Messing about in MN (and a bit in NC)

In this weeks photos, you'll find 3 Gregs, my friend Tom's new baby girl Lily, my new friends Danielle, Anna and Gretchen, as well as a sunlit haircut and a surreal stare in a kitchen in North Carolina.  Also included are the Graffiti graveyard of Duluth, and a frozen river on the Superior Hiking Trail.  And a boot full of beer.

In the next 2 weeks, you will find me in St. Louis, MO, Springfield, MO, Memphis, TN and heading into New Orleans, LA for the new year.

11/27/11

Cold. Living outdoors in the cold is quite a different experience that visiting the cold outdoors from the comfort of a warm home. I experienced cold last year in Berlin, but not like this.

My Minnesotan friends will tell me that I ain't seen nothin' yet, and I'm OK with that. I don't plan on sticking around for long enough to see the true cold set it. The average temperatures in Minneapolis for the month of December are 10 degrees at night and 34 during the day.

I think I experienced one day last week that was close to zero degrees. The previous night was around 10 degrees, which was plenty cold, but the day never warmed up. At around noon, it started snowing tiny, light, popcorn snowflakes as five teenagers, my co-instructor and I summited 1500 ft. Carlton Peak, the highest spot on the Superior Hiking Trail. The snow sputtered on and off, and we were working hard, so my body heat was enough to melt the flakes that landed and sat on my shoulders and hood. There was never a time when we couldn't see our breath. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the temperature dropped. The wet coating on my shoulders and hood turned to ice, and crunched and creaked as we continued on. The moisture from my breath had been condensing on my mustache, and this also turned to ice. A little later, the moisture inside my nostrils also condensed on the hairs there, and again, turned to ice. Spending the night in zero degrees was cold. I woke up several times because I was shivering, and my toes never actually became warm until I started hiking the next day. In the course of just 3 or 4 days, the lakes went from clear, reflective water to ice so thick I could jump on it and not make a crack. The snow that fell stayed exactly where it was for the next 3 days, still powdery and perfect anywhere that animals had not wandered through. Even the trees held the light dusting of snow for over 48 hours, sitting in stillness and frigid, dry air.

For some reason, this reminded me of Halloween night. I arrived in Chicago at 2 am via a craigslist ride from Sal, the Indian dental assistant. He dropped me off on a corner in Chinatown, a few blocks from a red-line station so that I could catch the el-train to my friend Cody's place. It was cold out, and the streetlights cast shadows on the dark sidewalk.

Waiting for me on that corner, a young latino guy with big, dark, glassy eyes and a thin, pale face asked me for some money to get home. He looked cold too, and the scent of booze was on his breath. He was wearing jeans and a worn-out black hoody. He was skinny and frail-looking. I guessed that he was around 19 years old. Instead of giving him money, I asked him where he was going and I offered him an apple. He refused the apple, and pointed in a direction, toward the train station. We were going the same way, so we walked together for a while, and he told me about his predicament. His brother had recently been in some kind of accident, and had died. He was very sad about this, so he drank so much that he ended up in the hospital. The hospital had kicked him out on the street at 2 am, or so he claimed, and he showed me his wristband with his name on it. It was not an unbelievable story.

When we arrived at the train station, he told me that he could get us tickets. I stood back and watched as he told his story to the attendant on duty, showed her his wristband, and then pulled out a cell phone lacking a battery, to show that he had no way of contacting anyone. She bought his story, or at least took pity on him, and let us both through the gates. I felt guilty about not paying the $2.25 fare which I certainly had in my pocket, but I also understood that for my new friend, this was a victory. He had exercised a skill, had achieved something for the both of us that night, and he was feeling a little better about himself because of it. I complimented him on his salesman skills. He got on the next train heading south without a goodbye, and I waited for the train heading north.

On the train, my attention was drawn by two very tall black women, one dressed as Bat-woman (with a large Batman symbol on her chest), and one dressed as a police officer. They both had fishnet stockings, short skirts and high heels on. My first thought is that they might be prostitutes, out at 2 am in fishnets and revealing outfits, but then I remembered that it was Halloween only 2 hours earlier. They were engaged in sporadic, slurred conversation with two young, well groomed black men on the other side of the aisle. I sat facing the four of them from about 12 feet away, a doorway between us. My eyelids were heavy, and I let them drop several times over the course of the ½ hour ride north through Chicago's downtown. At one point, I looked up and noticed the two young black men kissing each other. It made more sense now. I looked back at the two very tall black women with strong jaws, wearing wigs. One of them had the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow. I drifted off again with a smile, recognizing my own stereotypes and enjoying the fact that I was in a major metropolitan area, where these things happen with more regularity than in rural Minnesota. A few stops later, the four of them all departed the train together, smiling and laughing and stumbling and cuddling. Sometimes I forget the marvelous diversity that is to be found in the city. I wasn't cold anymore.

Another 3 weeks in the woods with troubled teens. A beautiful trip through untouched forests, across ice-encrusted rivers and over mini-mountains. Lake superior loomed in the distance, a vast magnet of deep, blue, beautiful reflections. That lake is what parched, on-the-verge-of-death desert crawlers dream of, even if they don't know it exists. Hiking for 8 days and seeing just ¼ of one of its shores is a magnificent way to get a sense of its glory.

As we wandered down the banks of the Poplar river, the snow that had fallen on its solid ice surface had somehow formed itself into little white spike-balls of snow crystals, each an inch in diameter, perfectly formed, glimmering in the sunlight like clusters of miniature white daggers alongside 10,000 others just like it. I failed to bring my camera on this trip. But I think sometimes the images in my mind are worth more than what I can capture with a digital sensor. We passed through some of the same camps that I had been to on the previous trek. 6 weeks later, it was a completely different season, and a completely different experience. I wish I could come back to every beautiful place at the height of each season, and experience them all in their seasonal glory.

Meanwhile, grumpy teens huffed and puffed their way up and down the trails in front of or behind me, groaning with each new hill, as I secretly said “yes!” to myself inside, relishing the chance to breath hard and feel my body work. We had a fire every night. I love a good campfire. It calms the nerves and soothes the soul, while warming the body and the stirring the coals that dwell within. We shared stories and gave advice and told jokes and ate dinner and embraced the night together around a fire.

