A Birdfeeder’s Journal: Go where adventure leads you

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When a fellow author and Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Radio Hall of Fame recipient, Loran Smith, says your book would get Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner’s approval, it’s time to sit up, take notice, and read. That was Smith’s review of David Cleghorn’s book, A Birdfeeder’s Journal.

At 88 years old, David has lived an enviable life. He has spent those years chasing adventure and finding meaning along the way. Some of his “why” may have come from his childhood. David grew up an only child in Flowery Branch, Georgia, at the tail end of the Great Depression.

Flowery Branch is still a small town but continues to provide beautiful scenery near the shores of Lake Lanier. Native flowering plants surround the walking trails in the area. Most likely, they attract birds and other pollinators, but that is only a fraction of David’s story, and the meaning behind A Birdfeeder’s Journal lies in an unexpected direction.

“We moved around quite a bit as I was growing up. We lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Villa Rica, and Chamblee, Georgia. There were always lots of kids in those neighborhoods. We never had much money, but those were some of the best times of my growing-up years,” said David.

As a youngster, he became a sports fan and collected autographs from the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams. Those were the sports heroes he most likely read about when he began delivering newspapers for the Atlanta Journal. Back then, there was no Atlanta Constitution.

“I learned a lot from those deliveries over five years. I developed a sense of what was important. I treated my customers well and even picked up the newspapers when they were finished reading them. That resulted in more routes and a decent income for a kid.”

A few years later, David landed a job with the Atlanta Journal for the Sports Department and considered it one of the “best jobs I ever had.”

The University of Georgia birdfeeders

As a journalism major at UGA, David competed on the track team. His track and field coach was the legendary Forrest “Spec” Towns, the first Georgian to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and earn an Olympic Gold medal. Towns later set a world record in the high hurdles that stood for 14 years.

“Spec would run us until we were sick, then flap his arms and yell, “Here birdie, birdie.” That is how we became known as the birdfeeders. Later I told him that he made men out of us and how much we all appreciated him for that, which brought tears to his eyes,” explained David.

“Coach” was later honored by UGA when the university named the Spec Towns Track in his honor.

One passion leads to the next adventure

David would transition into writing and selling advertising. When he worked for an automotive aftermarket publication in 1964, he was sent to cover the World’s Fair in New York.

“It marked the debut of the Ford Mustang; it also included a road rally with more than 120 journalists driving new Mustangs from suburban New York to Dearborn, Michigan.  My teammate from Miami and I came in 3rd in that rally.”

From driving one of the first “pony cars” to climbing some of the highest peaks in the world, and mushing a team of huskies, David Cleghorn’s life has been one adventure after another.

A trip to the Tetons and a rock-climbing class led him to pursue climbing the Tetons. For perspective, the Teton Range is 40 miles long, rising sharply from the flat valley floor of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Grand Teton rises more than 2 miles above sea level.

“I was shaking and scared the whole time. Part of the climb included an Exum leap, a gap of more than five feet splitting the rock face with no easy way across except to jump. After I jumped, I went down on my hands and knees and threw up. It would become one of the biggest thrills of my life.”

He still described the entire experience as an exciting adrenaline rush, and incidentally, he did feed the birds during that climb. Taking nothing for granted, David went to the Chapel of Transfiguration, a small log chapel built in 1925, which offers spectacular views of the Teton Mountain Range.

“I prayed to God and gave thanks for bringing me down the mountain safely.”

Adventures here, there, and everywhere

David didn’t stop there. He has climbed Yosemite and the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps. He has hiked the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail twice. He went back to climbing the Tetons, then the Cascade Mountains of Colorado, and explored volcanoes in Mexico and the Amazon in Peru.

Dogsledding was next on his list. He attended a dogsledding school in Ely, Minnesota. He learned dog mushing, how to handle a dog team, and how to survive winter wilderness travel. That training led him to the Iditarod and then the frozen wilderness of Antarctica.

“I decided I didn’t want to work for anyone again. I figured I could become a photographer or a writer.” In essence, he became both through A Birdfeeder’s Journal.

David didn’t stop there. He has climbed in Yosemite and the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps. He has hiked the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail twice. Why? In the words of George Mallory, a British mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest three times, “Because it’s there.”

“I’ve had great guides for all my climbs and expeditions. The reason I wrote the book the way I did is I met so many people along the way that turned my ventures into adventures,” David explained.

His striking photographs and hard-won insights invite readers to reflect on what it means to strive, to connect, and to live your life as an adventure.

“Dream big and dare to fail.”

During his Alaskan adventure, David became friends with Norman Vaughan, a fellow explorer and dogsled driver whose first claim to fame was participating in Admiral Byrd’s first expedition to the South Pole. Vaughan’s last Iditarod run was at 84 years old; he always said, “Dream big and dare to fail.” David followed that lead.

When asked if he had any regrets, he said, “I guess I have one. I never got married and had children. I’ve outlived most everyone in my family. Over the years, I’ve collected lots of things and many wonderful memories, and no one to share them with.”

Oh yes, you do, David Cleghorn. Your story will be shared for generations who may never physically climb the tallest mountains but can live vicariously through your expeditions and learn to make connections and climb their own mountains in life.

To order A Birdfeeder’s Journal, click here: https://birdfeederjournal.com/

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By Mitzi Oxford