Hi there.
Sorry it has been a little while since the last blog, but we've had some crazy times in the past few days, starting with Denver.
If I learned from my Mom long ago, it’s that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, but, there are a few things I have to say about Denver. Overall, it was a let down. We were staying with a friend of Daniel's at a place called Rhinoceropolis. The place functions as a DIY (Do It Yourself) venue for bands coming through the Denver area, and also a living space for 5 or 6 (I couldn't tell who lived there and who was just there all the time) in a big warehouse in a sketchy area of Denver. After coming from the Ashram, the dirtiness of the place (the entire thing was like a dive bar) was shocking. Daniel and I did the best we could with the situation, but after a few days it became too much.
On top of the messy living situation, I got an $80 ticket while driving in downtown Denver. Grrrr. Also, I went to see a friend on night in Breckenridge, Colorado and after waking up in the morning and having a cup of coffee, I did what most people do after finishing their coffee. Well, it just so happened that my visit to the restroom stopped up my friend's roommate's toilet. So here I am with my shit all over the place (literally), plunging the toilet, trying desperately to not have the worst nightmare of every house guest come true. Well, it did, and I had to pay a plumber $70 to fix the toilet. . . Bummer. The ticket and the bill from the plumber are in the photos.
So, when all of these things happen at once, I take it as a sign that you need to make a move, which Daniel and I did, and leads me to the new blog. . .
Day 13 and 14 - Durango and Mesa Verde, CO and Grand Canyon
After leaving Denver, we headed to Durango, CO in the southern part of the state. Durango rocks!!!! It totally renewed our positive feeling about Colorado and it felt like we were back on the right path when we arrived. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College and had a great, laid-back college town feel. Main St. has some really cool shops and we saw a great street performance by Alexa Woodward and a member of her band. Their bus broke down and we had the pleasure of seeing them perform for free in the street! We also saw a beautiful rainbow (2 of them actually) after a short rainstorm put smiles on both of our faces.
In Durango, we couch surfed with a girl named Ashley, the girlfriend of the guy's house where we stayed. She cooked us a delicious dinner which Daniel and I devoured. We were hungrier than we thought. After dinner we hung out at the house and I watched AmoresPerros, a movie suggested to me by all my Colombian friends. It was a Mexican film and I had such a hard time understanding it that it took some of the enjoyment away. . . ce la vie.
It’s been funny how many things have been happening that remind me of my Colombian friends back in DC. The night before watching this movie, we met a guy named Bryce at Rhinoceropolis who sent last Christmas traveling through Colombia. He’d traveled to all the places my friends go on vacation, Tyrona, Santa Marta, Cartagena, etc. and it made me want to experience that place sooo badly. We had a party that night and I sent myself a drunk text message saying, “Stop fucking around. Go to Colombia.” Maybe that’s where my next journey will take me.
Speaking of traveling, I also found this awesome travel book called Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. It speaks to the misconception that many people have that they will never have enough money to travel, and gives tips for preparing for travel and strategies to get creative and save money while traveling. It’s been a nice companion on our down time. It is chock full of great traveling quotes as well. Here’s one I especially enjoy:
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Ok, back to Durango. After the movie, we hit the sack, preparing for the next day. We woke, meditated for a little while, and had a nice breakfast prepared again by Ashley.
We then headed down to the Summer Solstice Festival that was happening in downtown Durango. The Festival was set up as a celebration (Daniel calls it a cornucopia) of art and alternative living workshops, as well as music and food vendors. It was a step-up from a hippie festival in terms of planning, but had the same kind of vibe. We started off the morning with a group yoga session that we caught the tail end of, and I went to a workshop on Tai Chai which was interesting. Something I’ve wanted to try for a while. But, the real fun of the day started when I went to a workshop on kettle bells. This stuff rocks!!! Kettle bells are weights that look (you guessed it) like kettles and have different weights and sizes. You use the bells as resistance while you are performing specific movements and it was a great workout. I’ve always wanted a little more resistance when doing yoga and the kettle bells seems like its an answer to that need. Will definitely be looking this up when I get off the road.