11/28/11

There is something not entirely satisfying about writing for an audience. For years, I kept a “diary” on my computer, in which I said exactly as I had felt and done, regardless of how lewd, sexual or private those topics might be. I discussed my mistakes and regrets, what I was ashamed of and proud of. I had no problems expressing my disgust or contempt for certain people or events taking place on this planet. I have very little contempt for any person now, but still find myself moved to anger over certain acts of what appear to be wickedness toward people, animals or the earth at large.

Before I left on this bike trip, my previous computer was stolen. With it, my diary, which I had written in an average of once a month from age 16 up until I started writing in my blog regularly at age 28, has ceased to exist. 12 years of contemplation, reflection, journaling of activities and emotions. A good 75%+ of what I wrote about was love, or the complications thereof. I re-read the first 5-10 pages probably ten times over the years. Each time, it was fascinating to realize how my thought processes had grown and matured, but how my concerns remained very similar. Does she like me? Do I like her? Where is all of this going? When will we see each other next? Though I wrote plenty about my travels and jobs and school and friends in other platforms, my diary was reserved almost exclusively to my pursuit of love and lust. Most of the 200+ pages that were written have never been read, even by me. I wonder what I said?

Wall Street, Halloween & The Tractors of Destiny

11/1/11

We start this entry with a list of links:

http://www.rebuildthedream.com/move-your-money/

This first link is for ANYONE with an account at BANK OF AMERICA, CITIBANK, CHASE or WELLS FARGO. These are the biggest banks in America, the most irresponsible, the ones investing your dollars in things you don't believe in and have no control over. Move your money to a small, local bank if you can, or at least out of these 4 corrupt giants.

Secondly, a basic explanation of what Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpROKraKJxk

Third, a succinct viewpoint on OWS from a pro-capitalism journalist:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-americas-primal-scream.html?_r=2&src=tp&smid=fb-share

Fourth, an informative word-vomit on an issue a little further into the future (2012):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbBmlHGgsgc

I feel as though the tractors of my destiny are finally starting to clear a path through the wilderness of options that I have had to contend with in this life. Some of the “why?” questions that have been floating around in my head for a long time have now found comfortable, feel-good answers, and have nested down in the trees of my brain-forest. I have found a motivation that I lacked for many years. I have started to eliminate some possible paths from my future, making the options which are left seem much closer and more attainable. I have begun to know my truth.  And this is the thing that I have been searching for.  A friend wrote me an e-mail recently, and included this quote:

"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing."

—Søren Kierkegaard, Letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund dated August 31, 1835

As I wrote in a previous blog, my mission is now to improve the well-being of all humans into the future. “Oh, is that all?” a friend asked sarcastically. “Don't you think that's what everyone is trying to do?” And the truthful answer is no, I don't. I think most people are trying to improve their own lives, and the lives of those close to them, without hurting anyone else along the way. And some are trying to improve their lives and lives of those closest to them at any cost, regardless of the harm to others. And some are not really trying to do anything but make it from day-to-day without dieing of starvation, going crazy or getting behind on their rent. Most of us don't operate on an “everything is connected, all the time” wavelength, which, in combination with the mindful mission of creating a better existence for future humans, is the mindset change that I hope to spread.

     The other reason that my friend was sarcastic about my stated mission is that she thought it was a little broad in scope. But the deeper I dig into the problems that I want to help fix, the more I realize that the scope has to be huge, because the problems are all inter-connected, just like everything else. Focusing solely on one aspect of what is wrong necessarily means ignoring what it is connected to. Focusing on the symptoms of a sick society will help heal some problems, but will not prevent the society from continued illness. I want to focus on prevention. If you step back far enough, the haze of complex problematic interactions blurs together. What really needs to happen is a great wind to come and blow all the haze away, so that we can start with a fresh, new, sunny day.

Yesterday, for Halloween, I started driving my rental car from Greensboro, NC at 10 am and turned it in at Dayton, OH at 5:45 pm, where I had rented it 3 days earlier. I then boarded a city bus, which took me close to I-70, where I would wait to get picked up by Sal, whom I had met 4 days earlier in Chicago through Craigslist, and who was giving me a ride back to Chicago, where I am now.

     During the hour-long wait for Sal, I took advantage of an offer from Chipotle (a growing burrito chain, which claims to be making strong efforts to serve naturally raised foods), which said that anyone dressed like something from a family farm gets a burrito for $2. So I stopped into the Walmart in the same shopping center as a Chipotle close to I-70, bought a pitchfork and a straw hat, put on my plaid shirt, and crossed the parking lot to Chipotle. There I joined a line which included 2 cows, a pig, a cowgirl and what looked to me like a panda, but she claimed she was a dog. The manager at Chipotle was thrilled to give $2 burritos to anyone in costume.

     After obtaining my burrito, I crossed the parking lot back to Walmart and returned the pitch fork and hat I had bought 20 minutes earlier. Sal showed up shortly, and we made the 5 hour drive back to Chicago. I arrived at my friend Cody's apartment around 2 am. I was glad I got to dress up for Halloween. Haven't missed one yet! 

3 weeks in the woods

I have spent the last 3 weeks working for a Wilderness Therapy Program in Northern Minnesota.  Because I am not allowed to take identifiable pictures of the students, my photos have  been carefully selected and filtered.  I took over 300 photos during the 3 weeks, but am only sharing 50.  The only faces you will see are mine and those of my co-instructors, Frank and Danyelle.

10/15/11

I am back in it. The bicycle trip now feels like it is what I am supposed to be doing with my life, and this other stuff, this “work” stuff, is just a distraction. When every day is a discovery, a new horizon, a thousand unknown possibilities and unseen images from a world never before experienced, how do you leave that behind? How do you go back to what you were doing before? In my case, I had a good job with great people in interesting places, which would sound good to most people, I realize. But this journey is changing me. I no longer want a good job in an interesting place. I want the world to be different. I want everyone to enjoy what they are doing and where they are. I want to learn more and do more and see more and experience it all first-hand. In order to truly make my life as good as I know it can be, I need to help everyone else have a good life too. How can I be happy when others are suffering, starving, oppressed, living in fear and devastating poverty? How can I sit back and enjoy my cozy little lifestyle when I know that I have the capability to do so much more?

