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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

After-Hours Break

I'm just takin 5 out of my schedule after work to chill and blog before I jump into more busy stuff. I paused briefly to read some of a book and scope the scene. It's a beautiful March day. Almost April. Almost outside season. I love Colorado.

Monday, March 30, 2009

I Love Beer

So if last night was the night to create a delicious meal, tonight I found the beer to go with it: Great Divide's Denver Pale Ale... delicious.

This van living experiment has really opened the door to me meeting many, many new people that are so friendly and inviting. Tonight I drove some friends to the airport, and in return they got me a 6 pack of some delicious beer. To me, I almost feel guilty as I love driving and I love spending time with friends. For doing this, people give me beer?!  I guess it goes to show that if you take the time to do the things you really want to do, life will reward you.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Battle Slurry

Tonight I think I perfected the Battle Slurry. A while back, I posted a blog about my dinner. Tonight, I tweaked it, and it was delicious. I'm dubbing it "Battle Slurry". Battle... obviously because of where I am. Slurry is a term I first heard my friend Todd use in reference to a big bowl or pot of some random, mixed... unknown... foodstuffs. So for my slurry, I put in a regular (16 oz?) can of black beans with jalapenos in lime sauce, a two-thirds size can of corn with peppers in it, a small can (3 or 4 oz, maybe) of diced green chilis, a small can (tuna sized) of cooked chicken, and one pack of Uncle Ben's long grain wild rice (the already cooked, throw in the microwave back, about the size of a DVD case). Throw it all in a pot and stir it up while you're cooking it so you don't burn it. Serves two. If you're one, save the second half and eat it for dinner tomorrow. For desert: devil squares by little Debbie. Perfecto.

Oh yeah, I checked out Golden Gate Canyon State Park today. I thought of my mom the whole time, as it was nothing but rolling hills and lodgepole pines, snow, and mountain panoramas. She would have loved it.

Friday, March 27, 2009

From The Bunks

It's an early night tonight. The last few days, I've found it more comfortable to make a cozy nest on the floor and just pile myself up with blankets and such. It's been a great experience so far. Tonight I lay on this floor looking up at my home... so simple. So tidy. I just feasted on a dinner of clam chowder and potato bread. Time to do some reading. Still working on Atlas Shrugged... sigh...

Morning in the snow...

I woke up this morning, turned the van and the heat on full tilt, and tucked myself back into my nest. Ten minutes later, I was comfy. Way comfy. It wasn't nearly as rough as I thought it was going to be.  I love this project!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Cold and snowy.

It's 10 minutes to 11 at night, and I've burrowed myself in a cozy mummy bag under all my blankets and I'm sound as a pound. This blizzard has been the first real cold temp and deep snow test of my journey. I'm lovin it so far! It's awesome. Way drier than the snow cave was on Berthoud Pass last year. We'll see how I feel when I wake up.

The Blizzard of '09?

I wonder if that's what they'll call this sudden masterpiece of mother nature's wrath.  We went suddenly from beautiful afternoons with shorts and t-shirts to a stunning and strong snowstorm, with snow blowing and falling nearly horizontally. We got almost half a foot to a foot and a half in some places in less than 6 hours.

I was really looking forward to hunkering down in the van, but I got invited to spend the afternoon (and perhaps the evening) with a good friend's family. It os all the more touching to me that it seems that the most adverse conditions in nature spark the opposite response in humanity.

Wow, big thought: the worse circumstances turn out to be, the more we stick together and overcome the odds. Look at all of the disasters of our time, like Katrina, 9-11, even our little snowstorm here, which brings us together to help out and be helped. My friend calls it, "the upside of the downtimes". Awesome statement. Good company. Warm rooms. Tasty food. Cozy and cuddly big red dog.

Sometimes humanity is awesome.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Ancient Roots

This weekend I took a trip to Florissant to check out the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. When I was there, I discovered these huge, fossilized and petrified Redwood stumps. These remains of the goliath trees that are famous in northern California are collosal in their own right. Some stumps are taller than me and upwards of 12 feet in diameter.

Geologic history is fascinating to me. The way the whole planet evolves over time, and the drastic means by which it does so, puts things in perspective. It makes me realize that everything changes to suit its environment. This is something that comforts me when different problems arise in my own life. We, too, can adapt to suit our environments.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Help in Disguise

Today I was bouldering at Mt. Sanitas park near Boulder, and I snagged this picture of a crack. It looks like a nasty whole in the rock, but to a climber, this is a super awesome mega good hold. The quick analogy that I'm trying to draw here is that sometimes we see cracks in the rock when we're trying to scale some big problem of ours, and we don't realize what that fissure is capable of. We don't understand that it can be something that helps us to ascend the difficulties which lay before us. It's amazing, too, that once we do learn to identify these bits of disguised help, they suddenly appear all around us. We are immersed in a sea of tools by which we can succeed and prevail.

