The Storied Outdoors

What happens when we step away from our routines long enough to learn how to pay attention again?Pastor and writer Joel Busby joins us to reflect on a family sabbatical through seven national parks in Colorado and Utah. Along the way, there was a personal-best cutthroat trout, a close call with a mudslide, and a growing appreciation for the way wilderness reshapes our attention.We talk about the spiritual value of sabbatical, the beauty and barrenness of desert landscapes, and what happens when we put away our phones and become more present to God, creation, and the people we love.What if the outdoors offers more than an escape from everyday life? What if it helps us recover the art of being human?

Ep. 191 Stoking Embers | Seth Lewis

Today on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with writer Seth Lewis, author of The Language of the Rivers and the Stars, for a conversation about wonder, creation, and learning to pay attention.Seth takes us back to his childhood adventures growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, and the mountains of North Alabama, sharing stories of exploration, including learning to trust his dog’s remarkable homing instincts. His journey eventually took him to Ireland, where living and pastoring among breathtaking landscapes deepened his sense of awe and helped shape an idea that would become central to his writing: creation has a language.But what does creation say?For Seth, the rivers, mountains, stars, wildflowers, and even the chaos of the sea can point beyond themselves to the glory, wisdom, and character of God. Creation doesn't replace revelation, but it gives words like glory, wonder, and majesty a meaning we can experience.Drawing on C.S. Lewis and Scripture, we talk about wonder as a language of the soul, what we lose when we stop paying attention to the natural world, and how slowing down can restore something we desperately need: perspective.Seth reminds us of Jesus' invitation to “consider the wildflowers” and offers a simple challenge for a distracted and hurried world:Look up.Whether you're standing beside a river, walking through the woods, staring at the stars, or simply going about an ordinary day, creation is inviting us to pause, pay attention, and remember the One who made it.Follow Seth’s Blog @ Sethlewis.iePurchase Seth’s Book Here

Philippians 4:8[8] Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (ESV)In this Stoking Embers episode of The Storied Outdoors, Brad Hill and Bryan Gill reflect on their conversation with Grant Batson, craftsman, pipe maker, guitarist, and fly fisherman. Inspired by Grant’s approach to his work and life, Brad and Bryan explore the relationship between craftsmanship, beauty, rest, and the lessons we learn through failure.Growing up in an environment where things were repaired rather than replaced, Grant developed a strong work ethic and an appreciation for making things by hand. But his story also reveals something deeper: the importance of creating things that are not merely useful, but beautiful. In a world increasingly shaped by efficiency, convenience, and disposable products, what do we lose when we stop valuing beauty, quality, and things built to last?The conversation turns to our capacity to recognize beauty as a reflection of our Creator. From the architecture of Sarajevo and the craftsmanship of heirloom furniture to the flowers growing in a garden and the fleeting colors of a sunset, Brad and Bryan consider how learning to see beauty can deepen our gratitude, awaken our worship, and help us recognize the inherent value of the people around us. They also explore how we cultivate an eye for what is good through apprenticeship, imitation, and the wisdom of those who have gone before us.Grant’s reflections on rest and failure offer another important lesson. When we lose our peace, we hurry—and when we hurry, we often make poor decisions. Whether through pipe making, fly fishing, or simply sitting beside a river with nowhere else to be, we need practices that slow us down and remind us that life is more than a race against the clock. And when we fail, we have an opportunity to learn, grow, and extend grace to ourselves and others.Join Brad and Bryan for a thoughtful conversation about recovering the art of making, learning to see beauty, embracing failure, and making room for the kind of rest that helps us pay attention to what matters most.The Storied Outdoors explores the stories that shape us and the lessons our adventures teach us about the lives we are meant to live.Street Photographer Dino https://www.instagram.com/dino.serrao/Aldous Huxley "Time and the Machine"

Today on The Storied Outdoors, we’re joined by Grant Batson, craftsman, pipe maker, guitar maker, fly fisherman, and founder of Batson Made. Grant has spent his life learning the language of wood, following its grain, respecting its character, and patiently transforming rough pieces of material into objects of beauty and lasting value.In a culture increasingly defined by speed, convenience, and disposable things, Grant’s work offers a different way of seeing. His story is one of craftsmanship, patience, and the conviction that making something well matters. We talk about the childhood experiences and mentors that shaped his imagination, the common thread connecting his guitars, furniture, and pipes, and the moment craftsmanship became more than a hobby and began to feel like a calling.Grant takes us inside the world of pipe making and shares what working with wood has taught him about patience, failure, and paying attention. We explore what it means to “follow the grain” and how that philosophy might extend beyond the workshop and into the way we live our own lives. We even imagine what it would mean for someone to discover one of his pipes a hundred years from now—and what that object might reveal about the man who made it.Our conversation also takes us outdoors, where Grant’s love of fly fishing provides another window into the contemplative life. Along the way, we talk about our mutual friend Chris Hanson, the curious connection between fly fishing and pipe smoking, and why both activities seem to invite us to slow down, pay attention, and be present in a world that rarely encourages either.Ultimately, this is a conversation about more than pipes, guitars, wood, or fly fishing. It’s about the stories embedded in the things we make, the adventures that shape us, and the deeper work of becoming the people we were created to be.And perhaps the question at the heart of the conversation is this:If we spend our lives turning rough blocks of wood into objects of beauty, what does the process of becoming teach us about what God is shaping in all of us?

