Bumping around the land of my childhood with two of my best friends over the last week and a half was amazing!  We spent the 4^th of July in Ashland, which is always a good time.  I went to my 10 year high school reunion, which actually deserves its own post for all the awesomeness it was!  We then headed into the Russian Wilderness in N Cali, and spent 4 days alone together next to a mountain lake soaking up the peaceful beauty of the natural world.  We watched eagles, napped in hammocks, skinny dipped in frozen lakes, and glissaded down snowy slopes.

A rising craving for the Pacific Ocean turned us West and we headed to the coast.  I spent an evening visiting two friends in Eureka who are gearing up for marriage and a life of happy excitement.  Wow!  I have never seen either of them more sparkly and amazing than they are now.  It makes me a bit giddy just to see so much well-placed love coming from these two splendid people.

We then spent a day basking in the power of the infinite expanse that is the Pacific Ocean.  There is a direct tie from this body of water to my soul.  I don’t realized how much I miss it while I’m in Colorado, but when I return to the West Coast part of me wakes up and comes out to play that refuses to share my body unless my toes are dipped in the Ocean. 

Another day we returned to the forest, the most amazing forest in the world, the redwood forest.  This place is magical, a playground for fairies, and a jungle gym for me.  There are logs to run on, trees to climb, and ancient spirits to sit next to.   Eight foot ferns create a luscious understory to the 300 to 400 ft trees who are well over a thousand years old.  It is the paradise of my soul, a place that calmly heals and revitalizes all the warn places from the rub of daily life. 

I found a tree, broken off a hundred years ago 50’ up, 15’ in diameter, that had been hollowed out by years of rainstorms leaving a solid shell surrounding a soft pile of foliage, bark, and delicate tree tissue.  I sat in this place and listened to the silence of the forest.  Many feet of wood on all sides shielded the sound of the world from my ears while magnifying the living energy of the place and funneling it right into my soul.  I could have stayed for hours drinking in life for this was a place where only the most positive moments exist, strung together into a calmly ascending journey backwards and forwards through the mists of space-time.

We returned to the Rogue Valley, and I spent a day talking to my dad, and working with him in the garden that has provided so much vitality to his corner of the world recently.  We dug up 3 wheel barrow loads of garlic, and started braiding them for winter storage.  I love getting my hands filthy with growing things. 

My dad is one of the most inspiring people to talk to, for unlike a lot of the world, as he ages he continues to fling himself into life, deepening each experience as his yeas continue to present him with more and more opportunities for growth and wonder.  We go places in our conversations that I seldom go with anyone else, places that catapult the human race into new realms of meaning, path, and dream-creation.  I feel certain we have a serious adventure to have in the near future, and I’m looking forward to it while trying not to be too anxious.

My brother bought a house recently with his girlfriend.  It’s amazing seeing him fully arrive in life each day, and make the moments peacefully strong around him.  We spent an afternoon at this house, sharing time with all the family of Oregon.  Wow!  Such beauty in age and experience.  From my Grandpa and Martha at over 90 to Toren at less than 1 there is a true energetic happiness and curiosity in the world I seldom see.  The true gift of a multigenerational family smacks me in the chest every time we all get together.  THIS is the way we are meant to love, to live, to share the world.  The gifts and experience of all can be shared in such unique ways when everyone is living nearby.  I miss this while I’m in Colorado, but, I am following a powerful path of my own, that takes me into the unknown, motivating me, and crafting a life, that manifests opportunity and change at each turn.

I’m flying back to Oregon now, for the second half, which will involve some new souls (my brother and Sophia) as well as some new adventures .  I just spent a week in Alabama working on some amazing JWST stuff, and dang, what a crazy transition, but truly motivating in a different way.  However, now I’m back to the Pacific North West to continue on the path through Oregon, on to Montana and back to Colorado.

Pictures from the last part of the adventure!