WATKINSVILLE, GA — April 22, 2026
By Phillip Blume
"Nature is a revelation. What is it about her wide open spaces and infinitely interwoven details that inspires such transcendence in creatures like us? How is it that her landscapes can force out all our self-importance and replace it with awe?"
Seventeen years ago, I wrote those words — long before APEX, before our travels, even before Eileen and I had children.
At the time, I was just beginning to understand something I couldn't quite explain yet. I had a camera in hand — shooting film, learning to see — and I found myself drawn again and again to the same places: wide open spaces, quiet forests, distant horizons. Those early images, some of which still hang today inside APEX, were my first attempts at capturing something deeper than scenery.
They were attempts to capture a feeling.
A revelation.
What We Were Made For
In the years that followed, that curiosity turned into a calling.
Eileen and I eventually set out on an 18-month journey across the country with our three children, living on the road and immersing ourselves in America's wild places — national parks, mountains, deserts, coastlines. What started as exploration became formation.
We watched our kids grow not just older, but stronger, more curious, more alive — shaped by movement, challenge, and wonder. And along the way, my own photography expanded, not just in skill, but in purpose.
Because the truth is:
Nature doesn't just show us beauty — it shows us who we are.
It strips away noise.
It humbles us.
It reminds us that we are part of something far bigger than ourselves.
Local boys waterfall jumping in a jungle in Guatemala — nature at its most joyful.
The Grand Canyon — one stop on an 18-month cross-country journey with our family. Photo: Blume Photography.
Bringing It Home to Watkinsville & Athens
And yet, for all those miles traveled, the mission never really changed.
Today, that same idea — the one I was reaching for in that blog post years ago — is what we are building through APEX Climbing & Spa here in Watkinsville, Georgia, just outside Athens, GA.
Not just a climbing gym.
Not just a spa or fitness center.
But a place where people can reconnect with what they were made for.
A place where:
movement replaces stagnation
challenge replaces comfort
presence replaces distraction
A place where individuals, families, and students from across the Athens area can step out of the patterns of modern life and rediscover something deeper.
The Same Calling, A New Chapter
This Earth Day feels especially meaningful.
Because as we prepare to celebrate the Grand Opening of APEX this Saturday, April 25, we're not launching something new as much as we are continuing something old.
A thread that runs from:
those early film photographs
to the miles of road behind us
to the climbing walls and spaces now rising in our own hometown
The mission is the same:
To help people reconnect — in body, mind, and spirit — with the life they were made to live.
To step outside.
To breathe deeply.
To move.
To wonder again.
Every Day is Earth Day
That's why I've always believed:
Earth Day isn't just a date on a calendar.
It's an invitation.
An invitation to step outside — not just physically, but spiritually.
To trade distraction for presence.
To rediscover awe.
Because the truth is, the world hasn't stopped revealing itself.
We've just stopped noticing.
As we open the doors to APEX and welcome our community into this space, our hope is simple:
That it becomes a place where people can begin again.
Where they can climb, explore, recover, connect — and maybe, just maybe, feel that same revelation that first inspired a young photographer all those years ago.
Because in the end, the mission never changes.
Only the setting does.
— Phillip
Phillip & Eileen at Castle Rock, New Zealand — one of the world's premiere bouldering sites. The adventure that eventually led us home to Watkinsville.
P.S. If you'd like to read the original post that inspired this reflection — written 17 years ago, long before APEX — you can find it here: 👉 theblumes.co/every-24-hours-earth-day