That's my phisolophy for the day.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Long Road

I had a somewhat enlightening experience this past weekend.  My brother and some friends and I were exploring Arches National Park, and, while in the park, I had some time to reflect on some things about myself and my quest to do what I feel is right for me.  I contemplated things that I haven't really had a chance to ponder as of late, with a busy work schedule and a bout of sadness that corresponds to this time of year for me.  The conclusions I've come to aren't really conclusions as much as they are concepts.

Firstly, I feel like I've felt lost lately.  I feel like I don't really have a direction, wondering what I should be doing that's going to make a difference.  What I realized this past weekend is that we shouldn't spend so much time thinking about what we could be, what we should be, what we feel pressured to be.  Instead, we should start thinking about what we are, what we are good at, what we want to be better at for ourselves.  It's possible to do what you love to do and make a living off of it.  My dad just told me, "If you do something, do it on your own and for yourself."

Secondly, nature trumps God.  I know this is sort of a big concept, and it's abstract, so if you're reading this, stick with me.  There are things in life that God has no control over, just like there are things in life we have no control over.  We can't control when we are going to get sick or when our loved ones will no longer be with us.  I feel like we can do what we can to make what we have more comfortable, more effecient, more enjoyable, but there's a point where we have to just accept that things are what they are.  I think if we're created in God's image, as the Bible says, then ultimately God is also subject to the laws of nature.  If one were to follow Christian beliefs, then even God's own son fell to death's hand.  All we can ask from a God (or from any divine power) is for strength and courage to face nature with grace, will, and focus in the most positive ways.

Thirdly, family will always be there.  It's not always a biological family, but there is always someone who loves you.  Always.  It seems that no matter what goes on in your life, you will have family members you can lean on, but also family members who will need to lean on you.  These are relationships that will be tried, tested, but will ultimately be part of the person you are.

I guess the moral of this story is that life is a long, long road, but we inherently have the means to navigate this road with care and vigor.  It's our obligation to make sure we take the time to see where we are, to notice everything that will be passing us by if we don't open our eyes.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Holding down the Delicate Arch

Comic relief...

Canyon Beauty

I'm sitting on a rock overlooking the massive Delicate Arch on Utah, just soaking up as much alpenglow as I can before breakfast. This is the break one needs to escape the stresses and harshness of reality, even if it's just to recharge so that reality ceases to be so bad. Beautiful.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Desert

My brother and I drove around Arches National Park this morning and took it all in at a friend's recommendation. It was beautiful. The park was stellar. The rocks are huge, and the cliffs sheer. I'm so excited to be in this spiritually outdoorsy Mecca.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Sunset in Delta

My brother is driving on highway 50 heading west toward Utah. We are almost to Delta, Colorado, and we've pulled over for a few brief moments to enjoy a sunset. It's touching to discover that he appreciates the simple things in life. More people should. A couple of minutes to watch a sunset can make a whole week better.

Home

There's something that is always comforting about spending time in your hometown. This is the place my family and oldest friends are, where people still call me Rusty and refer to me as Rod & Cheri's kid or Bart or Emma's brother. It's comfy. It's cozy. It's home, and I'll always have a part of it with me.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Road

I snapped this shot of I-70 just east of Georgetown, Colorado. It, to me, was a beautiful contrast of the mountains that I have come to admire, almost worship, and a super-highway slicing through it, humanity asserting it's position in this world in one of the only ways it knows how. To me, these roads are like friends, friends that keep me safe while I visit loved ones and do things I'm passionate about. I love the road for what it is, yet relish the day when roads will no longer be needed.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

In Good Company

Nothing beats a night indoors with a great friend. It's great to shower, shave, eat hearty, wash your feet, and enjoy pajamas in a consequence free environment.

Moab is coming soon. Gotta love it.

Monday, March 9, 2009

A Night at a Show

Saturday night I went with friends to see the Sounds of the Rockies perform at the University of Denver's Newman Center. It was an all men's choir that broke off into several quartet's throughout the evening. It was an amazing evening in a beautiful space, and, for a second, I felt like I was one of Denver's elete.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sharing A Fate

Tonight I'm volunteering to host for a few homeless families through a Denver program called Inter-faith Hospitality Network. Churches around the metro area take turns housing and feeding families in need, and I feel compelled to do my part here. In a way, I can relate, but in more ways, I can't. I don't need to be living my lifestyle. I don't need to have my struggles. I choose them. They haven't chosen me.

More and more people seem to have been falling into the grip of desparity from the economic fallout, a fallout from the undereducation of those people who took and gave loans... and now the masses are hurting. We are all hurting, but we all have the power to change it. We have voices, and we have the right to choose. We are tied together, and together, we will survive.