     There is very little from a sedentary lifestyle that I find myself in desire of. I miss my family. I miss many of my friends and co-workers, but also know that many of them are not tied to any one place, and certainly not all to the places that I've been calling “home” over the last several years. My community is the world.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been in the woods with 2 co-instructors and a group of 8 teenage boys in the Minnesota Corrections system. 5 of the  boys were locked up for drug and alcohol related offenses, and 3 for other criminal acts. They come from various cities and counties of Minnesota, and share a few things in common. Most of them have had poor guidance, lack of guidance, or simply horrible guidance from their parents as to how to go about living in this world. Stories of physical and sexual abuse, drug use and law-breaking practices from a young age seem commonplace for these kids. A few of them simply don't know any other way to operate. One struggled particularly hard on an assignment to write about a positive role model that they knew personally, because he couldn't think of one. I felt needed by these kids. They have a hard time trusting anyone, but when I was speaking from the heart, they listened and thanked me for it. Most of them wear a shell of anger and defensiveness that goes up quickly at the first sign of disrespect. But at some point, all of them shared openly and honestly about their lives, their desires for the future, their knowledge of the need to change and find something better. I did my best to be a good listener and offer compassionate advice.

     

It seems strange to me to find myself in a place of work again after not working for a full 2.5 months. My bike trip was certainly not like any vacation that I've had before. It was plain hard work at times, but always with the most satisfying reward at the end of the day: a feeling of accomplishment. I have been thinking a lot lately about money, my relationship to it, and its effects on the world. Most of the time, I don't give it much thought at all, because I live a very inexpensive lifestyle, don't invest much, and have a chunk of cash sitting in an account that I've never let get too low. My only fixed expenses for the last several months have been a cell phone bill and my personal health insurance, both of which charge to my credit card automatically. When I'm working, I don't pay for food or lodging, and while on the bike, I paid only for food.

     I know that part of the money that I have sitting in a bank account is being used as leverage for loans to individuals and companies over which I have no control, and I'm not sure that's OK with me. My checking account earns 0.5% interest, which is much slower than the rate of inflation, so the buying power of the money that sits there actually shrinks with each passing day. The overwhelming flood of news stories about corruption in big banks makes me want to put my money somewhere else entirely.

     I have been thinking about trying to live without money for a year. Removing myself from a system of debt, labor and inequality which I would like to stop supporting. Is anyone interested in making a documentary about a guy trying to live a year in the USA without money? Instead, I would simply trade my labor and/or knowledge and skills directly for the resources that I need to survive. Or I would broker deals between people, work for one who then provided a service or good to another on my behalf. I think this would start people thinking about whether or not money actually does them any good. With the current state of the economy, money seems to be just as much of a headache as it is a convenience. If we had a form of currency which was not tied to a banking system of loans, debt and profits, but was purely a means of exchanging goods and services, things would be very different.

     I think that after this bike trip, I will finally be able to travel internationally on my own and be truly successful socially. I can no longer let fear isolate me from the conversations that I want to have, the people I want to hear, the knowledge that I want to obtain from someone, somewhere. I want to be more a part of the places that I go. Couchsurfing helps with this in a big way. I really enjoy meeting open-minded people who value the stories and opinions of others.

10/17/11

Yesterday, I got on the internet for the first time in over 2 weeks. Through a phone call from a friend, I learned that Steve Jobs died, and that a huge, worldwide protest had started over the lack of action taken against the irresponsible banks which are largely responsible for the current economic recession. We had an economic stimulus package of $700 billion given out mostly to large banks and corporations, and what are the results of this? Why should these irresponsible and corrupt banks be saved, only to turn around and continue giving huge bonuses to their top executives, while the rest of the country suffers? Finally, I see some frustration from other people. My own rants at corporate greed and collusion with politicians seemed so lonely and off in outer space until I learned that hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are feeling the same way, and now doing something about it.

     My immediate response to the “Occupy Wall Street” news was excitement, affirmation and curiosity. Who are the people who are protesting? How much conviction to they have to make real change? America has not seen any real, large scale protests for some time, but our situation is such that many people now have nothing to lose. Young people in college are going deep into debt to pay for their schooling, and unable to get jobs upon graduation. Unemployment remains in the double digits, with no signs of improvement. The volatile stock market, which is really only a useful tool to those to dedicate all of their time and energy to its mysterious workings, is still unpredictable at best, and unreliable for most.

     The America that I've grown up in expected me to go to college, get a job, invest my money into stable, continuously growing retirement accounts, get married, buy a house and a car, raise a family and 45 years later, retire a wealthy man. With my safely managed nest egg, I would take vacations at golf resorts with day spas, tropical island resorts, and deserts irrigated with water from far away places. The American Dream of the present, as pushed by corporate advertising, is one of materialism and disconnection. What used to be a land of opportunity, founded by great adventurers and pioneers (who undoubtedly displaced and massacred the millions of natives already living here, but I'm trying to be romantic right now) has turned into a land of corruption, confusion and escapism. What group of people in America is now truly happy and healthy? Are the “1%” who are now being picked on without hesitation, really living a healthy, satisfying life? Or are they too busy making sure that no one is stealing, shifting, downgrading, laundering or losing their money? Where is the happy middle-ground?