Daniel and I attended a workshop on Acupuncture, and then headed down to get some free food courtesy of Food Not Bombs. These guys rock. They offer a free meal to whoever wants to come, for no charge. Just walk up, grab a plate, and enjoy. Its genius.
At the lunch we had a nice talk with my kettle bell instructor, Sage, who was an amazing guy. We didn’t get a long time to talk, but he left us with the feeling we were headed in the right direction.
From Durango, we headed to Mesa Verde State Park. This is home to Native American cave dwellings that are thought to have been constructed around 1200. This makes them some of the oldest buildings in the (now) United States and it was a little crazy for me to come to that realization. In my mind, I would expect to ancient buildings in New York, or DC, etc. but to find these structures in the middle of nowhere Colorado shook things up a little for me. I feel that my sensitivity towards Native Americans, their way of life, and their struggle has been raised by this trip. I want to know more.
The cave dwellings were amazingly constructed and had special rooms called kivas that were of a genius design. They were circular covered rooms that stayed 15 degrees warmer in the winter and 10 degrees cooler in the summer, that helped Native Americans function through the seasons. They were also constructed to utilize air circulation, that kept fires going in the kivas, despite the harsh conditions. The pictures might do a better job of giving you an idea about these structures.
After seeing the cave dwellings, Daniel and I found a outlook due west and saw the sunset over the mountains. It was an amazing way to end the day and I hope the photos capture a little bit of the beauty we witnessed.
The next day we awoke to a meal of all you-can-eat pancakes for $5.95, courtesy of the Knife Edge Café (sounds brutal!) at Mesa Verde. It was nice to get our bellies full and then we headed off to the Grand Canyon National Park. The drive was amazing and there were a few times we pulled off just to take photos. A geologists’ dream.
After about 6 hours in the car, we pulled up to the Grand Canyon National Park. Not knowing we had to pay $25 just to get inside (Grrr), we entered the Park and found the first lookout we could find. The photos do not do justice to the beauty and vastness of the Grand Canyon. I mean, its like Texas, its just big!!!! The literature said the rocks at the bottom of the Canyon (Vishnu Basement rocks) were between 1,840 and 1,680 million years old and from the lookouts you could see for miles. Heck, just to the bottom of the Canyon, it was a mile down!! After a short hike and a nice meditation on the rocks, Daniel and I went to set up our tent. We had a nice dinner of vegetable soup (Amy’s!!! Yeah!!!) and bread given to us at Food Not Bombs.
After talking about some expenses of the trip, Daniel and I agreed we should try to make a little money out of the journey. So, we picked up the guitars and started writing some songs about the people we’d met on the journey, in hopes of putting a little repertoire together to perform. After a little jamming, we turned up some nice melodies and a few songs. The one about Denver I particularly like. It’s great to be able to share music in that way and its funny how the personality differences between Daniel and I come out in the music. Maybe we can perform them for you the next time we see each other.
After seeing the sunset at the Grand Canyon, and finding a place to stay in Sedona, we packed into our yellow tent, to rest for the next day.
On another note, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families to the people injured and killed in the Metrorail crash in DC yesterday. I took the Metro everyday while living in DC and its surreal, not to mention sad, to see the photos and think about that accident.
Off to Sedona!!!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day 8 and 9 – Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Taos, NM
Sitting in a gelato shop in Denver, Colorado stealing the free internet after paying $6 for some ice cream and a coffee. Its going to be a late night.
Daniel and I are staying at this warehouse in Denver called Rhinoceropolis, that functions as a living space and a concert venue. There is a show there tonight and I know I will need the caffeine. We will see how long this lasts. But, the last few days were amazing. Here’s the update.
Day 8 and 9 – Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Taos, NM
Upon the recommendation of my meditation teacher in DC, Jonathan Foust, Daniel and I spent two nights at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram tucked away in beautiful Taos, New Mexico. The city added to my completely surprised impression of New Mexico. Taos is a spiritual mecca and you can feel it as soon as you come into the city. There is an immediate connection to the land and the spirit of the Native Americans is what many people come to Taos to re-connect with.