Bryan and Brad break down their conversation with Jason from OutdoorX4 Magazine. Today on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with Jason Varnedoe, Chief Marketing Officer of OutdoorX4, lifelong fisherman, habitual tinkerer, pilot, mentor, and—perhaps most fittingly—a pathfinder.Jason’s story stretches from the coastal marshes and diverse landscapes of South Carolina to the canyon creeks and desert washes of Arizona. Along the way, a lifetime of fishing, camping, flying, tinkering, and exploring has shaped the way he sees both the outdoors and the stories we tell about it. We talk about the places that formed him, his next adventure chasing small streams with a fly rod, and how a serious heart surgery became an unexpected chapter in his own story of finding a way forward.Jason also pulls back the curtain on OutdoorX4, an immersive media platform built around the idea that vehicles can be gateways to meaningful outdoor experiences. We explore the explosion of overlanding and the funny reality that much of what is now marketed as “overlanding gear” used to be what we simply called camping. More importantly, we dig into what happens when the gear, the marketing, and the adventure become secondary to the experience itself.That leads to a deeper conversation about storytelling and authenticity. Jason shares how OutdoorX4 chooses the stories it tells, how he balances marketing strategy with genuine storytelling, and why he believes people are far more discerning than the internet sometimes gives them credit for. We talk about the loss of community stories, the importance of reclaiming the “real” in our lives, and the ordinary stories—bartering over the price of crickets, earning free coffee by sweeping a parking lot, and the small moments around a campfire—that often become the stories that make us.We also explore the power of a fire in the wilderness: how, in the darkness, a distant light can mean something far greater than warmth or cooking. A fire is greater than the sum of its parts. It signals presence. It offers hope. And perhaps that is what good stories do, too.Ultimately, this conversation moves beyond adventure and marketing into something much more foundational: community, presence, and the people who shape us. Jason reflects on mentoring the next generation and lands on a simple truth every parent and adventurer should remember—the most important thing you can give a child is your presence.It’s a conversation about finding your way, telling better stories, and remembering that the best adventures aren’t always the most spectacular ones. Sometimes they’re the ones that bring us back to what—and who—matters most.

Today on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with Jason Varnadoe, Chief Marketing Officer of OutdoorX4, lifelong fisherman, habitual tinkerer, pilot, mentor, and—perhaps most fittingly—a pathfinder.Jason’s story stretches from the coastal marshes and diverse landscapes of South Carolina to the canyon creeks and desert washes of Arizona. Along the way, a lifetime of fishing, camping, flying, tinkering, and exploring has shaped the way he sees both the outdoors and the stories we tell about it. We talk about the places that formed him, his next adventure chasing small streams with a fly rod, and how a serious heart surgery became an unexpected chapter in his own story of finding a way forward.Jason also pulls back the curtain on OutdoorX4, an immersive media platform built around the idea that vehicles can be gateways to meaningful outdoor experiences. We explore the explosion of overlanding and the funny reality that much of what is now marketed as “overlanding gear” used to be what we simply called camping. More importantly, we dig into what happens when the gear, the marketing, and the adventure become secondary to the experience itself.That leads to a deeper conversation about storytelling and authenticity. Jason shares how OutdoorX4 chooses the stories it tells, how he balances marketing strategy with genuine storytelling, and why he believes people are far more discerning than the internet sometimes gives them credit for. We talk about the loss of community stories, the importance of reclaiming the “real” in our lives, and the ordinary stories—bartering over the price of crickets, earning free coffee by sweeping a parking lot, and the small moments around a campfire—that often become the stories that make us.We also explore the power of a fire in the wilderness: how, in the darkness, a distant light can mean something far greater than warmth or cooking. A fire is greater than the sum of its parts. It signals presence. It offers hope. And perhaps that is what good stories do, too.Ultimately, this conversation moves beyond adventure and marketing into something much more foundational: community, presence, and the people who shape us. Jason reflects on mentoring the next generation and lands on a simple truth every parent and adventurer should remember—the most important thing you can give a child is your presence.It’s a conversation about finding your way, telling better stories, and remembering that the best adventures aren’t always the most spectacular ones. Sometimes they’re the ones that bring us back to what—and who—matters most.visit www.outdoorx4.comSubscribe to Outdoorx4 YouTube Here Visit Outdoorx4 Instagram Here

