EDITOR’S NOTE: “There’s a knowing we have that’s beyond our intellect. It’s our sort of knowing by experiencing, knowing by sensing.” For Joe Jacob, the owner of Haw River Canoe and Kayak Shop in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, the best way to get in touch with that way of knowing is by getting onto a canoe and out onto the river. And he’s in a great place to do that — North Carolina stretches from the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west to the coast and the barrier islands of the Outer Banks in the east. And between them run the rivers, over waterfalls, through hip little towns and happening cities, and in and out of nature preserves and wildlife habitat.
“There are more currencies in life than money.” The mountains, rivers, and seas have shown us that much. 