LOCALITIES
I live in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, supposedly the oldest mountain range on the planet. Although formally living in a remote cabin up on a ridge near a town called Highlands, I have since come out of my relative geographic isolation to reside in a college town called Boone. When I came to Boone in 1997, after a year of working various cooking jobs at places including Chetola Resort and Heavenly Mountain Resort, I began a long and steady process of continuing my education. This was basically from scratch, because it was 1998 and I had graduated high school in 1989. After scraping together all the money I could, I began attending Wilkes Community College and paying for it as I went along. Eventually, I transferred to Appalachian State University, and currently am pursuing a double major in Asian Studies and Philosophy & Religion.
I grew up in Charlotte, but I have lived in these mountains since 1989. To support myself as a full-time student, I am a full-time cook at Pepper's Restaurant. I was a member of a nearby Soto Zen Temple where I recieved lay ordination in 1999, but since then I have left the Temple to practice on my own.
I am 29 years old and have been divorced and single since early 1993. My parents still live in Charlotte and I drive there to see them when I can get around school and work long enough. I have two brothers, one living in Florida and one in a small town near Raliegh called Fuquay-Varina. I am very proud of both my parents for the people they are. They both have a sincere and sustainable work ethic, are both extremely literate and thoughtful, and now that the awkwardness and turmoil of my younger years has passed, I feel I know and respect them now more than ever.
The same goes for my brothers. My younger brother is the head of a landscaping nursery and works very hard; my older brother is a teacher and is very dedicated to what he does, and to his two wonderful children.
No family is perfect, but mine seems to have made the best out of the hard times and they never give up hope.
My daily life here in Boone is usually very busy. Because I am a somewhat older student than most, and I am paying for my education myself, I take the classes seriously and contribute all that I can. Upon my enrollment at ASU, I also began a Zen Buddhist Group that I named the ASU Zen Society. This has been a unique experience for me in many ways. My initial experience with Zen meditation was within the context of having a leader or teacher present; but the Society sits as a group with no hierarchy. The membership fluctuates, and as it does sometimes it dwindles to just two or three participants. But the intent is the same, and there is a unity there that is free of charge, with no expectations and no fees.
We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are my nights off from work. When I am not attending school, studying, or working, I am writing, and I have an Online Diary that people can read and comment on.
Well, that's about it for the localities of my daily life experience. I hope you have enjoyed your stay. If you are curious, there is a small set of links below that have to do with what I have just written.
AN EXPLORATION OF LOCALITIES
SHORTCUT MENU:
Diary: Index: Writings: Inner Pages: Research:Teachings:
Happenings: April Archive: March Archive: Feb. Archive:
