokee); currently under the management of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Game Reserve Road is the area's finest gravel and the meandering Jeep roads make for some great adventure biking.
I love Fridays. Partly because my friend Reid publishes a weekly newsletter about life, humor, music, recipes, and self-help/philosophy-lite type stuff. I especially appreciate his ruminations on life and the recipes, which always slap.
Miller High Life in a bottle
Craft beer lovers, close your eyes. I believe in the Nicene Creed. I believe good people should adopt pit bulls. And I believe that Miller High Life in a bottle is one of the greatest tasting and most refreshing things in this God-created world. A foretaste of the life of the world to come. Lord, come quickly.
my bike
A fully rigid, singlespeed, drop bar, 29" mountain bike sounds dumb because it is. And it's oh so fun.
Back Roads to a Better Life by Charles Butterworth
My grandfather self-published his autobiography in 2006 and died shortly after. I never read it until 2021. Frankly, I'm glad. I don't think I would have appreciated the wisdom and humor within it as a younger man. I laughed. I cried. Thanks, Papa B.
If you're coming over for dinner, I'm probably making this recipe from Pépin's "Budget Tuesday" series.
the entire Teenage Bottlerocket discography
I don't care if all the songs sound the same. Teenage Bottlerocket is fun. Songs about skating outside gas stations, wanting to be a dog, or killing your boss and customers at Burger King. Just a bunch of stupid songs that bring a smile to my face every single listen.
our front porch
Trudier Harris called porch-sitting a "creative southern tradition." I can't read the entire article on JSTOR without a paid account but think about it: storytelling, pickin' and grinnin', meal sharing, and plant growing all take place on the porch. Rebecca planted zinnias all around ours and we sat and watched them dance in the wind, we talked to each other and to our neighbors, and we created a community in our community. I love our tiny porch.
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THIS podcast with Brendan Leonard about his changed relationship with rock climbing
This podcast really helped me process and verbalize my own relationship with rock climbing. Dang, Brendan Leonard, AKA "semi-rad," has been influencing me for ten years now.
Selsun Blue
I've spent the last few years battling pretty severe dandruff. I'm not talking about a little white powder on my shoulders. I'm talking full-on scabs the size of Frosted Flakes falling off my head. I tried countless natural remedies to no avail, but all it took was one wash with the hard, straight chemical stuff to cure my scalp.
A big ol' gravel loop around the Cohutta and Big Frog Wildernesses. This ride didn't "treat me well," per se, but I also loved it. It's about time to do it again, I think.
Tates Helles German Lager from Oyster City Brewery
This is a craft light beer with an A+ can design. Brewed near my hometown in Appalachicola, Florida. "Tate's Hell" is a notoriously rugged section of the Appalachicola National Forest. "Helles" is a German lager. I suggest drinking it by the Gulf with a side-serving of raw oysters.
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the Outdoor Research Face Cover
A totally responsible and comfortable thing to wear while teaching, grocery shopping, or climbing. Do your part.
"Shoulders" by Coheed and Cambria
The chorus hook could just as easily be sung by the Backstreet Boys or One Direction but because it's Coheed, you still get some late-80's Iron Maiden-esque riffage. And somehow it works really, really well.
black beans
I got this recipe from Email for Talking that involves a sautéed onion, a can of black beans, spices, lime juice, and a little bit of reduction that absolutely slaps. Great with rice or huevos rancheros.
Apalachicola National Forest
Ancestral lands of the Appalachee and Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek); currently under the management of the U.S. Forest Service. My homecoming bikepacking trip with Russ was a highlight of the year.
cowboy / cowgirl / cowperson camping
Probably 80% of my sleeping outside over the last decade has been without a tent or tarp. It's lighter, faster, and spectacular-er. Which has come in handy this year since I've been...
sleeping outside once a month
This New Year's resolution has gotten me back to sleeping outside on a regular basis, embracing the art of the "microadventure," and feeling a lot more like myself. Highly recommend even if you miss a month. Get out there!
My favorite local ride links gravel, singletrack, dirt, and a scenic highway with a couple of huge descents -- one dirt and one road -- and lots of options for longer variations. Great activity before getting...
Pizza Bros $5 Special
A slice of New York-style + a pint of Bros Brew for $5
Primordial Arcana by Wolves in the Throne Room
"Mountain Magick," was released while we were in Olympic National Park. Listening to it surrounded by deep dark forests of moss-covered spruce and hemlock is highly recommended.
THIS episode of the Know Your Enemy podcast
This episode of Know Your Enemy with Daniel Sherrell and Dorothy Fortenberry is about childbearing and rearing during the anthropocene. Currently, I only have a dog so it was the discussion of spirituality and politics, hope and despair, and individual and collective action that did it for me. It was the earnest and hopeful thing I needed after reading...
How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm
This is not a feel-good book. It is also not an "anarchist cookbook" or "how-to manual" for exploding actual pipelines. It is, however, a meditation on the political efficacy and moral virtue of violence in the age of climate collapse. Since I still have one foot firmly planted in anabaptish, pseudo-Quaker pacifism, this was a challenging read and I'm glad I read it.
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
Ancestral lands of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee), Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/ Shawnee), and S'atsoyaha (Yuchi); currently under the management of the U.S. National Park Service. I used to love adventure climbing here. Adventure biking is even better.
Bikes, Brooks, and Big South Fork. Just three of many things that treated me very well this year.
I am rich.
I don’t think you have room for any more rad, slapping stuff. Thanks for sharing. My dad is smiling.
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