O' Where Do The Wild People Go?

Story #1:

After two days and three fun filled nights in Boulder, it was finally time for my bother and I to hit the slopes at Keystone, and see what kind of heads we could turn with our amazing ability to do all sorts of mean, nasty, ugly things with only a board and a pair of skis.

We arrived at the ski hill they call, Keystone. I was so excited to FINALLY be skiing in the Great Rocky Mountains, where they say the snow falls from the heavens in it's driest form compared to anywhere else in the world. As Andy and I are walking from the car to get on the first lift, I realize this place is much different than Mt. Bachelor, Oregon. In Keystone, there is basically a large town surrounding the base of the hill. Anything anybody would ever need or want is found at the tip of their mittens whenever skiing gets tiring. I was shocked and a little unprepared, due to lack of preparation from my part. I had always skied in this kind of a situation growing up with these huge resorts and massive amounts of people being drawn to the area. Why was I feeling so out of place? Why did it even stand out to me? Who cares?

It is barely past mid-day when I was separated from Andy. I get down to a chair lift, that Andy was not at. I get in line anyways. This girl and this guy ask if they can ask me a few questions while they accompany me on the lift. I was kind of weirded out until they started asking me questions on a survey about Keystone. Once the guy asks the basics: what is your name?, where are you from?, how old are you?, and so on, he asks, "what would you change about Keystone?". My answer right off the bat should have been lowering the cost of a day pass, which I had bought earlier and was pretty damn expensive. Unfortunately, I did not say that. When the ball was in my court to produce an answer, I said something that was a knee jerk reaction and which kind of surprised me. I immediately turned around on the chair lift to look down from our elevation at the tiny buildings, tiny parking lot, and tiny people scurrying about within this grand infrastructure, and said, "well, you could start by burning down every one of those buildings down there". They both erupted in laughter and looked at me like a really funny guy. When they noticed I kind of was not kidding, they said they would both be out of jobs. I said cheers and they did not ask me anymore questions after that.

Story #2:

On the same day that Andy and I skied, we arrive at the Denver International Airport around 5:15 in the p.m. It was time for me to depart from my brother and get back to Bend to assume the routine, daily life of the week days.

I was following the signs that would lead me to my gate, when I found myself in the very long line, waiting to be securitified by security. I was half in a daze from all the fun in Boulder, fatigued from getting off the mountain a fews hours earlier, plus, I had been taking samplers from the Greenest Green's finest, prior to the security line. As I am walking up, a few older fellows with white hair go rushing past me, with their bags on wheels struggling to keep up. A woman's voice, on a recorder, is blaring through the airport, reminding us not to leave your baggage unattended, and to throw away your water bottle if you are not willing to chug it. A couple right in front of me are having an argument as quietly as they can, pretending like no one can hear them. There is a wave of tension in this line of people that is so thick that you could cut it with a butter knife. I look upwards to the second story walkways, because I feel like there is no other place to look. I see an Interfaith Chapel with a Cantina Margarita restaurant right next store. Wow, there must be over eighty airport security personnel in this one area! Some of the security staff people are standing by the x-ray conveyor belt, people watching and picking their noses. Where do these people end up? I guess I to am just a lonely member of this herd, trying so desperately to get to my destination. But, for what?

Journal entry #1, 48hr solo, Utah Desert, 3/18/2008

It's kind of crazy sitting on this ledge with my feet dangling over a 200 ft. drop, hearing and seeing commercial airplanes flying overhead. It reminds me that although I am away from society for 25 days, I never forget that there are millions of people in America going about their lives doing the same thing they have been doing since they remember. A lot of people live as slaves to society even though they think they are free. Could it be that some people are slaves to the "all you can eat" mentality in America? For instance, if you are craving a hamburger, you can drive your car (don't even have to walk or put any energy into getting where you want to be) to your favorite burger joint. If you want alcohol, weed, chocolate, then you can get it any time you like. One becomes spoiled of having everything one wants at their fingertips.

Out here, you pack what you need on you own back! You feel, first hand, the amount of work it takes to haul around what you need! Imagine carrying everything you need, and start dangling everything you want in your everyday life on the outside of your pack. I know I would not be able to carry all of that stuff more than 15 steps before getting tired! I don't need alcohol, weed, shrooms, drunk driving, that jacket, that car, that lifestyle, that new gear, your sympathy, your judgements.

What I do need is good friendships, my family, my brother, my dog, the freedom to think and feel without the fear of judgment. I need food, shelter, water, strong relationships, solitude, myself strong, healthy, and sharp. I need to be more helpful to others, a better brother, a better nephew, a patient person, a better friend, express how much I need some people in my life, show more compassion and feeling, get outdoors more, into the wilderness!!!

The Next Step

Once again, things are never quite what you had expected. Or, hell, maybe they are, and I am happy for you.

I have talked to a few people lately that are thinking of the next step. A lot of people I have conversed with are beginning to think about leaving their bubbles at college and wondering where they will go when May or June rolls around. Thats right ladies and gents, the time has come to remember when your elders were saying, "You just wait until you got to grow up! Go into the 'real world'!". Now I can tell you a hundred reasons why I think that is a bunch of horse apples, but that is not the point of this discussion on the couch.

I was at the pub talking to this older guy about California and how they have dug themselves into the rut that they are in now. We got onto the subject of the United State's economy, jobs and college. He was telling me that when he got out of college, the question everyone was asking themselves was not, "Will I get a job?", it was, "which job offer should I take?". Obviously much different than today. Should some of us forget the job thing and go to graduate school to wait until the economy gets better? How about traveling? Should I just look for a job, any job? Should I move back home for a while, so I don't have to have expenses for a little bit? How the hell am I supposed to pick a direction?

The great thing about the question of the "the next step", is that it can apply to everything and everyone in some way, no matter where you are in life. If your getting married, or already married, what do you do now? I guess live the "American Dream", white picket fence, maybe a few kids, garden, and a golden retriever? Just got fired from your job that you assumed would probably be your career? Did you buy some really good vegetables or fruit, thinking you were going to be healthy again, but you forgot about them and they just went moldy on you? What do you do now? Of course you can look at these questions in the worst possible way, but why not look at your situation as an opportunity in disguise? I have had the worst trouble with these questions. I've gotten down, cursed myself and probably been the most confused in my entire life. I have got to keep remembering that the sky is the limit, like what Lil' Wayne said. Opportunities are everywhere, you just have to remember to look up every once and a while to see them (that is from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I can't take credit for that).

This is the last thing I have to talk about, I promise. Moving to Bend has been a great thing for me. Maybe two hours ago I would not have said that, but after what I have typed, I sincerely believe that. Coming from Eugene, I pictured Bend as being my savior. Man, I was gonna tackle the world! I was set! I'm gonna get all these cool classes and I am going to do really well in them, nothing can stop me! Climbing is two minutes from my house, you can bike everywhere (even on highway 97), the mountain is 25 minutes away, the pub where I work is 2 minutes walking, the school is 11.5 minutes away walking and I got homies that want to come and ride on snow in the winter. That is all cool, but things have changed this winter term. Treading water is the best way to describe this winter term. I want to do a little experiment. I want to try not graduating from college. I want to work and gain as much experience in everything possible. Everything from radio shows to welding to working on an oil rig. I want my resume to be 30 pages long, maybe prove the elders wrong. They always have said, "Nowadays you have to have a college diploma to do anything". I think it can work.