I spent all day at Red River Gorge, hiking miles through the woods and scaling four cliffs. The first two climbs were pretty hard; the third climb was a free-solo (me and two other guys climbed a 200-foot cliff without any safety; it was pretty much amazing, but kinda scary). The fourth climb went by fine; I got stuck on a bolt for about five minutes, draining my energy, but I gritted my teeth, ignored the pain of my muscles, and scaled the wall to the top. I really love the outdoors. My wife and I are going to go the mountains a lot, me thinks :). We ate at a wonderful climber's restaurant--Miguel's Pizza--and played P.I.G. (I did not win, obviously, if you know my skills [or lack there-of] in basketball). The restaurant is situated against a campground only for climber's; about twenty to thirty tents spread throughout the small valley; Joe said, "It gets pretty crazy here at night; all the climbers are young kids." I wonder what he means by "crazy"? I'm guessing it's something like the worship of the golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai; our English translations say the people "played" or "danced," but the Hebrew is very much more explicit. Take a wild guess at what the people did in worship to the calf. You're probably right.

Sara and Joe told me, "We've decided that you really fit in with the crowd here." Hah! I never saw myself as the out-doorsey type, but I guess with the simple clothes I wear, my fascination with and love for nature, and the wild hair, it might work out. I've always seen myself in the "awkward" group; when the "awkward" group gets together, it isn't really that fun; it's just... well... awkward. "Hey, I'm awkward." "Me too." A pause. "Wow. This is really awkward." "I know."

I am preaching at a church tomorrow night. Please pray that it goes well. I am preaching on conversion, and I still need to get some stuff together.

I'm really craving coffee. The chocolate-covered expresso beans we ate during one of the hikes were good, but certainly no substitute for rich, black Ethiopian.