As we arrived at the Ashram, Daniel and I had no idea what to do. We called ahead of time 2 or 3 times to make sure we would have a place to camp, made sure the folks knew when we would be there, and were nervous about not knowing if we needed to know something before we got there!! All of the worry was for nothing. The folks at the Ashram did not seem to care (not in a bad way) that we were there, and they kindly showed us a place to set up our tent. I was expecting to be told what to do, where not to go, what time dinner would be, you know, all the things you would expect to be shown when you go to a place to stay. None of that was necessary.
So here Daniel and I are, at this beautiful building dedicated to Neem Karoli Baba (a Hindu spiritual leader) surrounded by beautiful flowers, a gorgeous temple, individual meditation rooms, roaming peacocks (no joke), gardens, all the chai we could ever want in our lives, and we have no idea what to do. Seems weird right??
Because we were never told what to do, it was incapacitating. It was like having all the options in the world, but because you have so many of them, nothing ever happens. There was also a fear to adapt to the social norms of this place, without being told what they were (which we came to know as stupid later on).
After overcoming our fears, Daniel and I spent some time meditating and getting to know the area around the Ashram. After dinner we made friends with an employee and a woman named Marilyn from Denver who had been staying at the Ashram for a few weeks. We talked about the Ashram and the surrounding area while mopping the Ashram and washing dishes. Then, one of the most amazing moments of our time there happened.
Marilyn, Kimi, Daniel and I entered into the temple to perform a “Kirtan,” a spiritual singing in praise of the Baba. All of the songs are in Hindi, so Daniel and I naturally had a problem participating in the Kirtan, but there was one song we performed called “Devakindan Gopala” that had the most beautiful melody that Daniel and I immediately learned and sang with the others. It was one of those simple, melodic, magical melodies that people spend lifetimes trying to write. Kimi played the harmonium while singing the song, and the combination of meditating, singing and being in that space, made for a moment too beautiful to describe with the words on this blog.
After putting on lots of layers, we hit the sack for our first night at the Ashram.
After being awakened by the calls of the peacocks (the sound they make sounds like the combination of a small girl screaming and a rooster), Daniel and I prepared to head to southern Colorado. After showering we went into the kitchen where we found our friend Ram Rani, struggling over a cookbook trying to decide what to fix for dinner. After speaking with her (and me spilling the beans that Daniel used to be a professional cook), we found ourselves preparing dinner for a group of 40-50 people. The rest of the day consisted of washing vegetables, making lasagna (Daniel kicked ass on this!), rolling prahantas (sp??), washing dishes and meeting all the interesting folks moving in and out of the kitchen.
The Ashram functions as a “community center” where people from God knows where come in to grab some food, work or chill and then leave. At first, I was amazed that anything got done, but after some time, it was equally as amazing to see how many people wanted to help and wanted to serve. Selfless service was rampant in the Ashram and it was a lesson to me that if you give people a cause, they will WANT to work and contribute. Really amazing lesson.
So, after initially thinking we would leave on Tuesday, Daniel and I spent the whole day in the kitchen, and what a feast it was!!! It felt really great for the whole thing to come together and I know that everyone (especially Ram Rani) appreciated our contribution.
After dinner, we went to the Gorge in Taos, which was beautiful and scary (check the pics!). There is a huge bridge that stretches over the Gorge, but as cars roll by, you can feel the bridge shaking . . . its frightening. There would be no more blog and no more Doug if I had fallen off of that thing.
We returned to the Ashram for some ice cream and a talk with our friend Pilar (born in Bogota!!) and some information about Kirtan music from Marilyn. Then off to sleep.
There were many more amazing folks, and some not so amazing, we met at the Ashram and I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers as we continue on the trip. They made this time extremely spiritual and special for Daniel and I.
Anyone know where I can buy a harmonium?????
Daniel and I are staying at this warehouse in Denver called Rhinoceropolis, that functions as a living space and a concert venue. There is a show there tonight and I know I will need the caffeine. We will see how long this lasts. But, the last few days were amazing. Here’s the update.
