Don't Forget your Camera

It is the notion of traveling that not only draws people together, it lets you try new things, freak yourself out, explore.  Getting out and seeing the world allows you to find yourself, learn what gets your heart pumping… get you excited to start living.  There is truly nothing in this world that can spark creativity more than traveling.  So I command you …
F
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D-R-I-V-E

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Go Somewhere!
“We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” - Henry David Thoreau
But I warn you, you will get lost, you might not understand Vietnamese, Mandarin or Swedish, you will however learn, bond, laugh and wonder.  You will take pictures

Buy souvaneers….tacky….and nice….you will spend too much money (that is okay, that is why you earned it!!)  Understand that you are creating your own history, so do just that PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD OWN IT!!!

Oh yah, and don’t forget your camera…

Nature vs. Man (The Ups and Downs)

Why is it that manmade items have such a different impact on humans than items that Mother Nature herself created?  It can’t be that man lacks the creative power to create items varying in design and form….have you seen New York City?

Is it the ease of replication…replication…replication…replication…replication…that makes these objects (buildings, cars, photographs, computers) so unstimulating?  When was the last time that a skyscraper got your heart pumping?

But mountains: Mountains are big

But Rivers: Rivers are strong

But Redwood Trees: They are TALL (They contain their own ecosystem within their branches)

Perhaps it is the lack of nature in man’s life that causes him to become so cold, so harsh, so unsatisfied.  How can one neglect their own creator, without nature to shape us, we would be nothing.  Without nature we would be without evolution, change, progress.  It is the powerful winds of a hurricane, the shaking of the ground in an earthquake, and a devastating flood that brings humans together.

(Times Square Subway Flooded)

Skyscraper : Mountain

Telephone Pole : Tree

Highway : River

Often it is the item being copied that can be blamed for disaster. (September 11^th, Drunk Driving Accident, Polluted Roadways)  

Are we blind?  We can gather control of our world, of our lives, of these disasters… 

Jes GROW

A commanding VIEW and hands on the controls.  Time now for the second leg of the journey.  Our bodies are filled with the intoxicating energy given off by the mountain air.  Looking around it was easy to see the juxtaposition that was both a feeling of tiredness and energy still pulsing through our bodies.  Closing our eyes brought forth visions of color and beauty...the sun was
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The thought of days ~ e t  e   r    n     a      l ~ was everyones wish.  Days that could be filled with excitement and nostalgia, the feeling of Jes Grew was with us.  Happiness.  Freedom. Calmness.
Summertime
Christmas Morning
Concerts
Passions

Nothing could bring us down for evil was overthrown, defeated and conquered.  It sounds like a bunch of Mumbo Jumbo, but In that moment we were infinite.

While the excitement of the hike was over, the bonding was just beginning.  The second leg of our journey brought fourth inside jokes, a desire to be longed and desired by one another.  The kindness that filled the cabin of our car could turn the wicked into angels.

On our minds:

• Love
• Peace
• Kindness
• Wonder
  

Left Behind:

• Hate
• Anger 
• Death
• Sorrow

Something inside us had clicked, we felt as if we were one.  Unity surrounded us and filled our hearts.  Jes Grew within us: Jes GROW.

Home Again, Home Again

We continue our ride to what seems like nowhere.
The

f
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s.

A place where total tranquility can be found, a place where children are silent, dogs don’t bite and the only loud sound is the hissing of falling water.  Walking onward,, onward,, onward.  The babble of passer by’s seems as if it is in a totally new language.  Words seem to get lost in the woods, only words like “hello” or “almost there” seem to be processable.  As we grow closer to the end of our journey “...frustration rises.”  You want nothing more than so melt into the warm fuzzy seats of the sand colored Jeep in the parking lot. P-r-o-t-e-c-t-i-o-n : w-a-r-m-t-h : n-a-a-a-a-a-p.  The woods are a home away from home but they lack the comforts that you have come to know and love.  You weep, it is hard to accept the fact that you are uncomfortable.  Pick some flowers, take them with you, take the woods home with you.  Can you have two homes at once?  Can you love two things at once?
 A different type of serenity.



(Hyperlink is "two things at once")

Ouzel Falls

           

 The trail is narrow, I look behind me and see my mom and brother staring at the canyon in awe.  As I reach for the reigns of Eddy my paint-pot horse, click-clack click-clack click-clack, I inhale a deep breath of the fresh, clear mountain air.  Sweet, aromatic.  Montana; this is my home.  Not home in the concrete sense of the word, home in the a-b-s-t-r-a-c-t form.  My heart feels full, I am content.  I shift my weight back as my horse climbs the steep trail almost telepathically.  I can hear rushing water (shhhhshhhhshhhshhh) getting louder as our journey continues onward.  Hours ------------(feel like)-------->  minutes as we approach our destination, Ouzel Falls.  It has been years since I have ridden this trail and I love it.  I can feel the energizing mist from the powerful waterfall, the beads of water dancing, nourishing the surrounding greenery.  I ride Eddy to a tree and secure his reigns and bridal so he can feast on the GREEN vitamin rich moss growing on the riverbank.  I call my mother and brother to do the same when I notice a black bear across the river feasting on the moist boysenberries.  I stand there in awe, not sure whether I should reach for my camera or use my eyes.