Notes From The Road

      Time on the road is a unique experience.  You are out of your routine and navigating new environments.  Everything is unsettled.  It's both invigorating and exhausting.  There is a constant struggle to carve out some semblance of a routine and hold on to things that keep you grounded.  At the same time, it's impossible to ignore the sense of being alive and the inspiration that comes from living outside your comfort zone.

Rumblestrip road.

      I spent nearly the whole month of August away from home.  It started out with an epic road trip with my brother Gabriel through California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.  There is a certain magic that comes with seeing the landscape change outside the windows of the car.  On one night we pulled off the road in the high desert of California to look at the night sky.  Seeing the blanket of stars twinkling against the darkness puts things into perspective.  It's a good reminder of how big and vast this life is and also how small our troubles are in comparison.  This planet and this universe will keep on going long after we are gone.  Each moment is what you make of it.  In the big picture, your life is yours.  You have to make of it what you will.  

There are more stores than you can imagine in the night sky.  

You see things differently from atop haystacks.  

Two sisters.  Exploring.

     There is a strange mixture of familiarity and displacement when I'm in Seattle.  On the one hand I know the people and the places with an ingrained familiarity that speaks to the core of who I am.  On the other hand, there is also very much an awareness that I am far from home.  I grew up in Seattle, but it's not mine anymore.  That sense of displacement makes everything seem more present and alive.  The sights and the sounds and the smells collide together in a heady mix of vibrancy and nostalgia.   Without the everyday familiarity of home, every moment seems more clear. Work is a distant priority. The girls stay up later than normal.  The air is a refreshing mix of salty, piney goodness.  And the food.  The FOOD!  Going back to Seattle leaves me feeling inspired.  

There s such a sense of connection to the water in Seattle.  

     Something I've been working on in my personal development is being able to understand and compartmentalize all the different aspects of my life and put them in their proper place.  Travelling helps with that perspective.  As you leave your own life behind, you travel through other people's lives.  You get to see how they live and it offers new and different perspectives.  With that comes an increased awareness and appreciation for life.  It offers a measure by which to look at your life.  I appreciate that contrast.  It helps push back against the monotony of everyday life and offers clarity.  The clarity it affords helps put things in perspective.  What's important.  What's not.

This brings back memories from my childhood.  Building driftwood forts on Double Bluff beach.  A truly magical place.

There is a certain beauty to moldering remains of the Kalakala.  

Lake Shasta.  

     Now that I am home, I am settling back into my routine.  It's been a tough transition.  I guess I had forgotten a little how hard normal life is.  I appreciate it more now than I did before I left.  Being home means I can get back to work and move forward again.  My trip inspired me.  It was like climbing to the top of a tree so that I could see things better.  I am grateful for the view and the perspective it afforded.  It was an amazing time and experience.  But, now it's time to be back on the ground so that I can move forward again.  Semper Porro.