Today is another Monday...

...and I am laying in the sun on some hay bales in the yard by the horno. Thinking, I do indeed feel called to do design work infused with poetry. I went for a long walk this morning, up behind the house. There is no one in that expanse, only scrub brush, sand, a random pile of ash where someone had a fire. There are markers to find my way: a line of rock and stumps, a barbed wire fence, a tattered, faded prayer flag stretched from one pinon tree to the next, a chain-link fence - downed in one part so I can pass over, a green, metal, pad-locked gate that I climb to reach the tarred road. Only a few cars pass me by the whole time on the main road. When I've walked down it far enough, I retrace my steps and follow the landmarks back home. I don't want to to get up from these hay bales in the sun. The sky is blue, the air crisp with an autumn breeze already. I'm enjoying the free time while I have it.

AIGA Santa Fe Design Lecture Series w/Justin Ahrens of Rule29

Justin Ahrens of Rule29, 42 miles west of Chicago, speaking at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe Saturday, 9/10/11

My notes:

You can live anywhere and be great at being a creative

As creatives, we are aware of stores of our lives, whether we know it or not.

Importance of seeing the stories. There is something about your story and the way you grew up that you apply to your creative work.

How many of you think design can change the world? How many of you think you can change the world with design?

To See - to notice something you weren't looking for.
How do you keep that feeling of seeing something for the first time, of seeing things you weren't looking for, in your life?

Look back, when can you recall someone doing something that made you see differently?

In our career path, we all get to a point where we want to do something bigger. "I want to do something bigger, something more, there's got to be a way I can use my creative skills to make a difference"

Life in Abundance - organization in Africa Justin went to work with

Before we can act/do, we first have to see the world differently. To "be the change you wish to see in the world" (- Ghandi) we first have to see differently

* We can and NEED  to help other see

Part of seeing and being open gives you opportunities. How design can change you and those around you. How can we do things that will feed our soul in our day to day work?

Design Matters. We are able to see things differently as creatives in terms of concepts and strategy.

Being thoughtful gives dignity. And dignity is often all the poor have left.

www.thisismynormal.com

"seeing" keeps you open to the unexpected.

Concept of story, seeing and doing things differently, how can we help tell the clients story differently and help them see their story differently?

Creatives have the ability to "see" into the future.

Practice PAUSING everyday to force yourself to get into the space of seeing something differently.

Blog: rock, paper, ink

Practice everyday, finding a partner and each taking a picture of something mundane to share with one another and step outside yourselves. Its about taking that time to see the things around you.

Don't ever stop having FUN!

www.everybodyshouldjust.com

Inniative: stories matter...go out into your community and find a story, this helps you to become a better story teller. Under 5 min. story.

Justin shares a story/video clip of an artist named Wendy. She talks about art and about loosing her sight to retinitus pigmentosis. This is the same disease my dad suffers from.

The Give Inniative

Not just seeing with your eyes, but with your heart!  Every day goal of seeing differently and pausing. Ask your self, have you done this, daily. You should have a personal project to express your own creativity.

Threadless - T-Shirt Co. in Chicago

Don't forget, you are awesome! (seriously!)

[I want to do something big. What does big mean to me though? Big can be small. Doing the small things with an open heart is huge! Big comes from the simplest things so much of the time.]

Sometimes its the really small adjustments that bring everything in line. Its the minor.

A year from now, if you actually do all this, you will be different. You're design will be different.

Albuquerque Rescue Mission - mentioned by audience member

You can't own all of what needs to be changed in the world, all of the tragedy. Incremental processing

Part 2: Where Life and Creativity Meet

Designers are traditionally really bad business people. Do you remember what got you into design? into creativity? [for me, writing poetry and being the author/illustrator/creator of little books in k-5, I still have a lot of those]

Remember what you dream about.
work hard and have fun! make out, laugh, dance.
Make lists, set criteria. Write pros/cons of things you're struggling with. You need to create space for yourself to listen. What really matters to you? When you're naked, its hard to hide who you are. Be that transparent with the things in your life you really want or with the things in your life that aren't working. Be honest. Are you in your work?

How can you be more you?

www.speakhuman.com
blog - speak human

WISDOM
Have a group of counselors
Get life perspective
Learn, network, reciprocate
Have quarterly updates of where you are with your goals

Who is on your personal list of advisors?

