23 August 2016 “I need to get you to sign some paperwork before I leave” he says. He is sitting on the counter in the…
Read the PostTurning of the Page (on being a NOLS Instructor part X)
Category: On Being a NOLS Instructor
The highs and lows, ins and outs, and ups and downs of life as a full time outdoor educator.
Damn her. Damn her for putting ideas in my head, ideas that had never crossed my mind. I was content to do what I do. …
Read the PostRuts and Roller Coasters (on being a NOLS instructor part IX)
Editors Note: This is a blog post I wrote back in the Autumn of 2012 during my first sojourn south to New Zealand. Though slightly…
Read the PostSeven Months In Advance (on being a NOLS instructor part VIII)
As usual, I wished for rain. It is always easier on the ego than feigning a case of the Sphinx Sphincter or Gannett Gut, things…
27 November 2013–Ambivalence mattered today. Jim and I have passed the planning torch over to the students. They are working in groups of two to…
“Why do we have to go so early? Will it be a long day?” Hannah asks. “That is a good question” I think to myself.…
“I like the sound of rain on the fly” Jim says, half prone in his red, mummy bag. “It is especially good when you know…
Torrential sheets of rain fall loudly on onto the tin roof of the McCoy Hut. I have set our small cook pot outside under the…
Read the PostThe Pay Scale (on being a NOLS instructor part VII)
Twenty-four hours ago we waded, almost thoughtlessly, across the calf deep McCoy Stream, climbed the stony embankment and walked to the small hut on the…
October 1st 2013 1100 — “Man, sometimes the group decision making process drives me insane” Sean utters as he crawls into the vestibule. One hand…
We all have things that we value, however, we don’t always act as though we value those things. I value my freedom, my family, honesty,…
Read the PostThe Cake Dilemma (on being a NOLS instructor… part VI)
“Is everything in order?” I ask the folks in the issue room. “Yeah, everything looks good, your students have all checked out” comes the reply.…
The large windows that make up the far end of the A Concourse at Denver International Airport afford a panoramic view. I sit at gate…
“The tent pole bag is over there” I gesture toward the side of the tent in the frosty, predawn darkness. Patrick gives me a blank…