Day 8 and 9 – Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Taos, NM
Upon the recommendation of my meditation teacher in DC, Jonathan Foust, Daniel and I spent two nights at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram tucked away in beautiful Taos, New Mexico. The city added to my completely surprised impression of New Mexico. Taos is a spiritual mecca and you can feel it as soon as you come into the city. There is an immediate connection to the land and the spirit of the Native Americans is what many people come to Taos to re-connect with.
As we arrived at the Ashram, Daniel and I had no idea what to do. We called ahead of time 2 or 3 times to make sure we would have a place to camp, made sure the folks knew when we would be there, and were nervous about not knowing if we needed to know something before we got there!! All of the worry was for nothing. The folks at the Ashram did not seem to care (not in a bad way) that we were there, and they kindly showed us a place to set up our tent. I was expecting to be told what to do, where not to go, what time dinner would be, you know, all the things you would expect to be shown when you go to a place to stay. None of that was necessary.
So here Daniel and I are, at this beautiful building dedicated to Neem Karoli Baba (a Hindu spiritual leader) surrounded by beautiful flowers, a gorgeous temple, individual meditation rooms, roaming peacocks (no joke), gardens, all the chai we could ever want in our lives, and we have no idea what to do. Seems weird right??
Because we were never told what to do, it was incapacitating. It was like having all the options in the world, but because you have so many of them, nothing ever happens. There was also a fear to adapt to the social norms of this place, without being told what they were (which we came to know as stupid later on).
After overcoming our fears, Daniel and I spent some time meditating and getting to know the area around the Ashram. After dinner we made friends with an employee and a woman named Marilyn from Denver who had been staying at the Ashram for a few weeks. We talked about the Ashram and the surrounding area while mopping the Ashram and washing dishes. Then, one of the most amazing moments of our time there happened.
Marilyn, Kimi, Daniel and I entered into the temple to perform a “Kirtan,” a spiritual singing in praise of the Baba. All of the songs are in Hindi, so Daniel and I naturally had a problem participating in the Kirtan, but there was one song we performed called “Devakindan Gopala” that had the most beautiful melody that Daniel and I immediately learned and sang with the others. It was one of those simple, melodic, magical melodies that people spend lifetimes trying to write. Kimi played the harmonium while singing the song, and the combination of meditating, singing and being in that space, made for a moment too beautiful to describe with the words on this blog.
After putting on lots of layers, we hit the sack for our first night at the Ashram.
After being awakened by the calls of the peacocks (the sound they make sounds like the combination of a small girl screaming and a rooster), Daniel and I prepared to head to southern Colorado. After showering we went into the kitchen where we found our friend Ram Rani, struggling over a cookbook trying to decide what to fix for dinner. After speaking with her (and me spilling the beans that Daniel used to be a professional cook), we found ourselves preparing dinner for a group of 40-50 people. The rest of the day consisted of washing vegetables, making lasagna (Daniel kicked ass on this!), rolling prahantas (sp??), washing dishes and meeting all the interesting folks moving in and out of the kitchen.
The Ashram functions as a “community center” where people from God knows where come in to grab some food, work or chill and then leave. At first, I was amazed that anything got done, but after some time, it was equally as amazing to see how many people wanted to help and wanted to serve. Selfless service was rampant in the Ashram and it was a lesson to me that if you give people a cause, they will WANT to work and contribute. Really amazing lesson.
So, after initially thinking we would leave on Tuesday, Daniel and I spent the whole day in the kitchen, and what a feast it was!!! It felt really great for the whole thing to come together and I know that everyone (especially Ram Rani) appreciated our contribution.
After dinner, we went to the Gorge in Taos, which was beautiful and scary (check the pics!). There is a huge bridge that stretches over the Gorge, but as cars roll by, you can feel the bridge shaking . . . its frightening. There would be no more blog and no more Doug if I had fallen off of that thing.
We returned to the Ashram for some ice cream and a talk with our friend Pilar (born in Bogota!!) and some information about Kirtan music from Marilyn. Then off to sleep.
There were many more amazing folks, and some not so amazing, we met at the Ashram and I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers as we continue on the trip. They made this time extremely spiritual and special for Daniel and I.
Anyone know where I can buy a harmonium?????
