say who?

magnolia budolia has been deserving a staring role in a blog post for a long time comming. this post is the first of a series of tributes to maggie and her superiority above all other homo sapiens.

notice how maggy commands your attention in this photo as she looks skeptically at her brothers and their futile attmepts to look good in her presence.

photo by mefford williams

maggy also has a way of explaining and gesticulating that allows her to convey thoughts of great depth. here she is explaining buddhist philosopy to philly and i amid a christmas brunch. what a girl!

photo by philly williams

magnolia is also a brilliant cook. the complexity of tastes within the dishes she cooks go beyond all explanation or even the most powerful imagination. here's the heavenly christmas cake she made for the family.

photo by mefford williams

beauty, class, style. magnolia budolia williams is hands down my favorite sister. philly bearski agrees whole heartedly. i miss you already maggy. good luck in your last semester at rhodes. slay them all with your wit, bravado, and natural partying abilities.

photo by mefford williams

rick maas

I heard the news today that my academic advisor at UNC Asheville, Rick Maas, passed away.

photo by mefford williams

Dr. Maas or "Big Rick", as a result of being my advisor, taught over 17 hours of class and labs of my major. Enough time together in small, pollution control specific courses that we could play off each other, laugh, and joke our way completely off topic. I watched, Rick might argue that I led him, as he backed the van and trailer into a fence at campus. Dr. Maas told me that he would rather jump off the cliff into Wolf Lake during our Limnology Lab before me, because "It's best not to think too much about it." My last day of school, he handed me a note and a hug, "...Your humor, joy, playfullness and overall positive energy is a tremendous gift to this world. I feel honored to have been able to share these with you...(I think that you realize how much we have in common in this regard, even though I sometimes have to act a little more serious/mature/responsible than I really am inside.)" I couldn't have described you better, Dr. Maas.
I miss you already. I just can't believe you're not around anymore. I keep expecting to walk upstairs into Rhodes Robinson, across the breezeway, look in your always open office door, to see your feet on the desk, phone to ear, free hand waving or holding a half eaten sandwich.

That's the Man, in the middle, white shirt, and smiling:

UNCA photo

p bearski's southeastern tour

philly's out of school and came over to the asheville area to spend some quality time with his brother: quality time on the river. i've done my best to take him around to the spots. mom was giving him are hard time for not comming home earlier; so here's some photo evidence of his reasons for staying:

philly at the culasaja:

photo by mefford williams

philly getting his portage on:

photo by mefford williams

philly at the little T wave:

photo by mefford williams

we used to call the bearski "philly beep", but i'm proposing that be changed to "philly boof"

photo by mefford williams

hey philly, what's over that horizon line? next week in dallas, that's right.

photo by mefford williams

here's philly enjoying his quality time on the rivers

photo by mefford williams

maggy just arrived back from her trip yesterday; so we'll be sure to have a fun-filled sibling week before returning to the birthland of Texas. more love later.

a long december

photo by mefford williams

well, shanna has made her home in maryland again; while i've stayed in ash-vegas. each of us have been pursuing our own paths towards boosting respective bank accounts in preperation for our trip. shanna is once again a proud employee of powell's auto-parts store, while i've been laying tile and acting as general errand and task boy for penstock productions.

scanning slides at the office, awaiting daniel's return from a business trip:

photo by mefford williams

we had quite a happy thanksgiving with the Meffords. these photos are a long time in comming...

welcome to the family photo shoot: we took things very seriously...

photo by mefford williams

pa and ferrell kept their grins going for the camera while being heckled by family members outside the frame:

photo by mefford williams

philly and i have an incredible sense of humor, especially when family members are posing...

photo by mefford williams

i'm looking forward to seeing all the families in locations in Texas and Maryland later on this month.
i know this may be a photo-centric post, but that's what you're gonna get. if you feel the need to be regailed with stories, give a call.

i will end this post with some kayaking photo love from the extraordinarly mild temperatures of earlier this week:

photo by mefford williams

close-ups at the tallulah

it was a family affair this last weekend at the tallulah. with maria, philly, shanna, and myself making up the kayaking crew while mateo held down the fort in the shuttle vehicle.
i just brought along the big camera lens on the river this time; so we've got some close-up action.

Here's philly in the mix of the action at the biggest rapid of the day:

photo by mefford williams

Maria impressed us all by firing-it-up with as much grace and style as the boys:

photo by mefford williams

I had the opportunity to get two good shots of Philly, because he, like myself, likes to hike-up and run the big one twice. Here's my little bro putting his shoulders forward for the big hit at the bottom:

photo by mefford williams

I look forward to having some holiday photos up soon. Much love and Happy Thanksgiving.

nearly thanksgiving

the holidays are stomping their way ever closer, as is our launch date for new zealand. we still manage to fit in some good times on the river of course.
this past weekend shanna and I met up with philly, adam red beard, and john bubba roeder for an enjoyable, but overcast tallulah sunday.

