Back, and a little worse for the wear.

Vacation is over, and I am afraid that spells big trouble for all of you hoping some terrible calamity had befallen me and you would be saved from this blog forever.  Life Explained has risen from it's shallow grave and is haunting the internet again, sorry.

We went to the Smoky Mountains, beautiful, scenic, and peaceful.  I like to vacation in the mountains, the seclusion is powerful, and the silence is
overwhelming.  But, I like to vacation in the mountains close to a town like Gatlinburg, or Estes Park (depending on the mountains) because I also like crowds, chaos, and commotion.  The mountains offer the best of both worlds.

I have not spent too much time in the mountains, anywhere, really just the Rockies, and the Smokys.  So, if you want expertise you are in the wrong place, as usual.  But, there are some noticeable differences, the Rockies are severe, forbidding, magnificent, stark, and beautiful, the Smoky Mountains are tree covered, friendly, wrapping you in a canopy of vegetation like a Mother's embrace.  It almost feels like you could just walk right up the side of the mountain, a casual stroll to the tree covered summit.  This is an illusion, of course, quickly shattered by hiking twenty yards or so down the road from the cabin, turning around and struggling back up.  After reaching the front door you sound like Darth Vader after a vigorous run on a treadmill.

"Luke, do you have some oxygen?"

There are many more posts to follow, but there was a tragic accident at work involving the drawer where my important stuff is stored, and I need to gripe and complain.

Before leaving, I would like to tell you about a touching moment shared with my oldest son on Father's Day, he told me "dad, you have always been like a Father to me."  It still brings a tear to my eye.  Last year, my son's gave me a coffee mug, some of them say "World's #1 Dad," this one had my actual ranking, "World's # 7,335,663,792 (the numbers wrapped around the mug several times) Dad."