Tag Archives: journey

May1

duned.

Posted on by
Standard

walking down from a dune

 i saw a wind-weathered tree

that looked like i imagined a ‘beach cactus’ would look

if they existed

just standing very still by lake michigan

(somewhat like me at one point in the middle of the dune odyssey)

—

we went on a hike

in a beautiful park

with tall grasses and water and rocks and views and sand dunes

 that began with

 one dune

  looking forward to the rolling hills and flats

but we didn’t exactly

ever make it to the place where we were headed

turned into a bigger adventure than we had imagined

 perhaps we never found the official ‘trail’

but we did find

dune after dune after dune

after dune

and once we got over one

we found another

and another

and another

 i announced that it was like

we were in one of those old desert plane crash movies

all soft sand and more soft sand

and more soft sand

mostly uphill

thought

i may have to sleep there

or have them drag my carcass out

we may have to send one ahead

or leave one behind

and finally

after a few hours of climbing and descending

a refreshing rain, a snack, another few sets of dunes

we arrived

far from where we were headed

far from where we had started

at the very top of the ‘big dune’

looking down toward another lake

walked down this last dune

and

got a ride back to where we had started

surprised we had gone so far

didn’t have to send someone or leave someone

but it was a bit ‘iffy’ at certain points

interesting conversations happened along the way

i learned i could do more than i thought i was capable of

because there really were no options

and i did have a few comments

good thing i wasn’t the navigator

or we might still be there now

good training, good workout, good adventure, all good

and i’m still finding good sand…

—

“the voyager’s path is marked by the stars and not the sand dunes.”

-nilotic proverb

Oct2

journey.

Posted on by
Standard
“If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless.”
“no book is really worth reading at the age of ten
which is not equally – and often far more –
worth reading at the age of 50 and beyond.”
-c.s. lewis
—
credits: author- kate dicamillo, candlewick press
Aug16

walk on.

Posted on by
Standard

dear friends, j and b, walk in michigan

getting ready for the big walk.

they leave tomorrow –

i wish them both the best of luck on their journey

 and look forward to their tales from along the way

knowing they will return somehow changed forever.

—

the portuguese way/caminho português

—

The Portuguese Way (Spanish: Camino Portugués, Portuguese: Caminho Português) is the name of the Way of St. James pilgrimage routes starting in Portugal. It begins at Porto or Lisbon. From Porto, pilgrims travel north before entering Spain and passing through Padron on the way to Santiago de Compostela.

The Portuguese way is 227 km long starting in Porto. The way from Porto was historically used by the local populations and by those who arrived in the local ports.

In the contemporary period, most pilgrims are foreigners, and of the total number reaching Galicia between January and October  2017, only 4.27% were Portuguese. Roughly 30,000 pilgrims per year walk this path.

Arrival of queen Elizabeth of Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, after finishing the Portuguese Way around 1325, after the death of her husband, Denis of Portugal.

 

—

“a path is a prior interpretation

of the best way to traverse a landscape.” 

 -rebecca solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

 

—

credits: wikipedia

Jun9

open doors.

Posted on by
Standard

one kinder opens the door for another after making sure it is safe for him to go

—

the bittersweet feelings of being part of our multi-age class

most of the children don’t see themselves as being

different ages or stages

and may not yet see

that some will be moving on

to the higher grades

where they will have the chance to grow

in ways they have yet to imagine

and some will stay with us

for one more year

where they will have the chance

to be the leaders and teachers

to the new little ones joining our class

what we all know without any doubt

is that we are one

 we will always keep an open door for all of them

to safely come and go as they need

and as some leave and as some stay

our journeys continue another day.

—

“if I look back when I begin to leave, will they remember me?” 

― adam young, owl city

May6

living room.

Posted on by
Standard

and on the last night they’ll ever spend

in the only house they’ve ever lived

before moving to their wonderful new location for their wonderful new adventures

we celebrate by finally getting to eat in the living room without sneaking.

—

“your journey never ends. life has a way of changing things in incredible ways.

-alexander volkov

Apr9

journey.

Posted on by
Standard

“One day you finally knew what you had to do,

and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice —

 though the whole house began to tremble

and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

 “Mend my life!” each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do, though the wind

pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations

though their melancholy was terrible.

It was already late enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left your voice behind,

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds

and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,

that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world,

determined to do the only thing you could do —

determined to save the only life that you could save.”

 

—

credits: papercut by annie howe papercuts, poetry by Mary Oliver – ‘Journey.’

 

Jan12

row your boat.

