Wow, it has been a while.

It has really been some time since I wrote last. Since writing last, I have finished my first graduate level class, begun programming an experiment which will be used to determine peoples' willingness to pay for the proposed Peripheral Canal in California and I have also been climbing quite a lot to stay sane. Life as a graduate student is interesting. I suppose it is a lot like Linfield life was. The academic requirements are no more stressful than they were at Linfield, but all the other things are constantly on your mind. What do I do for research? How can I be working on the Peripheral Canal project? Should I be playing right now or should I be in my textbooks. I need to meet with so, so and so about this, this and that. The days go by quickly, not because I stay consistently busy, but because I have to hop from thing to thing, and those mental transitions take time.  

This post was inspired by Bryce's recent update he provided on his blog. It is not polished, particularly poignant, or even funny, but it does answer the nagging voice that sits deep in the recesses of my brain saying, "You really ought to blog soon..." It is a blog post, written to ease my mind. If it is boring for you I am not sorry because I did not write it to entertain you. Hopefully you will enjoy some of the photos I plan on posting if you don't like these words. 

One thing that just popped into my head as I glanced out the large front window while sitting at the Bean Cycle, "How is the parking officer so large? All he does is walk around and look at license plates... you would thing he gets a good amount of exercise. His diet must be horrible." Similarly, I have thought a lot about how great it would be to retire as a mailman. You get to walk around, get exercise and build community with people. My friend Drew and I have talked about it at length. He just got his Masters in International Relations, and being a postman is still at the top of his career dreams. They always have such nice calves. 

I have been reading a lot about small scale sustainable energy projects lately. There is an organization here in Fort Collins called Trees, Water and People. The things they are doing really excites me. I don't know what I want to do with this advanced degree I am getting, but if I can help pursuits such as theirs I will be happy. I want to contribute in any way possible, to increase the efficiency of their operations. 

The Photos are from the couple's backpacking trip we went on earlier in the semester. We were in the Gore Range hiking from Vail to Copper mountain. Beautiful wilderness that is very accessible.  

I have to go to class now. 

Thanks for reading. 

Update...

I am in Charleston, South Carolina right now. It is a very beautiful place, accentuated by the one I am here with. I live in Winter Park, Colorado and work as a Photographer and server at a sushi restaurant. Life is good. I have started to work on a book, or a compilation of sorts. My time has been spent working on that project... 

I have never been to the South before, and today was the first time I have ever been in the Atlantic ocean apparently. It was quite a refreshing experience, the water was pretty cold. I have met a lot of great people, and my time with Courtney has been incredibly special. I met her parents for the first time with a knife inserted into my skull. We went out to a nice restaurant with her entire family, and I proceeded to throw up three times in the bathroom. I was quiet, reserved and incredibly sensitive to her brother's cologne. I had a migraine. Awesome first impression I must say. The next day was much better, for everyone. 

I am leaving for India in about three months. The butterflies are starting to come out of their cocoons in my stomach. For Christmas I received a Lonely Planet "India" guide... let the research begin. Right now, I am thinking about going to Delhi, Old Delhi, Agra, Varanasi, New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. If you are reading this and have any recommendations, please don't hesitate to comment on this entry and share. I think I will be working pretty hard for the next two months or so. It is kind of crunch time in the financial department. 

I hope that all is well in bloggerville. More soon, I promise. 

Colorful Colorado and Organic Oregon

Here are some photographs from some recent adventures in Rocky Mountain National Park and Bend, Oregon. Cheers. 

Some Pics for Your Pleasure

I tried to sit down and write, but it just wasn't happening. So, here are some pictures, which supposedly tell a thousand words. 

Amalgamation Station

 

Amalgamate - (verb) to combine or unite to form one organization or structure. 

What an appropriate word for what is going on right now. I feel like my life has so many parts that have been coming together and falling apart for the last twenty-two years. Friendships, relationships, family, houses, locations, jobs, activities and responsibilities. All have been coming and going for the entirety of my life. Sometimes I wonder if the adjectives 'predictable' or 'regular' will ever be used to describe my life. Sometimes I wish that my life would be more predictable or regular. Sometimes I wish I could understand what all of the components of my life will end up being. There are other times however, when I bask in spontaneity. There are times when the most beautiful parts of my life are the irregular and unpredictable occurrences. Right now is one of those times. 

"Sure, I'll go to Alaska," I say.

"Of course I will ride bikes down to the lake and go cliff jumping at one in the morning."

"You're exposing all of the things I thought were secrets," someone says. 

"I almost bought a plane ticket to Bangkok today... " 

Life is unpredictable. It is messy, uncontrollable, counterproductive, and difficult. Life is an amalgamation of emotions, experiences, goodbyes and hellos, interactions, frustrations, and relationships. Life is indeed, beautifully composed. 

Juarez, Mexico

There is something special that happens when you realize how large this world actually is. Spicy food, language barriers and surface level cultural differences are not what impact us at our core. A person’s heart can change when they are exposed to the needs of this world that have yet to be met. When we are exposed to tangible relationships, emotional hardships and a visible lack of justice a profound change can occur. Our hearts were changed. I suppose the purpose of this letter is to thank you for making it hard. Thank you for exposing us to the injustices of this world. Thank you for taking a part in the change that many of us experienced while being in Juarez.

The trip began on a cold morning in Longmont,

 Colorado, with a group of twenty-one college students trying to figure out how to p

ack all of our tools, clothes, and sleeping bags into four vehicles. Ten hours of driving, and a stop at a Chinese buffet delivered us to El Paso, Texas, where we stayed the night in a church gymnasium. Naturally, a game, similar to American Gladiators’ Powerball, broke out in the gymnasium. After a considerable amount of socks, skin and sweat were sacrificed we called it a night. Confession: our first construction project was repairing the ceiling fan we accidentally broke.