Here's shanna leading the boys into the mini slotter:

photo by mefford williams

Shanna was firing it up as usual; here she is dropping into Oceana with Adam Red Beard looking on:

photo by mefford williams

I made a pass at "the thing" in Oceana as well. Here I am about to whited-out:

photo by philly williams

Here's philly comming out the bottom unscathed, with the crew in their boats awaiting his post-slide-smile:

photo by mefford williams

Stay tuned for another exciting episode. Same blog time. Same blog channel.

back home in the southeast

we made it. a cross-country drive with little if any trouble. shanna's working with nick, maria, dominique, and matteo while i've headed over to asheville to work with daniel and lvm while waiting for some construction gigs to come in.
We made straight for the river of course; so here's Shanna firing up a slot on the beautifully scenic Tallulah river in Georgia:


photo by mefford williams

Stay updated we should have some more updates and pictures soon. Thanks much to all the family and friends who put us up on our way across the states and much love to all the family and friends we have yet to see.


photo by mefford williams

birthday love for philly and california's last days

photo by mefford williams

Just a few days away from leaving california, I'm focused on enjoying my time. Although most of work has been in the desert of Central and Southern California, no kayaking here in September and October, I have had the opportunity to see and experience alot of this state that I may not have seen otherwise. So here's a big shout to this summer and fall's adventures and the excitement of heading home.

shanna in resort-pose at bear creek earlier this summer:

photo by mefford williams

Shanna and I have been split-up for our second to last week of work. I'm in So-Cal at a resort and Shanna's in Sequoia National Park at a resort. Tough times, tough times.

On another note, I'd like to send out my love to now 19 year-old brother Philly: you a crazy b#$% but I love ya.

photo by mefford williams

I look forward to seeing you soon Philly. Much love and all the best on your birthday.

a visit with linda in san franisco

over the past weekend shanna and i had the opportunity to visit linda in the lovely town of san fransisco. san fransisco is a city of vast uniqueness. with a good friend as a guide, we carefully sampled the city atmosphere. hippies, wanderers, and many other types of liberals abound in this fair city; so we felt reasonably safe.

breakfast with linda, still safely out of the range of the trains.

photo by mefford williams

after breakfast we made tracks for a free street festival. our first show: two layered circus children.

photo by mefford williams

the public transportation in the city is great and user friendly if you happen to be traveling with a local. thanks much to linda, we were more effectively mobile than the other tourists.

photo by shanna powell

we saw the sights, traveling by foot, train, and bus looking for a reflection of ourselves in the dizzing metropolis.

photo by shanna powell

we didn't make it to the botanical gardens until after the sun went behind the hills; so no fabulous photos from that worldly garden.
only two more weeks of work, now before the long drive.

birthday at mono lake

Sorry about the absence of posts. things are busy as usual; probably the same story for everyone. this week we're in the magnificent yosemite valley after a picturesque week in mono lake. Next week is an off week, which hopefully means some kayaking. More than likely i'll be fixing the car for the first half: need new calipers and pads on the front brakes again.
Fixing the car isn't so beautiful, but I did spend my birthday in quite a beautiful location. Here is the serene and mysterious 'Dead Sea of California', Mono Lake:

photo by Mefford Williams

Then it was a short drive over Tioga pass and into Yosemite for a week; Shanna working as a naturalist, myself as the cook.

Here is the screaming facial profile of the legendary Miwok Indian woman, Tissiak, known to pale face as Half Dome:

photo by Mefford Williams

I hope to have more up some, especially some shots of the upcoming car maintanence. Lots of love to everyone.

a happy birthday card for dommy

I would like to wish my cousin Dominique a happy 2nd birthday. I hope you have a good party; maybe we'll get some photos up from the festivities. For now all the best from me in California to you in North Carolina. I look forward to seeing you again in November.
Much love, Mefford.

training in the dirt

photo by Mefford Williams

Well, we've been on big training missions for Naturalists at Large. Part of which included some high ropes course training.

Shanna racking up the resume points for that dream job with the phone company.

photo by Mefford Williams

I also spent some time up high after clambering around on similar phone poles.

photo by Shanna Powell

Our views from up high were quite nice even in the blasting hot California sun.

photo by Mefford Williams

Stay tuned for a more substantial update on resource and training days, soon.

in the big "D"

Just recently we took a quick jaunt to Dallas to hang out with the fam.

photo by Mefford Williams
That of course was not the fam.

We cruised around with family:

photo by Mefford Williams


photo by Mefford Williams

We also had a nice visit at my mom's new workplace, Scottish Rite Hospital:

photo by Mefford Williams

Quite a special hospital for children, mom gave us the full tour:

photo by Mefford Williams

She also introduced us to her lovely co-workers:

photo by Mefford Williams

Before our lunch with Mom, we saw Dad for a moment on Friday morning. He was moving at characteristic speed and needed a ride as a result of a broken car. Here he is: coffee and briefcase in hand, phone to ear, traveling at lightening speed.

photo by Mefford Williams

Back to Mom's we enjoyed lovely dinners outside:

photo by Mefford Williams

And the company of Joe and Ziggy:

photo by Mefford Williams

A trip to Dallas wouldn't be anything without a visit to the farm:

photo by Mefford Williams

where we enjoyed a nice porch lunch with Dad:

photo by Mefford Williams

After lunch, I couldn't help but challenging myself to jumping the hay bales which lined the length of the entrance road.
Philly coming along for the fun:

photo by Shanna Powell

Philly gapping a big one:

photo by Shanna Powell

Mefford, same, only a lesser gap:


photo by Shanna Powell

Later on Philly began to regard our activity with some dismay:

photo by Shanna Powell

Philly, knowing this was a bad idea:

photo by Shanna Powell

Even without the hay bale shinnanigans, we really enjoyed ourselves during our short stay in Dallas and look forward to a more lengthy visit soon. Much love to each and every family member: Mom, Dad, Philly, Steve, and Mari. We hope Maggie will join us next time, too.