Posted on by
Standard

mark at home on the water in his boat

i connected to this adventurer, mark slats,

through an old friend in the netherlands.

read below to see what he is currently undertaking.

i am amazed every day.Mark Slats is hugged by his mother Maria in Ramsgate, UK last May.

He was about to row to The Netherlands here, never rowed before in a boat like this.

Now Mark is leading the field in the Talisker whisky atlantic challenge with Row4Cancer

with just two teams of 4 rowers ahead of him.

This is a 3.000 mile journey from Europe to America.

Mark’s mom has cancer and this gentle giant is raising money  

for cancer and for the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Cancer hospital.

(http://www.markslats.nl/row4cancer/ )

UPDATE: (early January) Mark Slats is rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean for 28 days now and with this blistering pace he’s on schedule to break the World Record with a stunning two weeks!! Mark is competing in the solo class, but he’s ahead of the leaders in the double and trio classes as well. Currently, the Gentle Giant is on the 4th place overall with only fours around him. Be prepared for his arrival, which is expected on January 14th! 






—

UPDATE  (January 8th)

World’s most bizarre rowing competition is approaching denouement:

Does Dutchman Mark Slats crush the world record ocean rowing?

Mark Slats participates in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge , the toughest rowing event in the world, to raise money for the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Foundation.

The route runs from Europe (the Canary Islands) to America (Antigua). He is rowing solo and nonstop.

Until last year, this carpenter from Wassenaar had never rowed. Mark is rowing for his mother who is seriously ill and all those other people who fight cancer every day.

Despite the hardships of the race, Mark remains positive, he enjoys the ocean and feels good. His physical and mental strength are extreme. Blisters, abrasions and contusions do not bother him, he is determined to crush the record. He rows around 100 miles a day and the expected finish date is currently being tested on January 14th.

After his three previous world voyages as a sailor, the sea has few secrets for Mark, yet every day is new on the ocean. Mark talks about birds, flying fish and dolphins around the boat, even a collision with a whale. He can not heat the freeze-dried food because his gas bottle has been thrown overboard. Cold is not tasty so it is a task to get enough calories. He no longer has a feeling in his fingers but jokes that he no longer feels the blisters on those fingers.

Mark has to finish his boat before January 18 13.03 to break the record of 35 days and 33 minutes. Then he has to walk an average of 2.6 knots, he has rowed an average of 3.4 knots from the start and now has 581 miles to go to the finish. He is in the lead in the Solo class from the start and 4th in the overall rankings. Still, the race has not yet run, a technical defect or sudden whirlwind can still be decisive, it remains exciting until the finish.

More about Mark and the race:
https://www.facebook.com/markslatsavontuur?pnref=story

More about the charity:
https://actie.avlfoundation.nl/row4cancer?nieuw=0

—

“and so in time the rowboat and i became one and the same-like the archer and his bow or the artist and his paint. what i learned wasn’t mastery over the elements; it was mastery over myself, which is what conquest is ultimately all about.” ― Richard Bode, First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living

 

 

—

credits: michel porro, magic marine, talisker whiskey atlantic challenge, mark slats

Nov7

how far?

Posted on by
Standard


my first step in the parks in my first pair of shoes

steps in the parks somewhere in the middle

my last step in the parks in my last pair of shoes

—

with all of this stepping into the parks

i thought it was be easy and interesting

to look back and see just how far i had walked

using multiple sources

and multiple attempts

it turned into quite an impossible task

as each park was shaped differently

i had walked in no particular pattern

and converting the 2061.6 total acres into distance

proved to be a bit more complicated than i expected.

s0me of my early rough calculations

(having dinosaurs on the paper seemed fitting)

scenes of me asking the big questions

with no definitive answers

i went to my daughters

who tried to create an algorithm for me

but they again pointed out that i had no consistent shape of the acreage

nor did a have a consistent path of travel through them

—

i then went online to an international group

of physicists, mathmeticians, engineers, etc. to seek their answers

here is a sampling:

after walking 2,061.6 acres of parks, how far have I traveled in distance?

and :

There is no way to tell. You tell us areas but not distances, nor do you give us times or velocity.

—

i have decided that according to my calculations

my final answer is that i traveled pretty far

during the time i spent covering the 2,061.6 acres 

and interesting coincidence

the last park on the list

the last steps i took

were in a park at the top of the very street 

where i first lived in ann arbor

in my rattletrap apartment with no money

when i moved here at age 40

having quit my job to go to grad school

and change the course of my life

this long journey with it’s twisty and immeasurable path

had somehow led me straight home.

—

‘only those who will risk going too far

can possibly find out how far one can go.’

– t.s. eliott