Make specific criteria
Open yourself to your advisors to give you advice.

Read book: Linchpin by Seth Godings
www.sethgodin.com

DECISIONS
Have a set of rules you stick to and make decisions based on. Have some criteria at the start so you don't go where you shouldn't

From a prof. standpoint, Justin's 3 criteria for taking work:
1) Will it be profitable?
2) Will it be fun?
3) Will it attract other work?

Has to fit at least two of those criteria for Justin to take the project.

[define profitable. In monetary terms, experience doing something in my field, learning, establishing relationship, gaining experience]

Check out 37 Signals
www.37signals.com/rework

BALANCE
Balance is a state of mind; its your perspective

What guides you? Professionally? Personally? Are you living that life to honor those things?

Balance is unique for each person.

Make choices. Maybe you're going to make a little less $ for a little while. We can have fun and love what we do.

Book: Love Both Ways
www.debbiemilman.com

SERVING
"Sometimes we just don't know what we are trying to change" - Stuart Wilde

Take time to become a student of yourself.

You want to gain a new perspective? Take time to interact with someone different than you. You have to constantly change your mind about things. Experience new things. Sometimes, you think you know what you want and that you have it all figured out. Get out of your comfort zone.

If it is something that interests you, chances are it is good to do.

What do you want to change? If you could change anything in the world, what would it be?

Donald Miller, book: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Start when you get home!

Just be you!

When do you think you became a designer?

Book by Justin Ahrens: Life Kerning

* For us to be EVOLVING, we need to be PURPOSEFUL.

The community part of AIGA is magic. If you have true passion for what you are doing, things will work out in the end.

Oregon, the end of the trail...for now.

Where I left off: with my friend, Kat at the crumpet shop in Seattle! Yes, well, after delicious crumpets (I tried the Vermont maple butter with walnuts and ricotta and Kat ordered the orange marmalade with blue cheese), Kat left for work, so I explored Ballard - the neighborhood in Seattle where she lives. Its such a cool place! I walked down to the Locks to see the fish and the 100-year-old gates that open and shut to moderate water levels for boats to pass. That first night, Kat and I caught up over Vietnamese food. It was wonderful to see her again after eight years! As she said, "it is amazing when you can meet someone after not seeing them for a very long time, and you don't miss a beat." With Kat, as with Diana, I could talk about and feel understood/listened to regarding spiritual conversations.

The next day, Kat and I went to the Wallace Creek Falls area, about an hour from Seattle for a hike. The waterfall reward at the top looked magical in the misty rain. I'm sad for such a short trip in WA, but my amtrak train to Portland awaited and Kat dropped me off there.

My friend Freddie, who I met 3 years ago in Santa Fe, met me at the Portland Amtrak station and right away took me to see the views for happy hour at the Portland City Grill. Afterwards, we migrated to Huber's for Spanish coffee. Yum. Freddie always knows where to go. The entire time with him, I was treated to a different kind of lifestyle, that I wouldn't necessarily want, but that I can definitely appreciate and enjoy. Its always good to be with company that works hard and plays hard, doesn't get bored, and knows how to share their good fortune. We certainly covered a lot of ground in a couple of days since Freddie was off for the most part from his job at Intel.

One day, we went on a tour of all the falls. The area hosts the biggest concentration of waterfalls in the world, including the famous Multnomah Falls. So the bright and sunny day consisted of cruising the gorgeous winding, landscaped roads, stopping to hike a short ways to a fall, and then driving a little ways to the next one, maybe stopping to sample some shilled white wine. I think we saw 6-7 falls in total, yet the day did not feel rushed at all.

We made it back to Portland in time to watch a free Portland Symphony Orchestra concert on the waterfront, complete with canon fire and fireworks. But this is not all! After the music ended, we went on to the Hawthorne Theater, where Freddie had planned for us to see a Burlesque show. I had somehow never seen one before, and probably wouldn't have chosen to see one. But this is the thing about traveling and knowing so many different people, you get a glimpse into their taste and get to see things you would not normally. The Burlesque show was highly entertaining and full of talent. And then, after this, we met up with a few of Freddie's friends at a nearby bar before calling that the end of my first FULL day in Portland. I thought I have a tendency to pack things in, but Freddie more than matches me. And after my internship this summer, I don't think I have such a tendency to do that packing in on my own any more. Doing a lot is great fun for a sprint, but not a long-distance time-frame.