Bryan and Brad sit down and stoke the embers of thier conversation with Howard Schaap and his Memior Brooding over the Waters. Today on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with writer Howard Schaap, author of Brooding Upon the Waters: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America’s Lost Landscape. Howard’s writing carries the weight of place—the smell of river water, the ache of family stories, and the long memory of the American landscape.Growing up in rural Minnesota during the farm crisis of the 1980s, Howard learned early that the places we inhabit become part of who we are. In this conversation, he reflects on his childhood creek, the farms and small towns that shaped him, and the pull that eventually brought him back to the landscapes he had left behind. We talk about what happens when rural communities are hollowed out, what is lost when we become disconnected from land and tradition, and what it might look like to recover a deeper sense of rootedness.Howard also speaks candidly about failure—failed fishing trips, struggling farms, family wounds, and the ways failure can shape our understanding of grace. Drawing on Tom McGuane’s The Longest Silence, he reflects on those long, unproductive stretches on the water and how they can become a picture of the long silences we sometimes experience in our relationship with God.From fishing and fly fishing to Wendell Berry, Charles Ingalls, and Little House on the Prairie, the conversation explores the connection between story, landscape, faith, and memory. Howard offers a beautiful vision of what it means to imagine the new heavens and the new earth not in abstract terms, but through the particular places we have loved—the very waters where our fathers fished, the landscapes where our stories unfolded, and even the shores where Christ might meet us with a breakfast of fish.At the heart of this conversation is a simple but profound idea: our faith, our stories, and our lives happen somewhere.We are creatures of place, and learning to love the particular places we have been given may be part of learning to see God’s grace more clearly.Join us as we sit with Howard Schaap and brood upon the waters—considering failure and grace, fishing and prayer, memory and place, and what it means to hope for a restored creation through the local pictures of the landscapes we know and love.

Howard Schaap, author of Brooding Over the Water: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America's Lost LandscapeToday on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with writer Howard Schaap, author of Brooding Upon the Waters: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America’s Lost Landscape. Howard’s writing carries the weight of place—the smell of river water, the ache of family stories, and the long memory of the American landscape.Growing up in rural Minnesota during the farm crisis of the 1980s, Howard learned early that the places we inhabit become part of who we are. In this conversation, he reflects on his childhood creek, the farms and small towns that shaped him, and the pull that eventually brought him back to the landscapes he had left behind. We talk about what happens when rural communities are hollowed out, what is lost when we become disconnected from land and tradition, and what it might look like to recover a deeper sense of rootedness.Howard also speaks candidly about failure—failed fishing trips, struggling farms, family wounds, and the ways failure can shape our understanding of grace. Drawing on Tom McGuane’s The Longest Silence, he reflects on those long, unproductive stretches on the water and how they can become a picture of the long silences we sometimes experience in our relationship with God.From fishing and fly fishing to Wendell Berry, Charles Ingalls, and Little House on the Prairie, the conversation explores the connection between story, landscape, faith, and memory. Howard offers a beautiful vision of what it means to imagine the new heavens and the new earth not in abstract terms, but through the particular places we have loved—the very waters where our fathers fished, the landscapes where our stories unfolded, and even the shores where Christ might meet us with a breakfast of fish.At the heart of this conversation is a simple but profound idea: our faith, our stories, and our lives happen somewhere.We are creatures of place, and learning to love the particular places we have been given may be part of learning to see God’s grace more clearly.Join us as we sit with Howard Schaap and brood upon the waters—considering failure and grace, fishing and prayer, memory and place, and what it means to hope for a restored creation through the local pictures of the landscapes we know and love.

A New Era for The Storied OutdoorsAt the onset of what would normally be the beginning of season 12, The Storied Outdoors enters into a new era of “the last season.” But don’t fret, we’re not ending, we’re just beginning. Starting with this introduction episode, The Storied Outdoors will begin dropping weekly episodes for the entire year. This episode recaps a summer full of adventures from the Hill and Gill families. We also look back at our origin story that took place along the banks of the Toccoa River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the spring of 2020. We also foreshadow the upcoming guests for the fall. As always, thank you for listening and for following along with us in this journey. The best is yet to come!