Monkey

I have always considered myself as an animal lover and they seemed to know this and respond fairly well until meeting these monkeys. I do not include the nasty tempered dogs locked behind a fence with snarly fangs flashing as I walked by on the sidewalks of Surrey BC – these are the owners fault who I personally believe mistreat these beloved dogs. A dog will reveal its owners true personality...

Thinking back about my trip to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore and encountering wild free roaming monkeys – I do not understand why they took a instant dislike to me. Noni would walk by with out any hissing or even a second glance – when I walked by the monkeys would give a little charge in my direction – hissing. Just maybe they don't like their picture taken. 

 

Two Roads

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth."
-   Robert Frost, Two Roads 

Follow the trail

 "To follow a trail is to establish a link with the history of man. It is at once the most primitive and the most civilized of activities. A trail may well have been followed first by animals seeking food and water; Indians following the game wore it a little wider. Explorers followed the same paths, to be followed in turn by soldiers and settlers and men who poured concrete over footpaths. The concrete now goes just about every place we need to go. But we now have the leisure to travel just for the sake of traveling, and there is no better way to do it than by trail."
-   Lennon Hooper, National Park Trails 

"That's the best thing about walking, the journey itself. It doesn't matter much whether you get where you're going or not. You'll get there anyway. Every good hike brings you eventually back home."
-  Edward Abbey          

Come to the woods

 Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.

 John Muir

A Fall Hike

WONDERS
What wonders lie in every mountain day!
Crystals of snow, plash of small raindrops,
hum of small insects, booming beetles,
the jolly rattle of grasshoppers, chirping crickets,
the screaming of hawks, jays, and Clark crows,
the 'coo-r-r-r' of cranes, the honking of geese,
partridges drumming, trumpeting swans, frogs croaking,
the whirring rattle of snakes,
the awful enthusiasm of booming falls,
the roar of cataracts, the crash and roll of thunder,
earthquake shocks, the whisper of rills soothing to slumber,
the piping of marmots, the bark of squirrels,
the laugh of a wolf, the snorting of deer,
the explosive roaring of bears, the squeak of mice,
the cry of the loon-loneliest, wildest of sounds.
What wonders lie in every mountain day!

The Poetry of John Muir 1838-1914

 

Cost of Life

 

It costs so much to be a full human being ... One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover, and yet demand no easy return of love. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying. -- Morris West, the Shoes of the Fisherman

Trapped

Longing for Adventure.

Looking back into my picture albums – looking at these two pictures in particular remembering the joy and excitement of this day in Bali Indonesia. Slowly realizing I am most likely confined to a rainy winter sentence in British Columbia stuck in the Condo.                      Trapped 

 

Worked hard all summer to save money for the time of unemployment but still I am trapped – Responsibilities that we brought upon ourselves such as a  choice of a life style that includes a mortgage - phones – internet – cable – house insurance - car insurance - repairs to the Vibe – local road trips – medical insurance – taxes – utilities bills – hydro bills and the list goes on and on not to mention all those restaurants we ate at.

Railroad

What's the railroad to Me

What's the railroad to me?

I never go to see

Where it ends.

It fills a few hollows,

And makes banks for the swallows,

It sets the sand a blowing,

and the blackberries a growing.

Henry David Thoreau

Airport

I love watching peoples faces while at airports. Glowing smiles – weariness reflecting from some as they come off a long flight. Children almost bouncing off the ceiling as they anticipate adventure.

Airports – a place of movement either heading off to some exotic place or of people homecoming.

True airports also represent travels withing the home country not so exotic – but the same result – movement. Different smells – different taste filling the body and soul.

Confusion – anxieties – waiting – oh do not for get the waiting – waiting for the arrival – waiting for the departure – waiting for the check in lines to open. Then the time comes for saying good bye – the last hand shake – the last hug – the last kiss – the turning to enter into the restricted areas that man has created for security. 

 

I took Noni to the airport last night, leaving the Condo 7:30 pm – arrival at the YVR at 10ish.

We ate at the airport.

10:30 the check in lines were open and since we had did all our bookings and ticket printing on line Noni is the first person in line and processed first.

10:45 Noni is walking through the security doors and I am left behind. The empty feeling – sadness is mounting – I miss her already. We had talked and it is best that she returns to Indonesia now to visit with her ill father. If we wait till spring and travel together and something should happen in between she would be so sad and have regrets the rest of her life. Conclusion go now, enjoy time with your family / father, if he is as ill as we think - be there for him – if he is not as ill as suspected enjoy the good times while the times are good. If I return with you now it is costly in more ways than one and Noni would have to split her attention between trying to look after me and her father and so she will always be in conflict. I can stay home where I can watch English TV – go out hiking/ walking with Dalhouise – and basically keep my self entertained. There will be other times to travel together (Lord Willing)

A Night in a Yurt

Remembering my nights in the Yurt as I explored Coo's Bay Oregon. During the healing time after the accident and before marriage – a time before Noni. I remembering it was a long dark walk from my bed to the nearest outhouse and that the cool night air filled my lungs as I ventured out in the middle of the night. Always a fear in the back of my mind – wondering what is just beyond the flash light beam - Afraid I might get lost returning to my Yurt, to my Bed.

 Cozy - comfortable  - contentment - everything just right.

Coos Bay Oregon

RUSTIC YURTS
Rustic yurt at Beachside. Rustic yurt layout (16' in diameter).   It´s round, filled with comfy furniture, and pointy on top. Yurts … a quickly-growing national phenomenon that broke in to the public camping scene right here in Oregon. Features Sleeps 5 Futon sofa (converts to a double bed) Single/double-sized bunk bed Coffee table Heat Lights Electricity Outdoor fire pit and picnic table Venting skylight Locking door Really cool You Bring Bedding Food Dishes Basically the usual camping stuff EXCEPT for the tent or RV …			I

Sun Sets

Psa 113:3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!