Back to Basics

Well, I was feeling a bit sluggish today... all that energy ready to dive into a million different things caught up to me, in the form of "where the heck do I start?" So, I decided the best place to start was back at the basic spark that got the ball rolling in the first place... a run. I would like to say that it was a beautiful experience that sent me roaring back from the blahs, but it wasn't that. Instead it was a rather ugly, tight chested, soar knee, windy, cold (well compared to Belize, sorry Midwesterners) and short run. However, I think it did the trick. A little bit of refocusing, and the ability to put that check mark of something positive on my day. It will take a few runs to get the legs rolling again... that is ok.

So, how is everyone else's running going? Give me a progress report...

Today: 2.5 miles
Week: 2.5 miles

Back from Belize

Dory,
originally uploaded by TreeBed.

For those of you keeping score... it is not March 3rd (my original return date), but I am now home in Vallejo. Why? Well, it just made the most sense to me. I was ready to get home and start applying the stuff I had just learned, and wanted to save the 2nd part of my traveling adventure for when I was more in tourist mode. And it all worked out rather well. The day I changed my ticket I ran into Dawn (lives and owns the farm the course was at), and so I ended up spending my last days back in the jungle. Aside from being stung by a scorpian, which left me feeling like my entire body had fallen asleep for most of the day, it was exactly how I wanted to spend my last bit of time in Belize. I am still sort of in disbelief that yesterday morning (4:15 am to be exact) I got up and road a dory down the river, got on a bus, got on another bus (for 7 freakin hours), road a taxi, got on plane, got on another plane, got into a car, and then slept in my own bed that night. Pretty wild. It feels nice to be home, and I am still very charged up to get rollin along... I look forward to sharing stories with you all and finding out some of your own from the past 3 weeks.

I got the 2nd round of photos (the ones that I didn't erase), you can follow this pic and then view them as a group.

New Song

Well, still forming the next move, in the meantime I will share a song that I wrote during the past two weeks... I think that it sums up pretty well where I am at.

Still Me (a working title)
2/14/06
Maya Mountain Research Farm

Ain't it great, to see you again
Its been so long since I met you friend...
You are me, We are one, all the things we have done
Who we are, is the path that we are on.

Chorus:
Here I am...walking down the road.
It hardly seems, I am who I used to know...
But its still me

Gratitude, I breath it in, then I breath it out to you
Thats what it is, open my eyes to this life Im liven in
Thats not much, but its what I got
One step closer... to a healing heart.

Dreams of past, wishful thinking eludes these present tasks
This precious moment, is all that I can want, or ever keep
So I'll take my potential to rise up above this resevior of grief

Use the pain, worked back into the fields
Now cultivate, the compassion that I can see is real
Know myself, open my heart to all that I have felt
And I will say... that I will live more full each day.

It is still rough, but it has been comforting to play... I even got to play it for a talent night we had the last nigth of the course.

I got a decent 3 mile run in yesterday. That was nice. It had been a while. There was really no place to run at the farm (I mean that literally, NO place), so it felt good to get out and get the legs moving again. I have been scrambling to get some more photos taken so I can put a few up. Until then...

My course is over, and it is hard to believe I have been gone for over two weeks... it seems to have gone so fast, but the experience was so rich it is hard to imagine that it could have all fit into such a short time. Today is recovery day. Do a little recoup and make plans for what is next.

Jungle life is pretty amazing... I am not sure I could be a full time resident, but it certainly has a magical quality to it that is all its own. There is so much life, it feels like you can watch the plants growing right in front of you. I was also fortunate to be there with a wonderful group. People from New York, Iowa, and the Bay Area (And more... that is a solid span of the country)... as well as a number of folks from the surrounding areas in Belize. It was so enjoyable to share in the human spirit that connects us all, and that was felt in many strong ways the past two weeks.

It was my plan to post some pictures today... However, it seems that this is meant to be a non-photo kind of trip. First my photo storage plan ended up being a bust, and then today I was fiddling with my camera and managed to erase all my photos... I guess the bright side is that since my storage was limited I really didn't have that many photos that were lost. Still it was a sort of sad to lose what I had. Fortunately everyone else on the course took lots of photos and will be sharing.

Anyway, I will end there for now. I will try to add some stories from the past two weeks sometime soon. Although, if I head out tomorrow for far off lands then who knows about the timing of more updates. I hope you are all well... you are in my thoughts.

Amazing!!!

Well, I haven't had as much access to the web as I thought I might... it has been a bit on the cloudy side, so the solar power was being rationed. However, clouds aside, I am having an amazing time! I am learning soooo much and put many of the pieces together that have been floating in my head for a long time. I have met wonderful people accross the board from Iowa to Belize. Anyway, my time is short so this will be short as well... take care all.

In Belize

Well, I have made it, and survived my first night here ;-) I am on a little island called Caye Caulker. It is VERY laid back and friendly. The weather sort of feels like a Lamoni summer, but surrounded by water... so it is not Lamoni. The itinerary here is a lot of lounging and not much else. This is a very good place to do that! Tomorrow I will be heading south most likely, getting closer to where my class is. I'm going to keep this short, but will try to get some pics uploaded soon.

Running Around

Well, no run yesterday, and none so far today... (although today still might happen) Just running around. Trying to get last minute stuff done for my trip. For the most part I am actually on top of things. Now, it wouldn't be me if I was totally on the ball. However, I am feeling pretty good about where I am at (see me tomorrow afternoon to find out if I was right ;-)

I wanted to run yesterday, but I got some shots in the morning... Lets just say me and shots don't always get along. Yeah, I practically passed out. I thought I was fine. The first one went well, and then I started thinking about it. That was all it took, all my hospital stories flooded in, the smell, the lights... Whew! Today was fine, I just started on my back instead of ending up there.

Off to do a trial packing...