Propping Mountains Up on Matchsticks

Congratulations to Mr. Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "Warning Sign" by Coldplay as last Saturday's Song of the Day. It's good to know that you can count on death, taxes, and Andrew Tuegel naming Coldplay songs as the three immutable truths of the human existence.

Well, I have returned from a challenging and rewarding week on Grizzly Peak with YES (Youth Encouragement Services) of Nashville. It was a week of marathons. It was the first time that I have ever spent five, yes five, hours trying to get one, yes one, camper to rappel. Also, our summit trip yesterday spanned almost 12 hours, which makes for a long day for everyone, even the supposedly invincible guides. All in all, it was another great week in the mountains.

The aspect of this trip that made it truly special is that for many of the kids on this trip, this was not simply a trip to another state, it was almost a trip to another world. Many of these kids had never slept in a tent before, let alone even thought about climbing a mountain. Out of the thirteen kids who came on the trip, it was the the inaugural airplane ride for 12 of them.

Somehow, we were able to complete one of the most challenging summit hikes that Wilderness Trek throws at potential groups. I would love to think that our summit was due to the excellent guiding services of Brittany Seay, Connor Halstead, and yours truly, but deep down, I knew there was something else out there pushing those kids beyond what they thought they could ever accomplish. That's why I love this job.

In other news, I was very pleased to see Liverpool take down Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga in a preseason friendly in Switzerland on Tuesday night. Newly signed Urkanian striker Andriy Voronin had two goals and Mr. John Arne Riise contributed a left-footed thunderstrike to complete the scoring for the Reds. You can see the full highlights here:

Liverpool 3-2 Werder Bremen - All the goals and highlights
Uploaded by lfcredsdotcom

That's about all for today, but I'll be back with more tomorrow.