The next day, Freddie took me to the Oregon coast! It is filled with such amazing rock formations! I felt like I was in New Zealand again, around the Haystack rock area. Even thought the day was sunny, the wind on the coast blew very cold, yet we walked along the sand of Cannon Beach for about 45 minutes. That seaside walk was one of the nicest parts of the day. Then, we went on to the very touristy town of Seaside, and then on to Astoria, where one of my favorite movies was filmed - The Goonies. Here, I also got to climb 164 steps to the top of a tower to view the amazing vista of sea, land and bridges. I loved being near the ocean, soaking up the sun, salt, spray. My fix until I leave New Mexico again.

That night, we went to a couchsurfing meet up at The Kennedy School. This venue is a large, prep-type school buidling that a local brewery has turned into a series of restaurants and bars within the existing classrooms. There's a boiler room bar, a detention room bar, a soaking pool, a room for smoking pipes. I met some really awesome, friendly couchsurfers. Everyone in Portland seems to want to be your friend. Its one of the easiest places to start a conversation. Here, it seems like people have no fear of saying their thoughts aloud for a stranger to engage with if they want.

The next morning I said good bye to Freddie and many thanks! I spent some time at the Portland Saturday Market. And had to make a stop at the famous Voodoo doughnuts, just to see and sample the novelty of their doughnuts, which in all truth, taste just like any other doughnuts. The difference is in the presentation and creativity of such things as fruitloop and oreo cookie covered doughnuts or maple bacon. Still, the best taste-wise doughnut place I have ever been to is in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Then, I took a bus to my friend E's house in the Alberta St. neighborhood. I met E. last fall at a Glitter party in Santa Fe. He's from Portland and has since moved back after attending St. John's College in Santa Fe. It was good to see him happy in his home turf and experience a glimpse into a complete opposite lifestyle from Freddie's. All of E's room mates were at Burning Man, so E invited me along to a Burning Man celebration party at one of his friend's houses. His friend's name was "The Craw".

Before, I embarked on this unknown adventure however, I wandered about the up and coming Alberta St. district while E ran some errands (and yes, his real name is E). This was a cool area with great shops and good places to eat. I happily found a pair of black leather, waterproof and insulated winter boots made in Canada for $20! I've been searching for some for so long and at every Buffalo Exchange I've been to in the Pacific Northwest, so one mission accomplished on Alberta St. I wandered into one of the best icecream places I've ever been too, both presentation-wise (old-fashioned style) and taste (I ordered one scoop of strawberry honey balsamic and one scoop of salted vanilla with strands of home-made caramel!).

Okay, now on to the Burning Man party. I had already decided to take a cab back when I was ready to go, but luckily I ended up being able to catch a ride with someone else leaving early at 1am since my flight was leaving the next morning. We arrived early at the party at 8:30 for some reason. Soon people started coming in in costume. E lent me his shiny silver pants, which fit surprisingly well, and someone else lent me their bunny ears, I wore my magenta shirt, my new black boots and one of E's belts. I would have been much more dressed up had I had my own stuff. Unfortunately about an hour in, a girl kindly told me my pants were ripped! so I changed into an extra pair of shorts and apologetically told E. He relieved my guilt by telling me that the pants had already previously been ripped by him, so it was just the poor patching coming undone! Anyway, at about 9:30, we all watched the burning taking place live on the giant projector in the living room basement. It was cool to see, since I'd heard so much about burning man and have been tempted to go for the experience, but had never actually seen any live footage. It was also interesting to be there watching the streaming with so many people who have been there multiple times and who have multiple friends there this time around.

After the finale, everyone kind of migrated to the back yard where a bunch of talented individuals were slinging and performing with balls of fire. I enjoyed some interesting conversations and then left before the craziness really began. I got a great night sleep and was surprised to see E walk in the door at 7:30am when I was trying to meditate. He gave me a ride to the airport and filled me in on the expected late-night happenings. So I got to the airport with someone who had not slept for 20 hours and that was my exit from Portland, as crazy as it began.

But all went well, other than my 4.5 year old macbook pro finally deciding to die on the plane ride home, and now I'm back in Santa Fe believe it or not with the intention of simplifying things, twice-daily meditation, and trusting that all will be well, listening, going through the doors that open to me and not banging on the ones that close.

