Spain, Tracker School, Baltimore,
North Georgia, North Carolina, Misc.
November 22nd - January 11th,
1999
November 22nd - Visiting Celeste at The Mountain, Highlands, NC
November 29th - December 23rd - Tracker School Volunteer and Classes, New Jersey and visit to Baltimore
| On November 29th, I headed North on I-85 towards Waretown, New Jersey for the
Tom Brown Tracker School of Nature Awareness, Survival, and Tracking and the two classes I
had up there. The little pamphlet I got from the Tracker school mentioned something
about the class starting on Monday, but the date said November 29th. Woops. I
missed orientation. No biggie though. Nothing was really done that evening.
I arrived sometime around 2 am. I sat myself down in the room after breakfast
that following morning and the guy to my left turned out to be someone I knew from TAG
Trackers, a group I formed in Atlanta to get people together of like mind. Jim
showed up for a TAG Tracker Weekend. I didn't recognize him at first since he had
cut his hair! But it was a pleasant surprise to spend time with him that
week. We had a great time together and both experienced some incredible things. I'd like to get into some details about what happened in the class. However, I want to make a short description of what it is that these "Philosophy" classes are all about. Tom Brown has about 4 different "branches" in his school (Tracking, Survival, Awareness/Philosophy, Scout). Awareness/Philosophy is really a misnomer. "Spirituality" would be a better term. What some people are able to do during and after the classes is VERY hard for some people to believe. The things Tom's students are able to do defies logic. These skills begin with simple meditation and progress towards some pretty strange stuff which I'd rather not go into here. If you are interested in reading more, check out the THINK page I created on this. Inbetween classes, I hung out at the Tracker School's primitive camp in the middle of the Pine Barrens and helped tear down the Thunderdome (large shelter) to put up an army tent to replace it. A good five days of physical labor... nice after spending a week in heavy duty meditations. We removed a bunch of brush as well in preparation for a burn. Every now and then in the evenings, caretaker Rick led a few very powerful sweat lodges. It was a great time. Before heading back to Atlanta, I had the opportunity to take a class with "Ninja" Joe Lau to learn the Bamboo Fire Saw. It took me about 7 tries, but it eventually got a coal. Afterwards, I headed out to Baltimore, to visit my old college roomie Dan. We did basically nothing... and it was wonderful for both of us. After all the meditation and energy work, things can be really draining. And Dan had just finished another semester of medical school. We both desperately needed the break. Finally, I headed for Atlanta. |
 The Giant Peach (where is James?)
|
 My friend Jim Jammin' on his finger piano Check out his album and web site: www.ancienthand.com |
December 25th - January 3rd - Family Vacation to Spain
12-25 Leave Atlanta at 930PM to Paris to Madrid
Fly to:
12/26-29 Madrid
Fly to:
12/29-31 Seville
Drive to:
12/31-1/2 Granada
Fly to:
1/2-1/5 Barcelona
Fly to:
1/6 Madrid to Paris to Atlanta, arrival at 530PM
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 Gaudi Architecture in Barcelona Absolutely amazing! |
 Beautiful view from MontSerrat (outside of Barcelona) |
 Another view from MontSerrat |
 Citges Sunset (just south of Barcelona)... ah, the Mediteranian lifestyle! |
Annual North Georgia Winter Hike - January 9-10th
I didn't bring my camera on this, but perhaps I'll get some copies of the pics from this hike eventually
Coming Next...
I accepted a volunteer position with Cumberland Island National Seashore and will be living in a cabin near the "Settlement" on the North end of the island all by myself. I will be there until March 13th or so. Cumberland Island is an incredible place... a wildlife watcher's paradise, with tons of wild horses, armadillo, wild pigs, and more. Most of the island is taken up by an extremely healthy old growth live oak forest. It is an incredibly beautiful and magical place. My "travels" will resume in mid-April.
My E-Mail address is: andrew(at)koransky.com
Copyright (C) 1996-2008 Andrew Koransky
