30 November 2008

Thanks to Moab

I spent Thanksgiving in Moab. I went with Greg, Robbie, and Jessica from Vancouver. It was a one-of-a-kind Thanksgiving. Hopefully I will have another like it one day, perhaps with my future family, but this past week's events will not be forgotten.
We made a lot of plans. After checking into our Hostel, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and discussed our plans. We were going to hike Arches National Park and see all the Arches,

http://www.travelinformation.com/uploads/57--1_th-Moab,-UT-Delicate-Arch.jpgespecially Delicate Arch.

I have faint, fond memories of the arches. I am under the impression that I went there once with my mum and brother. When I was little, my mum took us on a road trip from Washington state to Alabama to meet up with my dad before we flew overseas. We saw some of the natural wonders: the Grand Canyon, the arches, and the life-size, plastic dinosaur I feared would pee on me at the gas station. Anyway, this trip reminded me of that chapter of my life when my life was very much ruled by my mum's escape to the road and her preference for the Eagles, Hell Freezes Over.
Thanksgiving began with the hike to Mecca. I like to refer to this Holy hike as Mecca because it required a lot of sacrifice on my part. I sacrificed my friends, family, comfort, warmth, and health for it. Those make it sound like this trip wasn't worth it, but...let me get there.
It rained relentlessly everyday in Moab, or in other words, the desert. I wasn't prepared for this phenomenon: no raincoat, boots, or poncho. But my good friend, Greg lent me his poncho and we kept hiking. I wasn't prepared for the hostel we were staying in. I've stayed in hostels before. They always make for great, life-changing stories, and crazy cool people. This one was no exception. A wheezy hippie lady cleaned the hostel in exchange to live there. Her greatest struggle I learned quickly was getting tenants to recycle, she was very worried about the tenants using her pink-handled cooking pots for anything other than vegetarian, and she serenanded everyone out of their morning dreams with very zen yoga music...Every morning. Kelly was one-of-a-kind


I respected her.

She also winked a lot to many people which is a skill I've been mastering since summer.
So yes I wasn't prepared to meet my alter-ego at lazy lizard hosel.
Another very important point in this trip was making new friends. I take pride in the fact that I have great name-memory. Someone can tell me their name once and I will remember it - I think I'm better at names than faces. The thing is, we met a group of men from Mumbai, INDIA at Elegant Arch and they have veryyyyy different names. It might be easier for me to say what their names sounded like, i.e.: garage (gaRAJ), winslow (weenSLOW), and shiznit (or rather SHEEZnit or shaNEEZ) I'm really not trying to make fun. They were great individuals. I just think they would honestly respond if I attempted to say their names. Anyway, I asked them if they were affected by the recent attacks in Mumbai and most got a hold of their friends and family and were able to say all was well except one. Percush (perhaps that his correct name) had one friend who was fatally injured.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/_np/4849/6874849.jpg

This was heart wrenching. Those events seem so distant to me, just like the war in Iraq. I know awful things are happening but I have no immediate tie to them, so the severity of the moment is out of context and out of reach for me. However, this man standing right in front of me had a friend fall victim to the rage and violence half-way across the world. Those attacks are more real to me now for this reason and the fact that my best friend, Ashy Belle is in India at this very moment and will be flying out of Mumbai in a month. My prayers are now saturated with words of peace and hope for every country.
This trip was special to me. I hesitated in making the decision to go, but I decided it would be worth it. I became better friends with Greg and Robbie who I care about so much and I know they care about me. I had a special moment with Greg who took me to this very special place, it wasn't the temple but it was a ceremonial ring of some other kind. We hiked up the side of a mountain and wrote secret special messages to hikers and explorers of the past, present and future. From this experience, I learned to never pass up an opportunity to do something with a friend you will probably not have another chance to do. I, also, made a new friend, Jessica Lynn. She's slow at getting jokes but quick with u-turns. I really like her. She gave me great advice and great hope for the future. She was a sweetheart.
I'll never forget this joke she told:

What element formula can be found on all fire hydrants?
http://www.barriosconcrete.com/new110804/fire%20hydrant.jpg
K9P

Can you dig it?

Thank you thank you I love Thankyou Day!

09 November 2008

November Weather. Forever Friends. Trespassing on Mayor's property.




I had the best day of the season today. Amber, aka tAMBERine, and best boyfriend Tyson took me to the mountain in Pleasant Grove and took pictures. We met the cOOOlest kids in a field of gravel playing paintball. We were helping them in the war effort and when Tyson was ready to attack to defend their side he found himself empty handed: no gun. Best moment ever was: one of the boys said, "Here!" and threw him an imaginary gun.
Brilliant.








After the mountain, the paintball, the barefeet, the nature we got in the car and took the backstreets home. We drove by the most wondrous house - seriously a big kid playground with a tree house, a seesaw, a greenhouse, a vicious dog, a rusty bike and pumpkins.











The house turned out to belong to the mayor of Lindon. Sorry Mayor for trespassing but we couldn't live with ourselves if we passed up the most memorable, worthwhile place to play in all of Utah. A thousand thank yous.
















All in all, it was a really nice day.