I went to the Santa Fe burning man last night, called Zozobra. This event way precedes the Burning Man people think of today, as it has been a Santa Fe tradition for 89 years! I sent out my glooms to leave behind and set my intentions for this  fourth return to Santa Fe.

Being in Vancouver, Bellingham and Seattle

Today, I am in Ballard, a funky, residential neighborhood of Seattle which feels a little more like Bellingham and Fairhaven. I'm staying with Kat, a friend from my first year and a half at Lake Erie College in Ohio who I met when I was still studying Equine Science. I haven't seen Kat since 2003. We both ended up switching our careers from equine science because neither of us were feeling fulfilled with that as a calling. Now, Kat is in the Physician's Assistant field and I'm in the creative field. We have both done a great amount of traveling and exploring since 2003. Kat is headed to a month in Nepal soon.

It is funny how I can look back at 2003/2004 and see one of those important crossroads that changed my life and made it what it is today. I'm so grateful not only that the foresight came to me to transfer to College of the Atlantic that year, but that I was aware enough to listen and follow that direction.  Now I feel like I'm in a real discerning/cross roads place again where possibly another big shift in direction could happen in 2012, 8 years later!

It is interesting to be traveling during this period. I'm very happy I decided to complete/continue this trip I started, even though I had second thoughts about its being excessive. I had an amazing time seeing Vancouver. When I arrived at my first couchsurfer's (her name is Katie) place right near the ocean, we immediately headed out to a BBQ at one of her friend's houses. I rode her bike with her cat in a crate on the back and she rollerbladed in front of me. I had so much fun biking for 40 minutes at night in Vancouver. The BBQ was low-key. Two of Katie's friends were from Taiwan and the 3rd was married to one of the others so our dinner conversation focused on our shared love of traveling through that awesome country.

The next day, Katie took me paddle-boarding in the bay for 3 hours! What a blast! Perfect blue skies, passing by tourism, but not getting sucked into it, getting super exercise and all for free because Katie had access to the paddle-boards through her job.

Katie worked the next day, so I explored Vancouver on my own. I walked about 6 hours all the way from her house near Kit's Beach, up the coast to UBC and back. Then, after saying thanks and bye to Katie, I hopped on a bus and headed to my new couchsurfer's in a different part of town near Nanaimo and Broadway. This couchsurfer, Christina, was so cool and welcoming. She was dressed in all different colors, sparkles and funky hair things getting ready to go to a show. We had time before she left for a great home-cooked dinner together in her back yard over interesting conversation.

While Christina worked the following day, I took her advice and passed quickly through downtown to spend the majority of the afternoon in Stanley Park amid tall mossy trees, sunlight, lily pad ponds and random sculptures with ninja-like black squirrels and sedate Canadian Geese.

My brother and his girlfriend, Lauren, drove up from their home in Bellingham to meet me and Christina for a dinner of sushi and gelato in a park. Then I gave my thanks and goodbyes to Christina and headed off with Joe and Lauren to find a camping spot in the Canadian Rockies for the night. Of course it was Friday and everything was booked! Somehow, we ended up down a logging trail trying to follow directions to a campsite. We stumbled across a modern university campus in the middle of the woods before re-entering the logging road. To our delight, we found a trailhead pull-off with a side trail that dead-ended with a flat mountain top where we set up camp for the night. It was so perfect the way that worked out and we avoided a crowded RV infested public campground and stayed somewhere for free waking up to quiet and a snow-peaked mountain view.

For some reason, my brother was in an unsociable mood the next day. Lauren and I ended up hanging out and talking a lot, determined to enjoy the beauty surrounding us nonetheless. We all went for a couple-hour hike on Four Lakes Trail around Alice Lake and went swimming briefly in the cool water. We stopped by the free Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge on the drive back to Bellingham. Lauren and I picked up some food for the grill and made a really good meal at the appt. That, and watching Pineapple Express cheered my brother up. Lauren went out for an hour to see a great little Bellingham band, The Librarians, play at a The Wine Bar in downtown before calling it a night.

In the morning, Lauren made delicious blueberry pancakes and Joe applied his genius to helping me wish some computer problems, which was incredibly nice of him. Lauren and I went thrift-store roaming for a little bit then all 3 of us had a relaxing, lovely lunch in the sunshine at a cafe in Fairhaven before I had to leave for my bus to Seattle. I wish I could have stayed longer! But my friend, Diana, who I went to school with at College of the Atlantic, was expecting me.