Monday, June 15, 2009
Day Seven – Roswell and Albuquerque, New Mexico
So, I thought that I would go back and fill in the details of each day of our journey, but seeing as one of the goals of the journey is to stay in the moment, it looks like that is not going to happen. So, I’ll just reflect on today (we can call it the “relative” now, right?)
Day Seven – Roswell and Albuquerque, New Mexico
Ah, New Mexico. The skies in New Mexico are like none other I’ve seen. Vast, colorful, vibrant, lush, dark, spacious . . . . I understand why there are so many artists living in New Mexico. You just have to look outside your window for inspiration. And the change of terrain from the South (where we started in Roswell) to the central part of the state (Albuquerque) is distinct.
We started off the day at our new couch surfing friend Jeff Neria’s home. After a night’s sleep trying not to listen to barking dogs and sirens (was like NY in NM!!) we woke up and were not sure where we would head. We had tried to contact a bunch of folks in Albuquerque with no luck in finding a place to stay. We had arranged to have lunch with Rahim AlHaj in Albuquerque, so we knew we had to stop by, but the rest of the day was up in the air. After some researching we decided on going to Taos, New Mexico in hopes of staying with a friend of a friend. We left Jeff (who was the man!!) after a nice cup of New Mexican coffee and hit the road.
Before I left DC, I had gotten obsessed with learning about this guy named Tim Ferriss. Tim is a jack of many, many trades and among other things, is an author, a speaker of 6 (I think) languages, an international Tango dancing champion, a kickboxing champion, a lecturer at Princeton, and runs his own Angel investing group. He’s also an Argentina (especially Buenos Aires) advocate, which is close to my heart. All of this and he is only 30. I started his book, “The 4 Hour Work Week” right before I started the trip, trying to figure out how he accomplished so much and why I was so fascinated with his lifestyle. Upon the drive to Albuquerque, I stuck my head back into the book and almost felt guilty for reading it. Although Tim has accomplished quite a lot, you can from his writing and suggested techniques (such as “outsourcing life”) that the guy must think he is the most important thing since sliced bread and holds himself and his time above anything standing in his way. The whole idea of the book goes against the basic tenets of our trip, and I almost feel like I am plugging back into the world I was trying to get away from reading the book. Hearing about “outsourcing life” when you are trying to actually “engage in life” creates an interesting contradiction. (I know Tim would say that you outsource the parts of life that you don’t want to do, but this is just an example)
Anyways, enough about that!
So, we are driving to Albuquerque and we get a call from an Ashram in Taos, NM letting us know we can stay for the night. Perfect! Plans are in place.
We stroll into Albuquerque and give Rahim a call to grab some lunch. First off, Rahim. Rahim AlHaj is an internationally known Oud musician from Iraq, who I met through my former boss at Smithsonian Folkways. Rahim is a Folkways artist and his album on Folkways won a Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album. I was so excited he agreed to meet with us! Second of all, our first impressions of Albuquerque were awesome! The area around the University of New Mexico was filled with dirty college students, cool hangouts, internationals (likely students), homeless folks, and an arty vibe. Kinda like a desert Asheville.
We met Rahim and went to an amazing Aruyvedic restaurant where they functioned as a restaurant and cooking school. This was a revelation for Daniel as he has gotten heavily into Vedic Astrology and it was so cool to see him freak out about the place. It made me really happy. Not to mention the food and chai was killer.
We had an interesting talk with Rahim over lunch about love, music, his upcoming projects, and Folkways. After we said goodbye, we received a call from a woman named Adele, a friend of Rahim’s, who offered Daniel and I a place to sleep for the evening. After seeing how cool Albuquerque was and knowing that we had a place to stay, we decided to push back the Ashram for the day and stay another night. After investigating Albuquerque for a while, and having a strange experience at a New Age bookstore, we headed to Adele’s home.
We pulled up and from the start, I knew Adele would be awesome. She is a 65-year old woman who has an ageless spirit and is as excited as a 7-year old at what beautiful things life has to offer. She is a paper artist and her zest for life showed me that it is still possible (and probably essential) to stay creative and to keep challenging yourself in all stages of life. She is truly an amazing woman.
