sweetfayetteville

sheesh, i adore that town of fayetteville, arkansas. and was lucky enough to get to take a weekend trip there that was decided upon four days prior to departure. flying by the seat of my pants: not usually my style as i love to plan but have never ever been one to turn down spontaneity and travel whim. i think my major shortcoming, besides being an incessant sinner, is becoming upset when plans don't follow through as anticipated. but this didn't happen on this outing since there wasn't much to anticipate over the short days before. i just knew where i had to be, what time i needed to show up, when i was to return and most importantly how i was to dress while bouncing around.

the reason for the dash to fayetteville: [the land of razorbacks, surprisingly good mexican cuisine, wondrous fall foliage and quite thoughtful design hidden about], was a uniting of lovers. it was a fabulous wedding at that and such a perfect autumn day to say "ido". seeing so many familiar faces brought an even bigger smile to my face as each was embraced. but what all these familiar sights, sounds, faces, places, stomping grounds got me to thinking was the filter in which we perceive them in. as we evolve as a person, fluctuating in many different aspects of who we are, we begin to see things different as well. i can't imagine what my eyes would pick up on, if and when i travel back to rome, knowing without a doubt that each city we travel to serves us for that time and it's not always what the city's wonders show us but in what it can offer personally to those who choose to come.

i biked both days i was in fay. and as i pedaled around to remembered places of time well spent ,there was something different about being in these places, as if i was a bit removed. this little college town has undergone some enormous transformations, and fantastic needs that are good for this place. it pulled me in new directions both physically and mentally and left me not lingering on the past life i held there but what life could be like if i were to dwell in this town. pieces of me want this place to stay "as is" and left unchanged for fear of not understanding the locus anymore but i suppose this is the transformation that needs to happen. just as people are evolving, hopefully so, as are cities. and that is a bittersweet beautiful movement.

ze vol walker aka home for 5yrs.

a new parking structure and bookstore

a new bike trail of wonderful connections

i'm moving to I N D I A!

yep, come January i will be off to mussooire, a small town in northern india at the base of the himalayas. i will get to be a part of and do so many wonderful things in my time there. if you want to know more, contact me, please.

*i will keep this little blog of mine to share news and adventures a-plenty.

a few maps of the country

[a view from mussooire to the himalayas]

[landscape surrounding the town]

petit.grepon

there is too much outdoor terminology thrown around in improper ways. thus making for awry statements with said terms. so keeping this straight accurate: this past weekend was spent in incredible scenery with optimal temperature, chill company, solid rock to hold onto and soaring heights to ascend. all i know is, to climb mountains [with 70m ropes, an ice axe, a rack of trad gear, draws and slings, top rope setup, crampons or which ever your medium] is to make decisions on where to go next, when to rope up, when to belay, whether to rappel or down climb, whether to turn around or push on.

mostly it's about adjusting and in more cases than not, anticipating change.

so we set off for rocky mountain national park on saturday afternoon. much to our surprise it was FREE day at ALL national parks in the ENTIRE nation. all we could do was laugh as we were swamped with tourist bouncing around estes park and on into rocky mtn. we hiked the 5 miles in whilst admiring the golden aspens dancing above us. you couldn't ask for more in a hike like this: perfectly graveled, a waterfall for looksies, people staring you down for carrying a mondo backpack, 65 degrees of splendid blue rockie skies. content we were.
the climb we planned to conquer was the petit grepon, rising around 12,000 feet of soaring glory. it's funny because as you get above tree line, which happens easily around here, the decor of the mountainside becomes quite barren and gray-ish. this is fine. there is something beautiful and pure when the peaks are exposed and left to answer to the most extremes of mother nature. one can see for miles when you are above tree line with a varying view in every which way. we, however were mostly focused with the next 6 feet above our hands and the very texture in front of our eyes. i can barely explain the surge of energy running through your heart as you clamber up the vertical slab. i can raise my heart rate just thinking about it. there is something about alpine climbs that do this. the lack of green vegetation which is usually hustling around you, the quick notice when you nick a rock over the edge and see it waver in the wind or realizing you are merely a morsel in these mountains and they have free range to toss you around. yes, perhaps those are a few of the notions why i|you|anyone would notice and desire to float to such places to rise to such heights, to push limits and at times look fear square the face.
now if only i could lead traditional style climbing. |sigh|. soon, very soon.

well as it goes, we climbed longer than expected, rappelled in the darkness and hiked out with the moon as our guide and stars our map. i've gotten better at this whole being prepared for most anything sort of mentality as it's only taken me two years. the magic lies in what is unexpected and welcomed. a lesson learned from this trip: safety is still the root of it all and there is always time for a picture.

{a view to the east}

}hut-hut{

like i've said in the past, these three day weekends bring so much opportunity when there is only a stint of compiled time to bust outta this place. your place, my place, whomsoever's place it might be or what they/me/you are busting out of really doesn't matter. it's the feeling of fighting for the weekends to breathe mountain air deep into our lungs and stretch across trails of rock to feed our step with a little hop. so i think if we keep our head up and our arms out, we may never know what may fall into our life.

a few months ago, my adventuresome soul sister and i devised a plan. a plan to invite any and all denverites interested and longing to feel the freedom of what the outside realm can offer them, along with us. this can take place in a slew of ways. the biggest plight is making a decision on where to run away to as there are so many options [not a bad dilemma if you ask me]. the other weekend it was a secluded hut deep into the mt. holy cross wilderness area. her and i, along with 16 of our closest and new-ish friends set off. we backpacked in all that would be necessary for a two night three day excursion of mountain living, though to shelter and keep us close we added a rather large hut. we cooked and ate gourmet meals, had an impressive turn out of hiked in yummy beverages, slept wide eyed under the starry night, watched sweet sunsets up top the roof, heated up some logs and danced around a bonfire, all this in the name of laughter. labor day weekend two thousand and ten was a beautiful mess.
*a winter hut trip will be in the works soon :)

[from the roof]

[from the trail]

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

{------------ugandan----------------------------------------------------------------------}

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

{--------------------------------------------u.c.u chapel dancing-----------------------}

{--------------------------------------------------------------------metric scale-------------}

{----------------------------------------------- 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 :)