nashville&a.thought

i'm not sure if nashville is an overlooked city by most, but for me it most definitely was/is. one city i never gave much thought to. maybe that was a product of having zero ties to the place. errrr, maybe one, my love for george strait. i figured at the bright age of thirteen every country star was from nashville. to my amazement i came to find out he was from the city i lived in, san antonio. go figure. i only listen to country on a rare occasion now a days, this being a state of nostalgia. it seems to come every august, round the corner and hits me square in the chest. with no fail every august i feel intense amounts of grief about not being home, wherever home may be. but that is for another day and another jot.
so this past weekend nashville was the destination. love and marriage was the reason for the trip. good times with a side dish of humidity were in the forecast. friends came from arkansas, new york, virginia, colorado and of course tennessee. all gathered in the name of love and the time was such a delight.

what it got me to thinking about, which i had never pondered about before, was that these people i was meeting, seeing again, stepping into their home, very well could have been my life...had i made one decision different two years ago. i almost took the "safe" route and went where i had a job and all i had to do was sign. but instead, this curious character of mine had to take a different path and head straight west for the mountains. at first, i thought i should have made the move to nashville but slowly over a period of a few months i came to realize the many reasons for why i call denver home. how it truly captured me and cracked the shutters to let my soul shine a little brighter. it is just a bizarre thought to see in the living flesh who could of been in your life and what kind of days one might have been living. this isn't about regrets or anything of the like. i think it's about choices and what's best for you/me at the time. i didn't have a huge reason and still don't for my coming to colorado. i believe it was an attraction for what it had to offer and a love for adventure. these cities, they shape us, they let us know we are alive and deeply rooted to a place, we find ties to the places we call home that live on with us forever. cities change us, give us a sense of belonging and even a future to look on to. thank you denver for serving me well each and every day. i must be honest though, my eyes may be fixed on a new horizon.

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{man o man i do love these soccer sunsets}

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on the larger side of things...all life is, is an adventure. really the whole big deal of it is: places big and small we go, cities we seek and dwell in, people we encounter and let change us, views [both that we speak of and also physical] we take in with our eyes and lens that remind us of how small we really are. was christopher mccandless right when he said that happiness is only real when shared? spending time alone can be quite wonderful. but i don't think that is what he was getting at.
thinking about the saying:

"life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. so love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't and believe that everything happens for a reason. if you get a chance, take it. if it changes your life, let it. nobody said that it'd be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. "

though i prefer quotes that are shorter as i have a trend to not agree with it's entirety this one speaks a lot of truth and have always had a liking for it. it rings true with the adventuresome life i'm currently alive in. so live on and let be because time flies. suns rise and shadows do fall. let the time go by because there's no use fighting it.

man.thatwashard

listen up now. i'll tell you what the big deal is about hiking your booty up to 14,000 ft above sea level-------> it makes you feel damn proud when you turn around at the bottom and look back at the freakin mountain you scaled up in a single day. i've got one and three fourths in my bag and not sure i will be high tailing it up anymore 14er mountains any time soon. it.was.hard. quite possibly one of the hardest things i've done to date. moving so slow i could have sworn i went backwards a few times and might have fallen down to die a slow death if it wasn't for friends making sure i breathed in and breathed out and put one foot up up up in front of the other.

the mountain we tackled was mt. massive and rose to fourteen-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-one-feet of grueling beauty. side note: we started at 10,080' so don't go thinking all you non-coloradans that we started at sea level. i'm no sherpa and i do welcome oxygen. a 13.5 mile round trip trail took you through all sorts of scenery. the start: in the density of the trees. pines fallen in masses from the heart wrenching pine beetles. hundreds left to be burned or carried away, whatever their fate. as with most things in life, death often brings light to new life and baby aspens were filling in amongst the laid pine. as sad as it is to see fields of trees browned over, nothing could be sweeter than the rise of the harmonious tree that is the aspen. we welcome you. then as you rise in elevation you move above tree line and stop drinking your water for fear of peeing to a crowd. no, but really it is quite exposed and the vegetation is even more barren. some of the most beautiful of flowers survive the harsh winds, the sideways hail, the bitter sleet and the persistent snow. we, humans, were so lucky to encounter all these forms of precipitation which is why these little flowers amaze me each time i summit to another mountain top and find a cluster of colorful buds alive and happy as ever. then for the final push: up the talus field over that boulder past the many carins to the fateful tip TOP. we-made---it---. and as the clouds so kindly parted for us the view allows you to breathe for the first time in miles just a bit deeper. a much needed breath of fresh mountain air. ahhhhh.