After saying hi and getting a tour of her home, we ran out to get a pizza for dinner. We sat on her porch, watching the New Mexico sky, eating pizza, drinking wine and talking about life. I really loved watching Daniel and Adele interact.
After a nice talk, Adele arranged a trip to Rahim’s house to have tea with Nada (Rahim’s wife). We drove over, and got to hang out with Rahim and Neda!!! Sooo cool!!! We sat in their backyard drinking tea and talking, learning about Neda’s work in the backyard and seeing Rahim’s assortment of pigeons. We shared some yummy cookies of Neda’s (made from Cream of Wheat no less!) and laughed and laughed. It was amazing because the age difference felt like it was nothing hanging out with these folks. I would have never thought in a million years I would be in Rahim AlHaj’s kitchen watching my brother and Rahim make fun of each other. An amazing day.
Daniel and Adele are sharing some astrological knowledge and I am smiling, thinking back on how things just fall into place.
Tomorrow, we have a quick visit planned to Santa Fe, NM in the morning, and then off to Taos, NM tomorrow afternoon. It keeps getting better and better.
Day Seven – Roswell and Albuquerque, New Mexico
Ah, New Mexico. The skies in New Mexico are like none other I’ve seen. Vast, colorful, vibrant, lush, dark, spacious . . . . I understand why there are so many artists living in New Mexico. You just have to look outside your window for inspiration. And the change of terrain from the South (where we started in Roswell) to the central part of the state (Albuquerque) is distinct.
We started off the day at our new couch surfing friend Jeff Neria’s home. After a night’s sleep trying not to listen to barking dogs and sirens (was like NY in NM!!) we woke up and were not sure where we would head. We had tried to contact a bunch of folks in Albuquerque with no luck in finding a place to stay. We had arranged to have lunch with Rahim AlHaj in Albuquerque, so we knew we had to stop by, but the rest of the day was up in the air. After some researching we decided on going to Taos, New Mexico in hopes of staying with a friend of a friend. We left Jeff (who was the man!!) after a nice cup of New Mexican coffee and hit the road.
Before I left DC, I had gotten obsessed with learning about this guy named Tim Ferriss. Tim is a jack of many, many trades and among other things, is an author, a speaker of 6 (I think) languages, an international Tango dancing champion, a kickboxing champion, a lecturer at Princeton, and runs his own Angel investing group. He’s also an Argentina (especially Buenos Aires) advocate, which is close to my heart. All of this and he is only 30. I started his book, “The 4 Hour Work Week” right before I started the trip, trying to figure out how he accomplished so much and why I was so fascinated with his lifestyle. Upon the drive to Albuquerque, I stuck my head back into the book and almost felt guilty for reading it. Although Tim has accomplished quite a lot, you can from his writing and suggested techniques (such as “outsourcing life”) that the guy must think he is the most important thing since sliced bread and holds himself and his time above anything standing in his way. The whole idea of the book goes against the basic tenets of our trip, and I almost feel like I am plugging back into the world I was trying to get away from reading the book. Hearing about “outsourcing life” when you are trying to actually “engage in life” creates an interesting contradiction. (I know Tim would say that you outsource the parts of life that you don’t want to do, but this is just an example)
Anyways, enough about that!
So, we are driving to Albuquerque and we get a call from an Ashram in Taos, NM letting us know we can stay for the night. Perfect! Plans are in place.
We stroll into Albuquerque and give Rahim a call to grab some lunch. First off, Rahim. Rahim AlHaj is an internationally known Oud musician from Iraq, who I met through my former boss at Smithsonian Folkways. Rahim is a Folkways artist and his album on Folkways won a Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album. I was so excited he agreed to meet with us! Second of all, our first impressions of Albuquerque were awesome! The area around the University of New Mexico was filled with dirty college students, cool hangouts, internationals (likely students), homeless folks, and an arty vibe. Kinda like a desert Asheville.
We met Rahim and went to an amazing Aruyvedic restaurant where they functioned as a restaurant and cooking school. This was a revelation for Daniel as he has gotten heavily into Vedic Astrology and it was so cool to see him freak out about the place. It made me really happy. Not to mention the food and chai was killer.
