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 Charlie Knox26, m, resident of spa, northern ireland, a thinker, who tries to be real, enjoys the company of nala(left), indebted to jesus for his grace and instruction in life and whose, amongst other things, studying sports science at UUJ. enjoy rugby a whole lot! |
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Thursday, August 30, 2007 Did it for the first time on Sunday. Definitely left it too long. Absolutely stunning spot. Antrim's answer to Tollymore and an outstanding one at that.........Glenarriff Forest Park. posted by charlie | 2:22 PM |  Live music is good for the heart. It makes you feel. I find when i listen to good live music hopes and fears stir in my heart and those happinesses and sadnesses of life come a little closer. This is particuarly true when Foy Vance is providing the tunes. Had a great night down at the Black box last night. What a performer he is. Different than anyone else. And he's from round here. Nice to catch up with a few friends down there too! Moving on Life has slowed this week with my summer job ending on Friday past. It's given me time to reflect a little on the summer and to prepare some for the incoming season. Also had time to do lots of little odd jobs that build up when you're busy like washing the car, tidying my room etc etc. This summer was a good one but felt different than any up to now. I suppose i felt older. This dawned on me as i was thinking in the shower one evening up at the house in Dromara where i was house sitting. I came up with a few reasons why this summer felt like a more mature one. Weddings - This summer saw a right few fellas who i'm close to tying the knot. Ricey, Johnny and Tim all headed off into new chapters of their lives and it didn't feel in anyway out of the ordinary for them to be doing so. All of them have got themselves some great wifes (not so sure about the spelling there but didn't want to use 'wives' in case it gave the idea that they've a number on the go..ok in kenya...not ok in norn iron!) and they've all got themselves homes where i can visit and enjoy a feed or two. Again it all feels fairly timely for them to be doing this and makes me feel just a wee bit older! Kenya - To have led 15 adults on a cross cultural trip was a first for myself and matty. It's not something i think i could have done 5 years ago. Who knows? Less galavanting - Yeah there's been the odd adventure this summer and 1 or 2 late nights but they definitely weren;t the norm. I think this is the biggest change. Usually summer for me means late nights, late mornings and never being at home that much but this year was different. Work - I worked again as a Camp Manager this year for the IRFU. The difference this year was that the role felt much more natural. Being in charge of the camps i was on certainly felt like less of a challenge and the responsibilies that go with the role didn't feel as taxing. Old friends returning- This summer has saw quite a few old aqquaintances make their way back over the pond from the US. Some of these lads were some of my earliest connections with the US, formed in my mid teens. It was great just to catch up with these close friends and think back over the years since we met and all that's taken place in our lives. Coaching - This summer was the first time I've coached adults. For the first few weeks of pre-season i worked alongside our 1st XV coach at the club helping with some conditioning and training with the senior squad. From then on I've looked after quite a number of sessions for our 3rdXV teams down. I've really enjoyed the challenge of working at a higher standard. Things get alot more techincal with older players and I'm enjoying the challenge. A fellow explorer - Things with Melissa have went from strength to strength up to and over the summer. We've had alot of meals together, plenty of drives and chats and laughed at each other a lot along the way. I know this isn't any indicator of getting older but things on this front just feel pretty stable, which hasn't always been my story, and is something I'm enjoying a whole lot. Hairline - I think it may be going north just ever so slightly...this is to be expected given the geneaology! So I think I leave this summer knowing that I'm getting just a little older. This is not a morbid thing at all, in fact I'm quite liking it. New seasons in life are to be celebrated not mourned (obviously thats not always true but i think it is in this case!). I guess the challenge is to continue living well. To try and avoid life becoming predictable or mundane, with God's help and direction to go after those dreams he's put on my heart, no longer having the excuse of 'being to young' for not doing something. posted by charlie | 1:06 PM | Saturday, August 11, 2007 Freedom Writers  watched freedom writers starring hilary swank last week (on stevie p's recommendation). really liked it.it's all about an idealistic starting teacher who gets a post in a tough school which is overrun with gang problems and that has a very high pupil drop out rate. things get off to a depressing start for her with all sorts of interesting things going on in her class but she clings to her calling (to the detriment of her marriage..not so sure about that!?), takes a right whack of risks with her teaching style and has to fight her corner plenty with her bosses. the results are good. it's a true story and is in xtravision at the minute (who are currently doing a £2 a night offer on new releases.) posted by charlie | 5:39 PM | all go as expected i hit the ground running after kenya. i've been on 2 stag doo's on the two weekends. tim's was first, camping up at snotsninsky. the campsite is on top of one of the dromara hills and the night we got was perfect with completely clear skies and a full moon hanging over us. We were able to see lights all over Down and the mournes were silhouetted in the distance as we sat around the fire telling yarns and enjoying a few eats and drinks. It was an apt send off for Tim. Will definitely be up there again to camp! johnny's came next. we tackled 9 holes at temple first (badly!). then we headed up to the slieve croob (the closest thing to a local that we have!) for some lovely and large portioned grub before singing and dancing into the wee hours with entertainment provided by seamus and marie (older couple from newcastle helped along by the backing tracks! ie slieve croob standard!). we did comandeer the mic a few times including andy edgar giving 'one cornetto' a rendition. the bar was empty because of a funeral in the area so apart from 3 other blokes we had the whole place to ourselves! again a brilliant send off!! i've also completed 2 summer scrummage camps during the weeks. this is my summer job with the IRFU. I manage the camps and was in enniskillen and omagh over the past two weeks. I managed to clock a serious load of miles on the polo which constantly feels like it is about to give up the ghost. apparently the spark plug leads are dodgy making it splutter a fair bit when you put the pedal to the metal. some of these days i'll get it to the mechanic. during the week in enniskillen i had my mate tucker over from the states. he was one of the first ever americans i got to know and i went on to stay and work with him in chicago on several occasions. it was great to have him around for a day or two. we managed a trip out to the marble arch caves which are fantastic...to think that all the features are a result of 1000's of years of nature taking it's course amazes me. we were given out tour by a girl who had a mixed up north and south accent and who sounded like she'd been sucking on helium before we arrived. it added to the memory. we also managed one night camping trip at crom estate. i had booked a pitch in their campsite but when we arrived the place was full of scouts so we headed over to the old castle ruins and set up in it's grounds. it sits right on the edge of lough erne and is very beautiful. a nice spot to camp. rugby at the club has also returned. that's me now until april. glad to be back. helping coach a little with the adult club this year. that's a first. hopefully we'll get things off to a better start than ireland did today!! (by the way. very much looking forward to the rugby world cup!) posted by charlie | 5:10 PM | |
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