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