We had an interesting talk with Rahim over lunch about love, music, his upcoming projects, and Folkways. After we said goodbye, we received a call from a woman named Adele, a friend of Rahim’s, who offered Daniel and I a place to sleep for the evening. After seeing how cool Albuquerque was and knowing that we had a place to stay, we decided to push back the Ashram for the day and stay another night. After investigating Albuquerque for a while, and having a strange experience at a New Age bookstore, we headed to Adele’s home.
We pulled up and from the start, I knew Adele would be awesome. She is a 65-year old woman who has an ageless spirit and is as excited as a 7-year old at what beautiful things life has to offer. She is a paper artist and her zest for life showed me that it is still possible (and probably essential) to stay creative and to keep challenging yourself in all stages of life. She is truly an amazing woman.
After saying hi and getting a tour of her home, we ran out to get a pizza for dinner. We sat on her porch, watching the New Mexico sky, eating pizza, drinking wine and talking about life. I really loved watching Daniel and Adele interact.
After a nice talk, Adele arranged a trip to Rahim’s house to have tea with Nada (Rahim’s wife). We drove over, and got to hang out with Rahim and Neda!!! Sooo cool!!! We sat in their backyard drinking tea and talking, learning about Neda’s work in the backyard and seeing Rahim’s assortment of pigeons. We shared some yummy cookies of Neda’s (made from Cream of Wheat no less!) and laughed and laughed. It was amazing because the age difference felt like it was nothing hanging out with these folks. I would have never thought in a million years I would be in Rahim AlHaj’s kitchen watching my brother and Rahim make fun of each other. An amazing day.
Daniel and Adele are sharing some astrological knowledge and I am smiling, thinking back on how things just fall into place.
Tomorrow, we have a quick visit planned to Santa Fe, NM in the morning, and then off to Taos, NM tomorrow afternoon. It keeps getting better and better.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Day one - Horse Pens 40
As I write this first blog entry, I am sitting in my car in Colorado City, Texas looking at the stars as gnats try and distract me from getting my thoughts into written form. We are only 5 days into the trip and have already been through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and are just about out of the Lone Star State. So far we’ve made new friends, reconnected with old friends, seen near parts of the country, heard some unbelievable music, had some frustrating moments and have more mosquito bites than the number of people living in Caldwell, Texas.
Day One-
We got off to an early start from South Carolina, making a stop in Atlanta, GA to take advantage of a Whole Foods. For $106 we got soup, nuts, bread, avocados, hummus, granola, peanut butter, and we even splurged on a little peanut snack and some mate. Mmmm. We had a wonderful Ethiopian woman checking us out named Almaz, who knew all the best Ethiopian places in DC (DUKEM!!!) and who was so happy we knew how to say “Thank you” in Amharic. We made it to our first destination around 3:30 Central time to Horse Pens 40 Campgrounds outside of Ashville, Alabama. Horse Pens 40 has a long (they say 12,000 years, but that’s a little hard to believe) history as a Native American ritual, meeting and peace signing location. It was located at the former division of Cherokee and Creek Indian land, and had been used to trap horses. The pictures cannot tell the whole story, but these rock formations were just unusual. They were massive, in a relatively unrocky area, and some of the natural curvatures in the rock could not have been more accurate if they were done by hand. The whole site had an eerie feeling to it. Daniel and I agreed that the site felt as if it had a big secret it was hiding from everyone. Check out the photos of the rocks and you can see human skulls in the formations. Creepy.
We found a beautiful outlook at the end of some hiking trails were we hung out and marveled in the greenness of what we were seeing. Beautiful.
Back at the camp we met some of the folks who ran the place and it seemed as if they were in on the secret as well. I went into the main house to ask for a can opener and maybe due to my new serial killer haircut, when I asked one of the kids what her name was, she put her hands in her lap and stared into her pasta, not once looking up or responding. I quickly opened my can and left the house, not sure if I had asked "The Question That Shall Not Be Asked" (kinda like Voldemort, ya know?).
After some Southwest Vegetable soup, courtesy of Amy’s, we headed to sleep in our new home, a two person yellow tent. Its nice and cozy.