The next morning we crossed into Mexico. El Paso and Juarez sit side by side, but the two cities are strikingly different. As we crossed the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte the landscape transformed from skyscrapers, advertisements, and consumption into factories, working-class barrios, and production. This was when many people began to realize how large the need actually is. We picked up our tools from the warehouse and set out to find the job sight, quite the struggle in a city that has grown much faster than its infrastructure. Have you ever tried to look for a vacant lot in a city with almost no street signs, few paved roads, and plenty of dirt fields? How, exactly, do you discover the location of a house that hasn’t been built yet? After an hour or so of driving we found the dirt rectangle that would very soon become a three room, insulated, set of classrooms.

We began our project by leveling the ground so that we could lay the concrete foundation. This alone took the whole first working day. Our first night in Mexico was New Years Eve and we really wanted to celebrate New Years like a Mexican would. Sadly, on the way to the central plaza, one of our four vehicles broke down. Needless to say, we celebrated New Years Eve being pulled behind a dodge truck by a towrope. It ended up being one of the most memorable New Years Eve celebrations in recent memory. By the time we arrived at the building site the next day the ground had settled a little and it was time to start building a house. Brandon, our Casas por Cristo staff member, fearless leader, and seasoned builder, delegated tasks and we set out to work. Framing, cutting, and foundation work were all completed simultaneously. By the time we broke for lunch, the concrete was curing, all of the necessary wood was cut, and most of the walls were framed. After a couple of sandwiches (and an unknown number of Mexican sodas) we returned to the work site. We began to set the walls, place the exterior insulation, and prepare for stucco. To our surprise, we had what looked to be a house after barely more than one full day of work.

We began our third day of work with an impromptu dance party. Nothing puts you to work on a cold winter morning like Brett’s techno workout mix. The third day was spent either on the roof, stretching chicken wire (for the stucco), or building one of the best retaining walls you will ever see. By sundown we had finished the roof, begun hanging dry wall, and had a solid start on our landscaping, the first landscaping a Casas por Cristo house had ever seen. That evening, Kyle prepared an amazing meal for all twenty-one of us to enjoy together in our church home. Our last day of building was a full one. We arrived at the work site, turned on some (more) sweet jazzercise music, and set out to finish the house. After a couple of hours, the stucco was complete, the drywall was nearly finished and we could

 begin putting on the final touches. Most people were inside at this point, mudding the walls and painting, thankful to be out of the freezing January wind. By the time the sun had gone down, we were putting up the light fixtures, moving the custom built bookshelf, and really outdoing ourselves with the xeroscaped plants and monsoon resistant ground cover. After about three and a half days we had a hou

se. Sea foam green paint, bookshelves, landscaping, two ceramic space heaters and what will hopefully be a long lasting safe and warm place full of memories, learning, and joyfulness.

During the dedication service we discussed how a house, in and of itself, might not be a meaningful gift. What gives the house its significance, what brings out its potential, are the ways i

n which it is used. Conversely, we often take structure for granted, failing to acknowledge how crucial warmth, shelter and safety are for our relationships. The time spent with Carolina, and the rest of the family, was the actual reason we went down to Juarez. Although we may have forgotten it at times, we did not go to simply build a house. Instead, our purpose, both in going to Juarez and in being a Christian, is to contribute in building a kingdom. A kingdom where relationships are prized, love and mercy flow between us, where needs are met, and where injustices are realized and absolved. We built a beautiful house, but hopefully, with your help, we contributed in the building of what is going to be a beautiful kingdom.

Here and There

Just woke up, thinking about my Christmas break so far. Friends are beginning to leave already to go back to their respective institutions, new homes, and other lives. It is always strange coming home, trying to figure out the new, but very much the same, group dynamics. I have not even thought about blogging during the last three weeks. For some reason celebrating Christmas for three days, building a house in Mexico, and showing a friend from Oregon how awesome Colorado can be, has gotten in the way. I plan on slowing down a little bit. At least until Frank (a friend I met in New Zealand) flies here in a couple of weeks... and then it's on like Donkey Kong.

There will be more musings to follow, but first I need to take a "chill out session." If you have left, I will miss you. If you never came back, I miss you a lot. And if you are planning on leaving soon, can we please spend some time together before I begin missing you?

The Mission:

To get home for Christmas with car, road bike and gear.

I just drove 17 hours from Bend, Oregon to Longmont, Colorado. I didn't stop for food. I stopped for gas three times, and I stopped to pee two times. I didn't get pulled over until I was in Fort Collins, and it was because my left tire crossed into the other lane, and the CSU policeman thought I was drunk. I wasn't, I was just weary. Along the way I listened to Paolo Nutini quite a bit, he is a new favorite. During the four hundred mile drive across Wyoming, I listened to the Colbie Caillet album three times, and yes, I was singing very loudly to every song. Another favorite was the New Zealand Mix, featuring great artists as: Fat Freddies Drop, Katchafire, Mason Jennings, Marc Brusard, David Crowder and Matt Kearney. In total it took 17 hours. I got home at 3 in the morning and now it is 11, and I want to play.

I had a significant amount of time to think about life, my purpose, plans and direction. I am not going to write them on here yet, part because I don't want to spend to much time on the computer right now, but also because I want to digest them a little bit. Also, I would rather have a face to face conversation with people about my recent musings. It was a good journey, one that I will have to make in a month again in a month and a half.

I am home. Give me a call.