     The teenagers I am working with now are generally obsessed with material goods. Upon meeting them for the first time, I was in charge of helping them inventory their clothing and personal belongings that would be placed in storage for the duration of their wilderness experience. All of them not only knew, but were proud of the brands and labels of their clothing, taking special care to make sure that I noted which brands they were wearing before shoving these items into a suitcase or a garbage bag, and putting them in a basement for safekeeping. Many of them are here at least partially because of robbery charges. As one kid put it, “I'm not addicted to stealing, I'm addicted to the money that I get from stealing.” They have been convinced, so early in life, that the stuff they buy, that they desire for one reason or another, is important enough to break the law. In the wilderness, they are issued the same clothing as everyone else, which serves a functional purpose, rather than aesthetic. I am wearing largely the same clothing they are, which is all issued by the state of Minnesota, in drab and earthy colors. I feel that this has an immediate, positive impact on helping the students relate to their own identity regardless of their clothing, and instead based upon their personalities, actions and behaviors. It is disappointing to realize that many of them will be caught back up in the desire to purchase particular items simply because they feel these items add value to their image amongst their peers. This phenomenon is a product which is at least partially blamable on advertising, and an issue that I remember as a kid causing serious distress when one kid was deemed not to be wearing the socially appropriate brand or style of clothing. It was a serious emotional trauma to be made fun of for what you were wearing.

I have a good friend who is a clothing designer, and struggles with her role in the fashion industry. Like me, she sees clothing design as an art form, a method of individual expression, which in modern times, in metropolitan areas especially, can be seen on every street corner. Unique expression of identity, feelings and desire, worn on the outside, for others to be inspired. Unfortunately, the corporate agenda has turned the fashion industry into just that, an industry. Fashion is something marketed by skinny models on runways and in TV commercials, touted as being the desirable physical forms, and therefore, if you wear the same clothing, you will be more desirable. Because people have found a way to make lots of money from the fashion industry, it is now very difficult to be in the art of fashion without being swept away by the industry. My friend is disappointed that many of the job opportunities available to her involve much less creative freedom than she would like, and much more pleasing a corporate boss in order to make money. Sadly, I think many forms of art and design have headed in the same direction. It is very difficult for an individual artist to compete in a market so saturated with hyper-marketed products that have corporate advertising dollars behind them.

King of the World

A stunningly beautiful stretch of road, genuine interactions with real people, major revelations and clarity beyond words summarize the last few days of my journey.  It has been wonderful.

Day 71: 9/24/11 Hermantown to Hibbing, MN: 66 miles
I recently commented to someone that I thought I would make a good king of the world. They looked at me and asked something like, “what would you change first?” I was totally stumped. It made me instantly realize that I'm only scratching the surface of so many problems that I care deeply about and feel like I can be a part of solving. Without a plan, big problems aren't even going to begin to change.
As an alternate train of thought, I try as often as possible to keep the “big picture” in sight, rather than focusing on the details of any problem in particular. So much of what I see as “wrong” with the world today stems from the same core set of misunderstandings, misguided priorities and plain ignorance of what is actually going on in the world. I would like to begin my plan with preventative medicine for humanity's woes, rather than treating the symptoms.

When it comes to treating symptoms, there are so many people doing so many good things on a small scale, and I applaud them. Part of my theory about how to fix the world is that every cause needs a champion. A person who is passionate and dedicated to that particular issue, and goes all-out to make the change that needs to happen from the ground up. If every person could find an issue to champion in order to improve life in the future, a hell of a lot of good would get done. And there are already tons of champions out there giving it their all. I recently read about a non-profit in New England called Project Laundry List, who's main goal is to get people to line-dry their clothes rather than using their dryer all the time. Without a doubt, this is a positive cause, in need of a champion (they were looking for a new executive director), but it is such a drop in the bucket of the mindset change that would result in everyone drying their clothes on a line. Because when you realize that everything is connected and you affect the entire planet negatively every time you run your dryer, then of course, why wouldn't you line dry?
And there I go, already getting caught up in the details. Some issues are so shockingly appalling that they are hard to ignore. Some will make a much larger difference than others, but I'm searching for the ultimate. I fear that most people are caught up in the details of their day-to-day lives to such an extent that they regularly loose sight of the big picture. It is true that several thousand years ago, after humans had already been evolving for 100,000+ years, that we had a very marginal, perhaps nearly undetectable effect on the other humans and life on earth. We are not evolved to think for the world. We are evolved to think for ourselves, our families, our survival and reproduction and the well-being of our communities and those closest to us. But this is no longer a world where competition for food determines who will survive. It is now a world where understanding our total influence as a species will be the most important step in creating a future in which we can thrive. We must expand our notion of taking care of our community to include the entire world. What makes this so easily approachable is that through education and understanding, we learn that what is best for ourselves and our families and what is best for the world are the same things.
This brings me to my tag-line for becoming king of the world. I was thinking to myself, “If I truly want to be a leader of some kind of large-scale change, then I had better work on my message.” A good leader is not usually the one with the strongest opinions or the most charm or the fastest wit. A good leader is someone who can be humble, honest, genuine and competent. A person of integrity, ingenuity, courage and wisdom who listens to the voices of his/her followers, and helps to decide what is best for all of them based upon their input. A person who is has the strength to choose what is right over what is easy. While I would love to receive more input (What changes do you want to see in this world?), I again fear getting caught up in the details. I think one of the reasons that real change is so mired in the bureaucratics of today's politics is that everyone has forgotten to look past the details and deal with the larger issues at hand. We're stuck arguing about gay marriage and border control when climate change threatens the entire planet.

At present, the issues that concern me most boil down to this: the well-being of the human species into the future. The physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the current and future humans on planet earth. While I could expand this to include a concern for the well-being of all living things on earth, that would not sound as important to a large group of people. And, once again, if we truly do what is best for the human species, then we will also be doing what is best for the rest of the living things on the planet, who are woven into the fabric of our existence in such intricate and integral ways that we do not yet recognize the value of most things as they pertain to our own well-being.

While I would like to convince myself that I view all living things as equally important as humans in general, and myself in particular, I must admit that this is not so. There was a time when I was convinced that the world should just be rid of humans, because we're just trashing the place for everything else, but that was short lived. I have come to know that I value my own existence, as well as that of my fellow humans, especially my close friends and family, above most other things. While I do feel that this is only partly my choice (and partly how I am evolved to operate), I believe strongly that it is easy to expand the notion of oneself to include things that are not obviously, directly a physical part of me. The rice that I am eating is about to become part of me, and soon portions of it will depart from me to become part of the earth. In a similar manner, the water I drink and the air that I breath are extensions of my physical being, and they circulate throughout the world on a daily basis, entering and leaving countless other humans and living things. Thinking in this way, I find it much easier to care about everything, because it becomes much more obvious that everything is part of everything else. We are one. And I've gone off on a tangent that describes exactly what is important to communicate to everyone so that we'll all be on the same page about saving everything, thereby saving ourselves.