More to come later about the following days, I'm watching a lightning storm over Lake Colorado City and then off to bed.
Day One-
We got off to an early start from South Carolina, making a stop in Atlanta, GA to take advantage of a Whole Foods. For $106 we got soup, nuts, bread, avocados, hummus, granola, peanut butter, and we even splurged on a little peanut snack and some mate. Mmmm. We had a wonderful Ethiopian woman checking us out named Almaz, who knew all the best Ethiopian places in DC (DUKEM!!!) and who was so happy we knew how to say “Thank you” in Amharic. We made it to our first destination around 3:30 Central time to Horse Pens 40 Campgrounds outside of Ashville, Alabama. Horse Pens 40 has a long (they say 12,000 years, but that’s a little hard to believe) history as a Native American ritual, meeting and peace signing location. It was located at the former division of Cherokee and Creek Indian land, and had been used to trap horses. The pictures cannot tell the whole story, but these rock formations were just unusual. They were massive, in a relatively unrocky area, and some of the natural curvatures in the rock could not have been more accurate if they were done by hand. The whole site had an eerie feeling to it. Daniel and I agreed that the site felt as if it had a big secret it was hiding from everyone. Check out the photos of the rocks and you can see human skulls in the formations. Creepy.
We found a beautiful outlook at the end of some hiking trails were we hung out and marveled in the greenness of what we were seeing. Beautiful.
Back at the camp we met some of the folks who ran the place and it seemed as if they were in on the secret as well. I went into the main house to ask for a can opener and maybe due to my new serial killer haircut, when I asked one of the kids what her name was, she put her hands in her lap and stared into her pasta, not once looking up or responding. I quickly opened my can and left the house, not sure if I had asked "The Question That Shall Not Be Asked" (kinda like Voldemort, ya know?).
After some Southwest Vegetable soup, courtesy of Amy’s, we headed to sleep in our new home, a two person yellow tent. Its nice and cozy.
More to come later about the following days, I'm watching a lightning storm over Lake Colorado City and then off to bed.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Experiment in Openness
Hi to the .00000047 percent of the world who are reading this.
First, this scares me to death.
The Scorpio in me is shitting his pants.
Having my whole life on a website for the world to see, to judge, to stalk, to envy, to make fun of, to know where I am and what I'm doing. As you can tell, openness is not my best trait.
But, in the little I know about the world, I know that openness and honesty can bring truth into your life. True friends, true relationships, true passion and maybe even true love.
In the effort to have more truth in my life, I am going to be open. With you.
Whether you a friend, co-worker, someone from the past who found my blog, family member, an ex-girlfriend, a fellow musician, or the parents of one of my guitar students, I, albeit uncomfortably, welcome you with openness. I hope you (maybe uncomfortably as well) would do the same.
I do not expect that this will lead me to being able to spill my inner most dreams and fears with the woman working at the diner, but I believe that anything you practice, you should get better at. Hence, this is the experiment.
I'm embarking on a road trip and am inviting you to come along. I'll be as open as possible about where we are, what we see, the folks we meet, the low times we have, and the high times we will look back to when we are back home. Care to join me?
First, this scares me to death.
The Scorpio in me is shitting his pants.
Having my whole life on a website for the world to see, to judge, to stalk, to envy, to make fun of, to know where I am and what I'm doing. As you can tell, openness is not my best trait.
But, in the little I know about the world, I know that openness and honesty can bring truth into your life. True friends, true relationships, true passion and maybe even true love.
In the effort to have more truth in my life, I am going to be open. With you.
Whether you a friend, co-worker, someone from the past who found my blog, family member, an ex-girlfriend, a fellow musician, or the parents of one of my guitar students, I, albeit uncomfortably, welcome you with openness. I hope you (maybe uncomfortably as well) would do the same.
I do not expect that this will lead me to being able to spill my inner most dreams and fears with the woman working at the diner, but I believe that anything you practice, you should get better at. Hence, this is the experiment.
I'm embarking on a road trip and am inviting you to come along. I'll be as open as possible about where we are, what we see, the folks we meet, the low times we have, and the high times we will look back to when we are back home. Care to join me?
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