Honking the Horn.

When I was a child and on occasion found myself of the side of a busy street, it was always entertaining and wildly daring to encourage truckers and bus drivers to sound their air horns. It never got old, and I'm sure you probably know exactly what arm signal I am talking about: the fist clenched, forearm vertical, and making up and down motions... as if tugging down on the imaginary cord that honks the horn. Sometimes the drivers would ignore us, but the ones who didn't and heeded our juvenile suggestion instantly became awesome in our eyes. A rather simple act that made us kids feel on top of the world, as if we were a part of their professional lives, if just for a moment. The loud sound became our voice to the world. We were strong! We owned the sky!

Just the other day I was driving my bus on Glacier Highway, with a bus full of passengers, and we passed a group of kids at a lemonade stand. They stood at the edge of the curb, all excitedly yelling and making that familiar vertical fist pump. It took me a second to realize that they were making that signal to me. It was vaguely familiar, but I found myself in the position of power. I was their hero! I delivered the sound that roared through the valley, caused my passengers to chuckle, and made their dreams come true, if just for that moment. I am a bus driver... and I make kids happy.

Camera Phone Pictures.

Troubadour.

I just bought this album. Thanks to Dallin, for the introduction, for the taste, for the exposure. Inside the album booklet, it contains the following:

K'NAAN THANKS:

WAR, Warlords, Immigration, Border Guards (I see you), Metro housing projects, Drive by shooters, Police, Correctional facilities, Financial institutions, Public schools, Case workers at Social Services, Depression, Anxiety, The month of October, Solitude, Girls who's hearts I broke, Girl who broke my heart, Bad songs on the radio, That same music video that's bee playing for 8 years, power-trippin' bouncers, Promoters and Stage Managers, Radio Programmers afraid to play my songs, Headliners afraid to follow my band, just fear in general. Aggression, Inequality, Division, Brutality, Ignorance, Greed, Corporate Journalism, Lies.

I would like to say thank you to all of the above, for forcing me to create. For making me fight harder. For giving me convictions. For enabling me to see uniquely. For showing me the value of humility, the bravery of patience. I am grateful for the pain which I've derived from you, the solitude I've extracted from the brutish sensibilities of life. Of course I can't forget Mr. And Mrs. Positive. It goes without saying that you are a big part of my being. But sometimes I wonder if you in your purest form aren't really just born out of the negative yourself.

The lives and experiences of others are some of the best teachers we have. We don't all suffer through the same magnitudes and types of afflictions as described above, but we can relate. We grow through opposition. We discover what we are really made of. Things weren't intended to be easy, and thankfully they're not. Trials build conviction. Faith carries us on.

Brings this to mind: 2 Ne. 4:28-29
28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.
29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.

Boots.

The other weekend we were volunteering for the local food bank here at the community rummage sale. When all was wrapping up, and everyone was packing and cleaning out, I discovered a lone cardboard box and on the side was written sloppily with a sharpie: "free!" There were knitting needles, some old t-shirts, and cowboy boots. I'm sure you can guess what I took. I also obtained a small jar of Currin's Whale Oil polish, and got right to work. Here they are, ready to go...

Dog Sledding.

It seems that when I announced that I was going to Alaska for the summer, to many people that conjures up romantic images of igloos and eskimos and down parkas. Until this point, my summer stay has not been quite that, but yesterday things changed. We rode a helicopter up to the Mendenhall glacier and then went dog sledding. Yes, these things are real. The dogs train here during the summer, and during the winter many of them run the Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome. There is nothing that makes them happier than running. Well trained dogs can keep up their pace for 10 to 12 hours... but yesterday our tour was just about an hour. Still, quite memorable.

Anxious.

It is painful to wait, to be where you don't want to be, recalling the past and dreaming of once again returning to sea. Sometimes I feel like a boat out of water, built for a purpose, left languishing and aging. Majestic in design; lacking in opportunity. Wait it out! I've made it this far. Even in the cold, the dark, and the silence, there is the impending dawn, and once again the light will shine, the rain will pass, and soon enough I'll find myself where I need to be.

Subaru wagon.

This is the official car of Juneau, Alaska.

Miscibility.

Among analogies, common is that of oil and water. The two are deemed opposites, repulsive to one another, and separable by very nature. I don't think this needs be a detractive characteristic, for it is in this certain division that interest and beauty is found. Interplay of this sort, between polar extremes, often leads to more interesting outomes. As such is human behavior. Society and history is defined by clashes between different ends of the spectrum of ideas. It is in this clashing, or dialogue, or interaction, that solutions are found. Separation or elimination or ignorance of one of the elements will not, and never has proven to, produce an ideal position. Not that conflicts, like oil spills, are good, but they happen. People are like that.