oh wait, did i mention we were alone. all alone. i tell you this because it is rare and sacred, for me at least. for some reason people actually enjoy hiking 14ers and they are rather crowded on the weekend. i guess our plan to start late was indeed a good choice.

fotos>uganda

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{---------------------------------male rothschild giraffe---------------------------------}

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{----------------------------------------------- jinja advertising }

tobepresent

the great affair is to move and your feet will then bring you to where your heart is. all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.

though all have some level of truth i still have yet to discern which of these themes rings most true to me . i've only been home from uganda for 3 days now and should probably give it some time to let thoughts, emotions, feelings rise and surface. unlike the time i lived in rome, this trip came to fruition rather quickly and didn't have too much buildup in terms of expectations. the only thing forecasted was that my eyes would open a little wider, and they did indeed.

what qualifies a country to be third world? are there such things as second world countries and why does it always seems that there is not as much room for the middle? except some things feel like all parts fall into the middle. anyways, in this idea of a "western culture" and all that is developed with exponential growth that happens year by year these two extremes of third world to first world are moving rapidly in the opposite direction. or better yet, one is staying still and the other is shooting like a rocket, comparatively. you can not help but judge what you know and are comfortable with to the unfamiliar and straight up unnatural. i tried my hardest to not do a lot of adverse thinking while in africa and wanted to be my most present self. though the inevitable scrutinizing humans that we are makes this a challenge.
i think if i could amend one of the first mentioned statements i would go to great lengths to say that: all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware until fully immersed in the present state of their surroundings. or something of the like. i'm not such a quotist, but i'm working on it.

ride dangerously.take a boda

so here i am at the eMi offices in kampala uganda about to go fall asleep in a hammock. i don't really know what to write as there is so much to say and the last thing i want to put down is a play by play. i want to note about things experienced, feelings felt, relationships with ugandans and americans, adventures survived and so much more of the like.

tomorrow i leave early for murchinson falls which is on the western most side of the country and will be there for three days. i'm going to safari around with others [others i don't yet know and hopefully speak a common language, but if not that's fine too] and see animals we only see in the zoo. i suppose this is an extended trip through an african zoo. yes, i like that. i would say this creates mild to medium excitement. okay but really, it's going to great! just another amazing adventure i've already packed into these short two weeks.

this morning i experienced all that is unreal about driving in kampala. it's CRAZY! i mean, i should have already known this from traveling previously to some similar countries but this is something altogether new. my friend and i chose to venture downtown on bodas. bodas are motorcycles with an impressively skilled driver who can maneuver through anything. i could have sworn my leg would have touched another moving vehicle at least 15 times and a person 7 more but in the end i was clean of any contact. helmets seem non existent and new borns in mother's laps are encouraged. girls sit two legs on the side and men three deep [perhaps a child on the shoulders as well] i'm not even kidding. we were dropped off at the aweeno market and didn't see another mizungo [translation=white person] until we were back at the offices. needless to say we got some looks. all in all it was a fantastic taste of ugandan culture.

of course...more to come :)

westtogunnison

yes, it's been a while. but this doesn't mean i've been bumming it on the couch waiting for adventure to seek me. it was the first-climbin'/campin'-trip of the summer weekend, family time x 2, and attempts at long haul climbing.
this past weekend just so happened to be a three day weekend [athankya fighters of our country past and present]. and when you work in the 9-5 world of business these little gems of free days off are glorious beyond spectacular. it means you can travel just a little further, stay for an extra night, not have to hustle back and of course pack in more action. or relaxing. or hiking. or simply staring off into the rockies. you can take your pick. we choose gunnsion with a side of laughter.