And it was great to see Diana again, and again, I wish I could have stayed with her longer. She made a flavorful Indian meal for us when I arrived and we talked for a while. She recently got back from seeing her family in India. In the morning, we went to my favorite place for breakfast, The Crumpet Shop. I had a nice day walking around Pike's Place Market and the sculpture garden while she worked. We got to go to a restorative free yoga class in her appt. building gym in the evening. Then the yoga teacher brought us to a Kirtan assembly at an amazing community house in the Columbia City neighborhood. We stayed at the Kirtan for 2 hours and it was a very spiritual yet intense singing/prayer experience with a group of people who were extremely bonded already. I am grateful to have shared a window into such a community again, having just left a very bonded yet very different spiritual community myself. I could feel the same sort of intentional energy to "be who we really are" in this group as well and I could feel the experience helping to keep my own candle burning. It was a necessary match.

Alaska Travel Poem

When you are traveling, what it is
to delight in the little things,
the sight of a familiar blue mail box
to send your postcards out,
the fireweed flower covered in dew,
the lost match to your smartsocks,
attached by static to your t-shirt,
the moose in the heart of the median
paying no attention to you,
the unknown couchsurfer saying kindly
to make yourself at home,
the gift to be awake, to roam freely,
to stand at Denali, the "Great One"
realizing the transience of Autumn land,
the rolling reds, greens and golds,
the unfolding grey to sun skies,
and all of it encompassed in your eyes.

Alaska - Aug. 14-23

Day 0:

Sitting in a park in Denver. I’ve migrated here from the airport during a time lapse before Alaska. It is hot and humid feeling. I couldn’t resist gelato. I took a nap in the park because I was so tired. My clothes still smell like New Mexico rain from hanging on the line my last night at Stillpoint with the other interns.

I notice a difference in myself after this internship. Most notably, I am grounded and I am more consistently conscious of the personal and often humorous connection I have with God. Again, my desire is to experience life with joy, gratitude, energy and freshness. My passion is mixing elements up in delicious, unexpected interactions – whether with words, images, clothing and jewelry, or groups of people. My calling is to create beauty in this world.

“From these texts we see that in meditation we should not look for a “method” or “system” but cultivate an “attitude” an “outlook” : faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy.” (Thomas Merton: Contemplative Prayer, pg 34).

I said goodbye to Stillpoint this morning and the interns. Very sad. Theresa drove me to the ABQ airport where I caught a $56 flight to Denver with Southwest Airlines. My flight leaves for Alaska at 10pm.

Day 1:

Looking back on day 9 at my time in Alaska, the time was well spent and flew by. My flight arrived at 1:30a.m. in Anchorage. For the first 6 days, I stayed at Erin’s brother David’s house with Erin and Morgan. Erin is from Alaska, but I met her in Santa Fe through a Craigslist roommate search 2 years ago. Morgan is from Minnesota, but lives in Missoula, Montana now and I met her in Santa Fe 2 years ago through another friend who has since moved away.

Not much happened the first day in Alaska except a trip to REI where I met a cashier from Taos, NM. And dinner at a Korean restaurant with Erin and Morgan, Erin’s twin brothers, Doug and David, David’s wife Heidi, and their friend Dayyon. Doug treated us all to dinner. I went for a long walk in the morning around their neighborhood and along a bog trail by myself, which gave me the contemplative time I needed.

Day 2:

We began the day at the locally owned Kaladi Bros. Coffee for breakfast. Doug, David, Dayyon, Morgan, Erin and I drove to Hatcher’s pass and an abandoned gold mining town. The land here is incredible. It reminds me of the South Island of New Zealand. We lucked out with a sunny day. We went climbing up a mountain past glacier-blue lakes. We drove back the Willow, Alaska route, the small Parish town where Erin grew up in. This road also took us past Wasilla, where Sarah Palin was Mayor. Wasilla could be a beautiful lake-side mountain town, but instead it is a strip-mall filled sprawl, which Erin calls the armpit of Alaska. When we arrived back in Anchorage, David made us all delicious cheeseburgers on the grill.

Day 3:

We drove to Whittier. On the way, we stopped at the gorgeous resort town of Girdwood. We spent some time admiring the elegant artwork and details of the Seven Glaciers Hotel. We stopped at the Bake Shop for lunch and we all ordered the soup of the day: African Nut. I took a photo of the ingredients so I can make my own version later. The entrance to the Bake Shop is covered with colorful potted and hanging flowers of all kinds, jeweled with raindrops and framing the glacier-filled mountains rising behind.