Some other, less selfish reasons that I can come up with for wanting the human species to do well in the future include the idea that humans are the only things we know of that can appreciate and reflect upon the beauty and wonder of the universe. Someone told me once, “we are the universe's way of reflecting upon itself.” We create beautiful works of art, magnificent buildings and bridges, and so much love. The wedding that I attended recently was a wonderful reminder of the power, beauty and all-engulfing fire that love is. I think its OK to think of ourselves as special, because we don't have anything similar to compare ourselves to. As long as we realize that being special doesn't mean we get to destroy, dominate, marginalize or bully anyone or anything else. We are special, and we are part of everything, so everything is special.


Back to politics: What ever happened to a government of, by and for the people? Who I see in elected office are the wealthy, corporate-backed moderates. I am none of these things. Are these my people in office? And when was the last time you felt like you had any true input on how things run in Washington D.C.? I'm going to write a letter to the president, and include some of my concerns. I will probably be written off as an idealistic wacko, with no clue as to how things actually get done in D.C., but it seems to me that currently, almost nothing gets done anyhow, so what have I got to lose? As for being “for” the people, I feel like that part was forgotten long ago. Now, the ears and the pockets of politicians are filled by corporate lobbyists, and I have no delusions that this is the reason that tax laws and regulations of all kinds are in their favor. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, “I'll start treating corporations like people when one of them is executed in Texas.” Its time we realized our mistake in creating institutions which are required by law to prioritize profits above all else. My first official action as king of the world would be to reject corporate person-hood, and require that they place the well-being of current and future humans as their top priority. Perhaps then we'd see some real change. Maybe profits can come second.


Today was the first day the sun came out since Minneapolis, 4 days ago. I rode in shorts and a t-shirt for a few hours, and captured some great photos of red leaves in bright sun. Last night, I spent the night with the parents of the bride from the wedding I just attended. Dennis and Debbie Lofald are Minnesota born and raised. They live on a big piece of land next door to several members of Dennis' family. We went to their favorite pizza place, where they treated me to an excellent pizza and some delicious root beer on tap, which came in a big, frosty stein. Dennis told me all about his work for a company which collects blood plasma to manufacture products for all kinds of medical treatments. I also learned quite a bit of local and family history. In the morning, Debbie sent me off with 3 sandwiches, a small representation of the unending hospitality they showed me during my stay. Their youngest daughter recently moved out of their house, and it is just the two of them in their home for the first time in 27 years. I don't think they minded my company one bit.
Day 72: 9/25/11: Hibbing to Togo, MN: 49 miles
I awoke in a thick fog. The field that I slept in last night was full of soft grass and slugs. This morning, as I pedaled off, a slug fell off of my helmet, dropping in front of my face and surprising me. There was frost on my tent for the first time, but I was not cold. As the day grew longer, the sun came out, and by late afternoon, I was in shorts. I stopped at Side Lake for lunch, took my shoes off and enjoyed the sunshine on my bare feet. The lake was surrounded by houses tucked into a thick forest of mixed evergreen and deciduous trees. A few boats enjoyed the last days of the season. I very much enjoyed the rays of sun filtering through the multicolored trees as I pedaled the last few miles into Thistledew Camp, where I will work in the wilderness for the next 3 weeks. I feel ready.

Colors of Autumn and a Wedding

I am using a new camera which was purchased so that I can keep recording the beautiful world around me when I go into the backcountry without having to worry about the weight and break-ability of my current camera.  My new camera is a shock-proof, waterproof, freeze-proof compact camera.  It is very convenient, but has had trouble reproducing genuine colors, which is frustrating with all of the brilliant shades of autumn about.  Also, none of the video that I took this week is retrievable in its current format.  I'm working on it.

The latest pictures were taken earlier today in Duluth, MN.  It is in industrial city, having mostly to do with its being the furthest inland port in the US.  I crossed over the the St. Lawrence River to visit Superior, WI, so that I could pedal over the bridge, get some pictures and get another state under the belt.

Day 69: Pine City to Moose Lake, MN: 50 miles

The seasons are changing. This was difficult to notice for the first couple of months of this trip, due to the fact that I started off in a very wet, cool Oregon in the middle of summer. Rain has found me in nearly every state, and Minnesota is no exception. Today was the coldest riding day I've had, and yesterday threw both wind and water at me. Two days before I arrived in Minneapolis, it was 90 degrees, and I couldn't drink enough water to stay hydrated. This morning when I left, it was 45 degrees, I barely drank 3 quarts all day, and had to stop every hour to pee.

Fall colors abound on the endless bike paths of Minnesota. I spent most of the last two days isolated from highway and city by a line of trees of varying width, all of which are beginning their preparations for the winter. I cannot remember the last time I saw so many shades of pink and orange. It has been a long time since I've been anywhere but California for an autumn, and mostly in deserts or on seashores for the last several years. I feel as though the change in the seasons is somehow coinciding with the change in pace of my trip, as I get ready to settle in one place for a while. The world is telling me that great things await in the north.

I spent exactly one week off the bike. During that time, I prepared for, helped with, and attended the wedding of my great friend Greg Krajacic as one of 6 groomsmen. Greg and I were roommates in college for 2 years, and became constant revered companions. We also played Ultimate frisbee on the same team, and 8 of our teammates (not including Greg and I) also attended the wedding. This made for a posse of awesome dudes with whom to pre-party as well as celebrate with during the event. We all had a great time together playing soccer, poker, quarters, wrestling and dancing our butts off at the wedding. As is to be expected with such a group of dynamic, motivated, intelligent and energetic guys, I enjoyed their company thoroughly.

