I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse and stuff'd with the stuff
that is fine,

One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same
and the largest the same,
A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant
and hospitable down by the Oconee I live,
A Yankee bound my own way ready for trade, my joints the
limberest joints on earth and the sternest joints on earth,
A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin
leggings, a Louisianian or Georgian,
A boatman over lakes or bays or along coasts, a Hoosier,
Badger, Buck-eye;
At home on Kanadian snow-shoes or up in the bush, or with
fishermen off Newfoundland,
At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and
tacking,
At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine,
or the Texan ranch,
Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners,
(loving their big proportions,)
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake
hands and welcome to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion,
A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker,
Prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician, priest.

I resist any thing better than my own diversity,
Breathe the air but leave plenty after me,
And am not stuck up, and am in my place.

(The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place,
The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in
their place,
The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.)

-----

I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I now work at an elementary school. Education and the arts are my primary passions, and I enjoy writing meager verse in my spare time.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The most rewarding aspect of travel, for me, is bonding with locals and fellow travelers, and Couchsurfing has proven to be a great resource in that regard. I've been so enriched by the people I've met, and I hope to offer something of that to everyone with whom I come into contact.

Interests

Literature
Cinema
Writing
Board Games

Music, Movies, and Books

So hard to list favorites, so I'll mention a couple things I've enjoyed recently.

Music: The Golden Cockerel at The Santa Fe Opera
Movie: Summer Interlude by Ingmar Bergman
Book: Riding the Earthboy 40 by James Welch

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Backpacking across Southern Appalachian balds near Shining Rock Wilderness.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, England, France, Greece, Italy, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States