To get to Whittier we drove through possibly the world’s longest mountain tunnel to emerge in a depressing, grey town docked with gigantic cruise ships. 2 residential, communist-style buildings stood in town. One was grey, haunted-looking and abandoned. The other was tan, haunted-looking, and lived in. We were told some people have not come out of this building in years. What kind of life are they living?

We were on a time frame to get back to Anchorage for dinner at Heidi’s mom Penny’s house. We were in for a treat! Erin calls Penny the best cook in Alaska and I can see why. Penny started us with smoked Alaskan salmon, capers, green grapes, cucumbers soaked in vinegar (not quite pickles) and bread dipped in garlic olive oil. And all sorts of drinks. Morgan and I shared the best blueberry beer and all the girls also had highly drinkable moscato desert wine. Next came fried clams! Delicious! Then the main course of Alaska king crab, sweet corn on the cob, marinated and grilled mushrooms, peppers, broccoli and cubed rosemary tenderized beef. Penny is also one of the most entertaining and funny hosts. We were all so happy, well-fed and content at her house and the dinner was a highlight of the trip.

Day 4:

The girls get the beamer! David was kind enough to lend his to us for our drive to Seward. The drive was stunning, following the ocean most of the way. Around the first curve of the bay we stopped to take in a pod of beluga whales breaking the waves close to shore!

In Seward, the rain drizzled and the sky remained grey, but the town was still pretty, quaint and artsy. I did my morning sit (meditation) in the car while Erin and Morgan toured the Sealife Center. I decided I did not need to spend money on a Sealife Center when I recently saw an incredible one in Taiwan that will probably satisfy me until/unless I have children! We split amazing, fresh halibut for lunch. I would love to return to Seward sometime in the sun! On the way back, we stopped for Morgan and I to hike in to Exit Glacier and back. My only other time touching a glacier was in New Zealand. The walk in was great and I saw a little red-backed vole scurrying around. He was too fast for the camera. Could have stayed here a lot longer, but we were on a time constraint of sorts. When we got to Anchorage, Dayyon was just pulling delicious home-made pizza out of the oven; he is a great cook!

Day 5:

Erin, Morgan and I took the old spare car to Birchwood, only 15 minutes from Anchorage, where Erin’s childhood Methodist church camp is located. Her two friends, Steven and Marie, run it. Marie grew up in Glorieta, NM and Steven is from Georgia; Erin helped get them their Methodist camp job in Alaska about the same time they helped her get the Methodist church job that brought her to Santa Fe! Morgan and I canoed on the lake while Erin caught up with her friends. We saw Pacific loons and a lake meadow of lily pads. Pacific loons sound and look different than the common loon I grew up seeing in Maine. They are grey and have more of a call than a haunting cry.

After Birchwood, we went shopping and wandering about downtown Anchorage. First things first, we ordered reindeer dogs from the best street vendor on 4^th st. near the Federal Building. We went to Octopus Ink, which has some of the neatest printed organic apparel. I could not pass up a skirt (which doubles as a dress) with 2 Native-design-inspired puffins silk-screened on the bottom. We also found a store which sells the growing “ak starfish” label. Too bad they print on American Apparel gear. They did however have very beautiful designs and some of the most comfortable yoga pants (with all the yoga I do, I’ve never bought any real yoga pants) so I bought some and a hooded long-sleeve tee with a  pink raven on it.

Friday night happened to be girls night! Heidi, Morgan, Erin and I made our way to Crush – superbly recommended by Heidi who knew the great waiter at our table. We each ordered a “flight” 3 samples of wine. We each got a different flight: I ordered the most Malbec-like one; Morgan got a dryer red; Erin the Riesling and Heidi the Rose. This was the only splurge meal for me and I got truffled white bean dip followed by the best spinach, sun-dried tomato polenta followed by shared rum-raisin bread pudding. Actually it was all pretty reasonable and so worth it for the fun, laughter-filled, light-hearted silliness that followed us to bed.