gunnison is home to western state college, a small state school that i don't know much about. it is summer time so the students have already launched into their summer plans, leaving the place a underpopulated, at least one would think. though this town was packed with people, be it bikers, climbers, babies in buggies, runners galore. we soon came to realize that there were three competition of sorts going on all in the same recreation area. splendid.
we were there to climb. the endurance climb actually. this entailed throwing your body up against conglomerate granite and hoping to the rocks gods that your shoes held on for dear life. thankfully, they did a better portion of the time. you could even go 'hands free' this rock had so much texture. it was fantastic for smearing [scientific climbing term which really just translates to nontechnical footwork gone awry.] we took on the challenge of climbing for 1,440 minutes. or 24 hours, if you wish. either way, we didn't make it and decided that once our tenacity ran dry and i took a nose dive into the dirt we best call it a night. this place, hartman rocks, is an excellent mecca for a weekend combo of climbing, mountain biking and trail running. it was inspiring to be 30 feet high on a climb and look out to see bikers moving so swiftly through the sand like texture and turns of the trail. it makes me admire and give respect to each nature loving sport. another thing that made me smile was taking part in a favorite past time of mine: getting hot and sweaty and then plunging into some body of water. the blue mesa for us which definitely deserves a trip back around to.

[hartman rocks : lovely photo by sejal]

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...and if you ask for something you have to be aware that it just might be granted to you.

denverrides

this city i live in, denver, makes me happy all the time. yes, i receive good vibes and a charismatic touch from the city. it is alive.
it also decided to start [with thanks to Hickenlooper and his green outlook on denver] the nations largest bike sharing cooperative to date. it's been a few years coming and hard work but now, today :earth day: it's making the launch. there are 40 or so kiosks with 8 meticulously crafted bikes at each station around the inner city limits of denver. the trek designed bike has a basket, gps tracker, fenders, chain guards, built in lock and automatic lights [awhat?] included in the cruiser style fit for any person. i know this because i went to a v0lunteer training where it took two men to hold up the 45 lb bike in all its glory.
though i think the rides are a little expensive there is really no way around the "cost" of using the bikes. austin tried this initiative with yellow Lance bikes and they were repeatedly stolen and found damaged. it would be a beautiful thing to share with out price and rely on our fellow neighbor to return the toy but alas it's not looking promising. but that is not here nor there and a fare there must be. i can't wait to see these bikes cruising around town and will get to jump on one tomorrow for a test ride and promote what this is all about. if you are a denverite go check it out!

[designs and branding by crispin porter + bogusky]

gettinglost

so back to adventuring.....ahhh yes
i know sometimes it's great fun and all to get lost and even healthy to wander without knowing where you are going but i got sickly lost at cherry creek state park the other day. now, this place is 4,200 acres of hugeness. i did all the things i thought i should: scoped out a trail map prior, rigged the entrance fee by "walking in," set out a few hours before dark and even had high hopes of running the whole time. i did not intend on asking for directions but after meandering for a good 1.2 hours i opted for the second runner i saw of the night. whew! i turned around and started running with him and into the semi correct direction. thank you kind sir. the only frustration was that it was getting dark and i also had somewhere to be getting to. if it wasn't for these two factors, this is with out a doubt the best way to explore an unfamiliar place: get deeply hidden and discover your way out. if this poses some dangerous threat[in a light hearted way], all the better.
i used to run at a fabulous place in fayetteville that was an escape, if you will, to school and the whirlwinds of life. the ability to go there and move to nothing but the sound of the adjacent lake or the leaves bustling around you was great time spent. i've longed for a place like this in denver and think i may have discovered just this, it only took me 1.7 years, sheesh. being an urban park, cherry creek state park gives fascinating views of the cityscape, the chance to run through and near herds of mule deer [not the skinny kind of deer you see in san antonio because they are literally locked within the city neighborhoods] but free roaming and startling huge animals, plus some beautiful mallards in the water. i could go on about animals, but then again even a bunny will get me all giddy.
i'm not a fan of getting in your vehicle to drive yourself to a location to run. it just seems silly. problem is this is not a prime location from my house but i suppose neither was lake fayetteville and seemed like a treat when i got the chance to go. not being readily available is maybe what adds to the attraction of a place. well, next time i'll hopefully not ask for help with reckoning.