As I grow older, I begin noticing different things about such gatherings as weddings. It has been longer than I can remember since I attended a traditional wedding without a partner, and even then, the last wedding I attended was over 3 years ago. At Greg's wedding, I noticed that there were nearly zero single, unattached women close to my age. I think part of this could be due to the fact that it took place in the mid-west, but age must also be a factor. About half of my frisbee teammates are now married, with several others engaged or about to be. All of the bridesmaids were either married, engaged or in a committed relationship. For the second time in my adult life, I have not been in a committed relationship for about 6 months. I must admit that this is certainly intentional to some degree (how could I have a girlfriend somewhere and ride my bike around the nation?), but it is also a unique circumstance for me. In a few months I will turn 30, and though I don't feel that this will limit anything I'm trying to do, it is making me aware of how I'm using my time, and who I'm spending it with.

Due to the fact that Greg and I have the same first name, we generally go by our frisbee nicknames when we spend time together, so I'm “Ace” and he's “Krackerjack”. Everyone in Greg's family knows me as Ace, and to simplify things, this is how I was introduced to a number of people at the wedding. Greg and I got to spend an hour or so just the two of us as we drove to the airport to pick up his brother, Chris. We chatted about life, and it was nice to notice that we are able to maintain the high level of understanding that we always had when conversing in college. There aren't too many people who I can have that kind of candid, connected conversation with, and it dawned on me how much I appreciate Greg's friendship for just that reason. As he is taking steps to move on to the next phase of his life having married, bought a house, and planning children not too far down the line, it is comforting to me to see how our friendship will evolve and grow and remain intact. Connecting with friends whom I haven't seen in a long time was one of the primary reasons I undertook this trip, and I'm so glad I did.

Another friend who I was able to spend a few hours with was Jenna. Jenna and I went on a bicycle tour through Southeast Asia two years ago, and had an amazing adventure. It was that trip, with Jenna's help, that showed me what an amazing way to travel cycling can be. Upon my return from Asia, I was immediately motivated to begin planning my next bicycle tour, this time in my own country.

Jenna is in graduate school and the University of Minnesota for Occupational Therapy. She has found a great apartment in a very culturally diverse neighborhood in the heart of Minneapolis. We had dinner together at a Somali restaurant after walking through a Somali market. Inside the market, I felt immediately transported back to the markets of Costa Rica or Cambodia. Narrow isles lined with dimly lit stalls displaying all manner of watches, clothing, trinkets and tons of absolutely gorgeous cloth. The religion of most Somali immigrants in Minneapolis is Islam, and it occurred to me that many of the women must make their own clothing, which involves much more material than the clothing of most non-islamic women. Jenna and I still get along perfectly well, and it was very comforting to see her thriving and enjoying her new environment.

Many sayings, phrases and bits of advice have stuck with me from a young age. One that always seemed to make sense was, “The more you know, the more you know you don't know.” I suppose this is referring to the fact that as we become more educated and knowledgeable as people, we begin to understand that there is SO much more knowledge and information in the world than we could possibly expect to learn in a lifetime. There are definitely times in my life when I lost sight of this concept.

I remember being 17, a junior in high school, and having the parents of a friend or two ask me what I was going to do with my life. I was very confident that I was going to be an actor and that I had the world figured out. I had trouble understanding why so many people struggled at making sense of life, when I, at 17, had everything figured out. Entering college and having my brain filled with mounds of information that I never knew existed was a lengthly process, but it certainly humbled me in terms of making me realize the quantity of knowledge that I would never be able to obtain. That process probably helped me to build more character than many other things I've done in my life.

I had a similar experience in 2006 when, in combination with getting a job where I was backpacking and camping all the time, a loved and respected colleague from college began a bicycle tour from Los Angeles to the tip of Argentina. Both of these expansions of what is possible in life filled my head with even further possibilities, greater achievements, vaster realms of knowledge on physical, spiritual and emotional levels, rather than purely intellectual knowledge, which is what I had primarily focused on previously.

At this point, I feel like I'm in the midst of having another “aha” moment, where some previously overlooked realm of possibility reveals itself to me. College was one of those “moments,”, but I don't think this one will take quite as long. My recent trips to Berlin and Australia, falling in love with an artist and experiencing the world through her eyes, have played an important role in helping me step out of the box of creative understanding that I now know I was previously in. The bicycle trip is helping me to drop my very strong, thoroughly implanted preconceived notions of the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors of people all across America. My new job, which will send me back into the wilderness, where my current lifestyle was born, waits for me only a few days away. I am excited and open and ready.

Last night, I had a tremendous couch-surfing experience once again. I stayed in Pine City with Val and his pitbull mutt, Angel, a total sweetheart of an animal. Val and I operate on the same wavelength. The man is doing all he can to improve the world around him, while enriching his own life in the process. We chatted about martial arts (he teaches), economics (he has a degree, but hasn't used it), animal rescue and corporate irresponsibility. He used to race bicycles until he got into a bad crash, and now he just restores classics once in a while. We both snowboard. If it's yellow, we let it mellow. We got along great right from the start, as he gave me the tour of his cozy home, decorated with furniture from garage sales which he has fixed up and made worthy of collectors.

For dinner, we ended up at Froggy's pub for burgers. I ordered the ½ pound Froggy special, with everything on it (onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, 3 kinds of cheese, mushrooms, jalapenos, bacon), and finished it while Val still had 1/3 left of his slightly smaller burger. It sure hit the spot. While we waited for our food, ate it, and for quite a while afterward, Val and I were entertained by Frank J Cummings, a retired police officer from Missouri. Frank was about drunk and half when we came in, and continued ordering himself pitchers of beer the whole time we were there. At 58 years of age, he looked 70 (the age he told us at first), and reminded us constantly that he was “one mean son of a !#@%$” He immediately told Val and I that we looked like the Beegees, and then insisted that we were federal agents. Frank was loud and smart-mouthed and full of wise-cracks, but never quite hit the point of mean-spirited. He did impressions of several famous people, sang a line from a song every now and then, and tried to impress every women who'd look at him. Anytime anyone asked him a question, his reply was, “none of your business!” Since Val and I were sitting right next to him at the bar, we were the “watch this” guys of choice, and I think we satisfied his need for attention. He insisted that I looked like Kid Rock (blech!), and ended up giving me his address in Missouri, so that I can come visit when I go through. I think I just might.