Day 6:

What brought me joy this morning? Going for a walk by myself before everyone else was up despite the rain, eating Alaskan raspberries on the trail, coming across a bunny farm – looked like there were chickens running around the yard until I got closer and realized they were rabbits, remembering Stillpoint and coming back into presence multiple times during the walk when my thoughts strayed. We slept in! So did the boys who recovering from a Bachelor party (the wedding was coming up Sunday). Heidi, Morgan and I went to the weekend downtown market. The market was fantastically filled with all sorts of culturally diverse food stalls including Korean, Russian, Polish, Japanese, Italian, etc. I met a very nice young artist who paints funky designs on wooden panel necklaces. Seeing all the entrepreneurial artists in Anchorage has me tossing around my own future endeavor. Its wonderful how well printed apparel and recycled/found object art sells.

We stopped in Snow City Café for lunch – Heidi’s suggestion, but I was not hungry and only ordered a salad. Snow City is a cool and hopping café. The wait would have been an hour if Heidi hadn’t called in our reservation. According to Erin, many businesses in Anchorage that were small beginnings when she was little have greatly expanded by 2011.

Heidi and Erin dropped Morgan and I off at the airport to pick up our rental car, a very cute silver Nissan Versa and the two of us were off two Denali. On the way we took a short detour to Talkeetna, a pretty arsty town. So much good food! What to choose? We opted for the Heidi-recommended West Rib pub, home of the famous 4 lb. burger eating challenge of which we did not partake. We both ordered a cup of seafood chowder. Morgan got ceviche and I got a schooner (half a pint-size) of Alaskan Nut Brown, very very good!

We camped in Denali State Park at Byer’s Lake Campground, $5/night each. After setting up the tent, I took a nice solo walk around the lake and meditated on a tree stump. Funnily enough I heard someone singing and there was Morgan coming in the opp. Direction. She didn’t see me so I gave her a fright by accident! A beaver slapped its tail at me, ptarmigans froze silently thinking I couldn’t see them, a grieb propelled itself across the water, and a squirrel carried a mushroom like a bone in its mouth. A hairless patch of skin adorned its back, perhaps caught by a close-encounter with a carnivore. It felt so good to be out in the wilderness! We had a nice picnic dinner in the tent before sleeping.

Day 7:

Morgan and I stretched the wet tent out in the backseat to let it dry. Then we continued into Denali National Park stopping at the Visitor Center to recharge our electronics. Morgan found a great 10-mile hike with a view – Mt. Healy Look-out. Happily the sun came out more and more throughout the day, making it my 2^nd sunny day in Alaska. We ended up splitting off for the hike to go at our own paces. I needed the quiet time and it was great! The colors were changing all over – reds, oranges and golds. Meditating on a rock off the beaten path, I was still interrupted by several chatty travelers. I do miss the quiet chapel at Stillpoint and sitting with a group of like-minded people, but I know this will come back into my life sometime soon when I’m settled again. Its funny how I don’t really feel the need to be traveling right now. I’ve never had that feeling before!

Morgan and I met up back at the car for our 15 mile drive into Denali – as far as personal cars are allowed to go (without a limited lottery ticket); the other option to go further is an expensive guided bus tour. This is a great strategy for preserving the wilderness and our 15 mile trip deeper was all we needed. For 15 minutes we got to watch a 3-legged grizzly bear eating blueberries, drinking from a stream, scratching its back and seemingly posing for the cameras.

As we drove further, just as Morgan finished uttering the sentence, “Now all I really want to see is a sheep and a moose!” I saw a moose on the side of the road and yelled my discovery to Morgan who saw it too just before it disappeared. That was so funny! Then, about 5 minutes later on our return drive, we came across a gigantic bull moose out in the tundra. We stopped to watch him eat for 10 minutes. We were so excited to be presented with such a finale to our Denali experience!

The drive back was filled with sunlight through clouds and lots of drunk black spruce tree and red tundra photos. The land in Denali (Denali means “Great One”) feels very sacred. I was more aware of my connection to source here. From that solo hike onwards, my mind and outlook shifted and emptied and I didn’t think about anything on the ride back, just tuning out the static radio, my congested sinuses, the engine, the anciness of sitting in the car. Let things take care of themselves. Do not be stressed by the little things – those are the most dangerous, stress-inducing things to worry about Morgan told me – things like paying your bills or arriving to dinner on time or whether the couchsurfer you are staying with would still let you in over an hour past your expected time.