Photoshop.

I really enjoy Photoshop. When I was 18, I REALLY enjoyed photoshop. Many hours were invested huddled over my desk in the dorms, manipulating digital canvases pixel by pixel, out of mockery, wise-crackery, or sometimes simply sky-larking. It was a self-taught art. These are just a few of my earliest accomplishments that I found again on my computer. In those days it was raw and creative... so enjoy.

World Cup.

Timing is perfect. I have been home for a year now and guess what corresponds perfectly with this momentous time to refresh my burning love for my Terra Amada... the World Cup! It has been 4 years since the last, and I have forgotten how much I have always liked the World Cup (call it blasphemous, but probably more than the Olympics). The 2006 World Cup was right after I graduated high school and Bennett and I, and sometimes some of our other friends, watched almost all the games. There are more countries that belong to to FIFA than belong to the UN... so the World Cup really is the biggest coming together of the entire planet. The teams are all driven by so much passion and intensity, playing the same game, on the same fields, under the same rules, and yet there is so much individuality and uniqueness. Some players catch our attention. So teams do. I can remember from a young age always being enthralled by the show-stopping, game-defining Seleção Brasileira, or Brazilian National Team.

Imagine how much more this team captivates me now that my heart is yellow and green. They are my team. For decades Brazil has defined the flair and creativity in the world of football. It is pretty hard to describe what football means to the Brazilian people if you haven't ever been there. Yeah, sure people all like sports... but to them it is more. Imagine all the passion that Americans have for their sports... like College (American) football, the NBA, Nascar, the X-Games... and now add all the passion for the arts... like Broadway plays, and bands... and add all the passion that people have for video games, and hiking, and any other type of entertainment you can imagine. Now add the strength of family traditions and cultural identity and history. Seems like a lot of human emotion? That is still not close to entirely capturing the way football flows through the veins of the Brazilian people. The English invented it, but they (the Brazilian people) perfected it. They were born for it.

I just watched my first World Cup game this year. Brazil vs Portugal. It was a draw... and they both advance past group play. As I watched, although in terms of pure soccer entertainment it was average, I was taken away with joy. I looked at those beautiful yellow jerseys and I thought about the hundreds of millions of my brothers and sisters in South America who were watching that game, that team, that flag, and I felt such a tug at my heart. I miss them. I love them. I thought of Bennett there right now. I thought of everyone wearing their jerseys around (most people can't afford cars and computers, and a lot can't even afford good shoes or balanced diets, but everyone has a yellow Selection jersey... everyone).

The 2014 World Cup will be in Brazil. I am going. The Selection Team trains in a town called Teresopolis, just outside of Rio de Janeiro. The final game will be played in the Maracana stadium, South America's biggest, which is located right next to the first area I served in. Excited? You bet. Meu coração é verde e amarelo!

One year.

Well it has now been over a year since I got home. It has been a great one... lots of ups and downs, but I'm glad to be where I am, to have walked the roads I walked, and to be the person I am. Sometimes we need milestones like this to recollect and regain ourselves. There are a lot of things that I'm glad I've accomplished, some things I will try to be better at, and a whole lot more that I can I continue to work towards. Thanks for being here with me along the way. Love.

Hiking.

Hiking is probably one of my favorite things to do here.
Vigorous exercise combined with exploration.
The satisfying feeling of complete exhaustion upon return home following an intrepid adventure.
A cleansing effect.
A feat accomplished.
No technology, social convention or presumed identity.
A challenge presented, and only one way to defeat it.
Human endurance.
A small afternoon activity.
A step in the right direction.

Self Portrait.

Swimming.

I've only been swimming here in Alaska once so far. I was in the water for about 8 seconds. We hiked out to a swimming hole, which is fed by glacial runoff. There were great cliffs to jump off of, as you can see. The jump was fun, and you can imagine what the water felt like upon impact and submersion, and you can understand why my swimming experience lasted about 8 seconds. Sorry the picture is slightly out of focus, I, being the one jumping, clearly did not take the photo.

Norwegian Horses.

These are some Norwegian Horses. We went out to Echo Ranch Bible Camp, out at the end of the road, where my friend Shaner's parents live. We had some fun, but these horses were my favorite part.