Minnesota, the Universe, and everything

I have made it to what was originally the only set destination on my trip.  I have pedaled 3320 miles, enough distance to have crossed the entire USA, and yet, I am just in Minnesota.  I feel accomplished and ready for the next step.  It is a relief to have come so far on such a tight schedule with such success.  I will now be in the company of good friends for the next week, and off to work in Northern MN for two months.

Check the YouTube link to the left for new videos. 

9/11/11 Day 64: Huron, SD to Lake Benton, MN: 101 miles

10 years have passed since “9/11”. I did not expect to be where I am now, rolling through cornfields and windmills at sunset in western Minnesota. I remember being woken up by my father on 9/11/01, and listening to the radio in a sleepy haze. I was home for the summer from my first year of college. The world has certainly changed since then, but mostly in directions that I wish it hadn't. People are more fearful, more paranoid and more annoyed at airport security. In those 10 years, no “terrorist” attacks of any significant proportion have taken place here. I'm sure that one day, we will be attacked again by zealous people who've been screwed over by American policy overseas, but isn't it time we stopped worrying so much, and got rid of some of the ridiculously invasive policies of “homeland security?”

3 days ago, I also did not expect to be where I am now. I thought it would take me another day to get to Minnesota, but after 120 miles yesterday, and 101 miles today, I am over the border. 221 miles of some of the flattest country I've ever seen. More wetlands and lakes than I expected, fewer trees than I hoped for. It was hot, and my sweat glands have had a full workout. Wind was not a major factor, which I think was lucky. Everyone here talks about the wind as daily part of their lives.

All that flat land gave me lots of time to think. I thought about all the roadkill I'd seen over the course of the trip: skunks, rabbits, cats, pheasants, turtles, frogs, ducks, snakes and lots of deer. Animals in all manner of decomposition. Today I saw a big turtle (its shell was about 12 inches long) on its way across the highway, and stopped to help it across. It got really angry when I picked it up, and hissed at me, snapping its head in and out, but I got it to the other side safely.

I thought about universal truths, religion and connection. This trip has been reinforcing two concepts in my mind over and over again: Everything is connected, and everything is changing, all the time. I have been reminded of these things not only by the cycles of life that I see going on around me at every moment, but also through messages from other people. I watched a documentary called, “Zeitgiest Addendum” (its very alternative – check it out) while I was in Washington state, and the main point it made toward the end was just those two truths – everything is connected, and everything is changing. They refer to the earth and everything on it as “emergent” to remind us that the way things are now is simply a moment in time, temporary, and it will change into something new, starting with the next moment.

A book I picked up off of a night table at the cabin I stayed in on the Missouri river was about native culture and religion. The first few pages address exactly those topics: everything is connected, and everything changes. As I walked into the theater in the visitor center at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone, the voice of Chief Dan George came out from behind a screen showing silhouettes of people hiking into a sunset. “Everything is connected,” he said, “and this means that even the white men and Indians are brothers, and we hope that some day, they will understand this too.”

So much of what we do as humans in America at this stage in our history is to resist change. What a waste. The world will change whether we are resisting it or not. Instead, we must simply direct the change in a positive way. Time and time again, we must be the change that we want to see.

My thoughts on religion stemmed from my time with Jennifer, the woman running the ministry on the Pine Ridge reservation. Pine Ridge is the Oglala Lakota reservation where I watched the native funeral, and found out only later that it is also where the massacre at Wounded Knee took place, resulting in the final surrender of the plains Indians to the US Army's demands to give up their old ways and live on reservations. Jennifer's mission is ultimately to help convince as many natives as possible to accept Jesus and Christianity as their main belief system, and to drop any conflicting beliefs and/or traditions. While I feel that she is being a very caring, positive and helpful influence on the reservation, I also feel that her goals are not only a bit insensitive, but ultimately impossible. Her intentions are motivated purely by the good in her heart, and what she truly believes in, but these things are not in line with reality. The world will never unite in the name of a miracle worker who lived 2000 years ago. There is not enough tangible truth in that belief system to hold onto in the here and now. Native religion in many countries centers on the tangible things of everyday life; rain, sun, animals, the connectedness of all things. The idea that these things should be dropped for a story about a pregnant virgin and the son of an all-powerful consciousness somewhere out of the realm of our perception is a very hard sell.

Since high school, it seemed ridiculous to me that people could ever think that their religion is the only true and correct religion. Religion is nearly exclusively a matter of what a child is taught at a young age. If you are born in Saudi Arabia to a Islamic family, you will be taught to believe in Islam. If you are born in Israel to a Jewish family, you will be taught to believe in Judaism. Adoption yields the same results – an Arabic child adopted by a Christian family will be taught Christianity, and unless he or she is a “rebel”, or discovers some strong reason to question their teachings, they will remain with that worldview at least until they start thinking for themselves.

I can't help thinking what a huge help all of the missionaries and evangelists in this world would be if they were trying to unite people around universal truths that all people can believe in, rather than teachings from a very specific set of texts with a somewhat bumpy history. Devout followers of any religion will not convert to another, so why are people trying so hard to bring others to their point of view? Instead, why don't we find things that we can all believe in, all work toward, and all be a part of? Why don't we devote more time to working on the things that we can know through seeing, touching, tasting, feeling and hearing, because these have a much harder time conflicting.

With what we have discovered in the last century through scientific research, psychological analysis, study and observation of our changing planet, I believe that the time has come for a new way of life based on what we know about our world. We need to embrace the realities of the impact that humans are having on everything here, and decide what we want to do about it. Everything is connected. What this means is that with every action that we each take, we are affecting the entire rest of the world, and that in itself is a spiritual notion. We are a part of something greater than ourselves, whether we believe in it or not. We are a part of everything. We need to embrace the everything that we are a part of, and be the change we wish to see.

That got a little deeper and more preachy than I expected. I was on a roll. In another article, I am working out explaining the connections between everything in a way that is easy to understand, so that if “everything is connected” is not already obvious, then it may be more obvious afterward.