Our couchsurfer Edra had lost her phone over the weekend so we had no way of reaching her except via email. When I found her address, no one answered the door. I saw no lights on, so I left a note saying we’d gone to find internet access to see if she’d written us anything and we’d be back to check in an hour. It was 9:30 p.m. I knew it would be alright though; Morgan and I could car camp if it came to that. Luckily, Edra lived right downtown around 12^th Ave. and F street, but all the coffee shops and malls were closed on Sunday night. Then we found a bar named Bernie’s with free wireless. I logged in and saw that Edra had found the note and written that we were at the right location, but that her door was in the back of the house! So, we went back and she let us in. We talked for a little bit and then went to bed, Morgan and I in our own room sharing an air mattress! It was quite possibly the quietest central city location I have ever stayed in.

Day 8:

Morgan left before I even got up to fly out and return the car. I slept in, caught up on journaling, emails, postcards, future travel arrangements, job searching. I have a few interviews lined up for when I return to Santa Fe, so I am sure something will work out. It is both scary and exciting to be traveling without a job, to be trusting all will be well, challenging and rewarding to find myself staying in the moment. The Italian traveler who started talking to me during my mountain meditation in Denali said that you have to enjoy every good travel moment when it is happening. He has to head back to a job it doesn’t sound like he enjoys and he has had 13 days of being in the moment in Alaska.

Edra woke up not feeling well and she slept most of the day, so I did not get to know her very well. I walked around her very pretty neighborhood and then along an Oceanside pathway for 2 hours, then around downtown getting some more gifts for people. Everyone seems so friendly and cheerful in Anchorage. I walked back to the apt, which Edra left unlocked for me. I took a wonderful nap in the rain – something I miss doing back in sunny New Mexico. Then I took another small walk around the neighborhood to mail my postcards before going back to my now private room to meditate. I felt some nostalgia, missing the other interns and the spiritual conversations to come home to, which happened every day during the summer. I read some of Thomas Merton’s “Contemplative Prayer” book and wrote to all the other interns, right after Michael wrote to us. So more than one of us was thinking/missing the others at the same time! I miss them all so much!

Day 9:

I woke up early and took a short walk in the rain. I wrote a thank you note to Edra and left her an assortment pack of Numi teas fittinely titled, “Endless Journies” Then I walked seven minutes to the People Mover bus station to catch the #7 to the airport. I only had a $5 bill and the fare was $1.75. The driver kindly pulled out his walled and gave me change!

In half an hour I was at the airport. I bought a few more postcards there and sat writing them. The store owner said she would mail them for me since otherwise I would have to go through security again to mail them from the airport post office. Have I mentioned people are nice in Alaska? My flight Vancouver via Seattle is on time. I wouldn’t be on it without the free flight I got to Alaska by signing up for the Alaskan Airlines credit card. It has been a beautiful journey around some of this vast, 1959-founded state. Next time I come, I think I’d like to take a road trip through the Yukon in the NW territories of Canada, see Nahanni Nat. Park, and go to south Eastern Alaska, the small islands off the coast and Juneau. I could happily go back to Santa Fe now. I don’t need to do any more traveling right now, but my flights are booked and have since gone way up to change them. So off I go to Vancouver, Seattle, Bellingham and Portland. I’ll just try to keep the rest of my trip as simple and contemplative and nature-oriented as possible. I booked all this before my spiritual internship this summer, before my time in Guatemala, before my Europe trip when I was, I think, a person with a different outlook. I am looking forward to a settled time in Santa Fe this fall. Nonetheless, I am grateful for this time to travel and curious to see what will unfold in it.

Communion with a Spider

Hello, scary, quick spider
suspended on your web
above the running water
laying lines of entrapment.
Your spun creation is beautiful,
strung with prism bead droplets.
I watch you catch a little creature,
and wrap it up with spindly legs.
You have a magical, transient space
to live and work,
and you are.

Smooth, alive cracking water,
moths and dragonflies
of irredescent blue and creamy white
pass by your table.
When I met you,
you were hungry.
In this moment,
you are satisfied.
You do not wonder
who you are.

I am, every moment,
the potential for being
all that I am.
I am a creator also,
and it is my work to spin
such a shimmery connection,
to be hungry,
to be satisfied,
to build the web back up
when wind and water
sweep it away.

My job is to be the
weaver of the net,
the connector of the dots,
not the one caught,
but the one waiting,
listening, with stillness,
in the center.