Last night I spent the night in a county park and met a couple of people, Nick and Julia from Minneapolis, who had just started a cycling tour in the opposite direction. I was the first other touring cyclist they'd run into, but they were already making friends and having a good time. We had some lat night discussions on routes, equipment and cycling in general, and parted quickly the next morning. They were excellent company.

I stopped at a you-pick raspberry farm today. Their price: you pick as much as you want, and leave half in their refrigerator. I got about ¾ lb. They were delicious.

9/12/11 Day 65: Lake Benton, MN to New Ulm, MN: 97 miles

You'd think a lot more would happen on a day where 100 miles have passed on a bike, but I think the opposite is in fact true. Longer days means less time off of the bike, less time for photos, for tourist sites, and for meeting people. It means more scenery, generally, but not today. Today was corn and soybeans. All genetically engineered, with tons of signs advertising the companies that engineered them. I would like to sit down and listen to some of the farmers, and see how they feel about genetic engineering. It looks like everyone here is quite supportive, judging from the never-ending fields. The amount of monoculture is overwhelming. I wonder what this place looked like 300 years ago?   

Badlands, Bison & Big spiders

I have started a YouTube channel!

Video from the trip will be posted to this channel each time I post pictures and new blog.  There are over 20 clips so far, most under 1 minute in length.  You can access my channel by clicking on the permanent link on the left side of the page, or you can click here.  

9/7/11 Day 60: Badlands National Park to Belvidere, SD: 72 miles

When a grasshopper hits you in the face going 20 mph, it doesn't feel very nice. The plains are absolutely brimming with grasshoppers this time of year, and they hop all over me as I'm riding down the side of the road. I don't even bother trying to avoid squishing them anymore, because swerving out of the way of one just means that I'm going to hit another. There are at least 4 different species of grasshopper that I've noted, without taking too close a look. They come in all sizes and colors, and they jump all over the place. I am still very surprised and a little freaked out when they land on my bare skin with their hooked claws, and then give me a little squeeze as they jump off again. They are my constant companions.

Yesterday evening, as I rolled into Badlands National Park, I could have sworn I was on African safari. The wide, grassy canyon which held Sage Creek had bison browsing all over the place, including one right in the middle of the road as I was making my way to the campground. The trees were low and scrubby, the hills soft and dry, and the streams meandering and brown.

I had left Rapid City that morning after a very pleasant, if short, night with another couch-surfer named Michelle. She was also hosting another guy, Brian, whom she'd met through couch surfing several years earlier, and they have become good friends. Brian has been traveling on a motorcycle all over the world, and is originally from the UK. The three of us shared a simple dinner, and then I ran off to the grocery store to restock for the next portion of the trip. The next morning, I took my time packing up and cleaning the bike, and departed rather late. Rapid City has a bike path running almost the length of the city from east to west, following Rapid Creek. I pedaled through city parks, golf courses and past a farmer's market on my way out of town. In the afternoon, I took a long break to cool off in the Cheyenne River.

That night, I camped with a young couple from Pennsylvania who are in the process of moving to Seattle. Ian will be attending Graduate School for something along the lines of community and environment. Victoria, his girlfriend, had just attained a degree in assistant dentistry, and hopes to be able to do something like “Dentists without borders.” They were immediately very friendly, and welcomed me to share their table and space at the campground, which was full when I arrived. The campers next door gave us some home-made baked beans that night, which were delicious, and some donuts the next morning. Ian & Victoria were very pleasant company, and we may run into each other again.

This morning, I got an early start and pedaled my way through the main section of the Badlands. The Badlands are a very picturesque array of towers and canyons made of soft sediments which are eroding away into the White River, a few miles away. Fairly young formations, they are estimated to be completely gone in about 500,000 years, eroding away at about 1 inch every year. Alternating layers of red and white sediments make up most of the craggy mounds, with some yellows and purples mixed in here and there. I wished that I had gone through the main area the night before, as the sun was setting, because I think the lighting would have been much better for photographing them. In the middle of the day, they look hot, dry, bright and unrelenting, but still quite dramatic. Because they erode so quickly, and receive very little precipitation, the formations support almost no vegetation. Most of the park is prairie, though, which supports a huge amount of animal life.

I was stopped by a herd of what must have been nearly 1000 bison about 30 minutes into my ride, and had to wait for a break in the line of beasts crossing the road before I could continue. They are definitely frightened of a guy on a bike, as are many animals. They don't seem to care about cars at all, but they were quite startled every time I moved. The small herd of bighorn sheep that I came across about 5 minutes later was nearly the opposite. They started popping up onto the road out of a canyon about 50 feet in front of me, and spread out all over the road. As I rolled slowly toward them, having no other option, they barely moved out of the way as I went past.

The ride through the Badlands was full of ups and downs, with stops to look at ancient fossils of animals long extinct, as well as several amazing viewpoints. Many people asked about my trip. I finished the day with 40 miles of riding along a service road that parallels I-90 through grassy plains of emptiness.

9/9/11 Day 62, Pierre, SD

Couch-surfing once again with good people. A young couple from Wisconsin, Adam and Becky both work with children, and we have that in common. The ride yesterday was hot, dry and windy. I was glad to arrive here, to take a cold shower, and to watch the Packers game with a couple of die-hard Wisconsin fans. The lack of shade in the plains is unforgiving.

Yesterday, when I woke up in the hay field I was camping in, I found 3 garden spiders had woven their webs attached to my tent poles, and 3 more webs were attached to my bike.  The spiders looked fat and healthy, so I wasn't too worried about pulling my things away.  As I was preparing breakfast, a farmer pulled up in his truck to load up some hay bales, and was perfectly OK with my having camped in his field.  Good thing.

Tomorrow, I will begin a 5 day ride which will put me at my first long-term destination, Chanhassen, MN. There, I will attend the wedding of my friend Greg K, take a rest, and somehow make my way north to Togo, MN where I will work for a Wilderness Therapy program for the next 2 months. It hardly seems like I've been on the road long enough to be taking a break, but I will be glad for the time to renew my motivation and enthusiasm for cycling.