Hooping at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland

Hooping with Revolva, Valentina, Gail, Tiana and Harlequin

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side

Of the road, turn out the lights, get out and look up at the sky

And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny

In the grand scheme of things and sometimes this terrifies me

But it's only really scary cause it makes me feel serene

In a way I never thought I'd be because I've never been

So grounded, and so humbled, and so one with everything

I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

Rock and roll is fun but if you ever hear someone

Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun

Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky

Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

When I saw Geneviève I really liked it when she said

What she said about the giant and the lemmings on the cliff

She said 'I like giants

Especially girl giants

Cause all girls feel too big sometimes

Regardless of their size'

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side

Of the road and run and jump into the ocean in my clothes

*I'm smaller than a poppyseed inside a great big bowl

And the ocean is a giant that can swallow me whole

So I swim for all salvation and I swim to save my soul

But my soul is just a whisper trapped inside a tornado

So I flip to my back and I float and I sing

I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

So I talked to Geneviève and almost cried when she said

That the giant on the cliff wished that she was dead

And the lemmings on the cliff wished that they were dead

So the giant told the lemmings why they ought to live instead

When she thought up all those reasons that they ought to live instead

It made her reconsider all the sad thoughts in her head

So thank you Geneviève, cause you take what is in your head

And you make things that are so beautiful and share them with your friends

We all become important when we realize our goal

Should be to figure out our role within the context of the whole

And yeah, rock and roll is fun, but if you ever hear someone

Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun

Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky

Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

And I don't wanna make her cry

Cause I like giants

Back from the Bahamas!

I am back, rested and my hand is almost completely healed from just a few days in the ocean water.  I hope to do some selecting/editing and share some of the sights as I traveled with an amazing group of friends.

It was an honor to be part of this gathering.  Thank you for an amazing time, everyone.

Goodbye Uncle Hershey

My wife's Great Uncle Hershey passed this week. He was 90 years old and very dear to both of us. He roller skated every year for his birthday until he was 86. Hershey owned a general store in Deep Ellum, Dallas during the Great Depression. A man of honor, a man of his word. He is one of the few people I know who fought the IRS and won.

Hershey has never taken any grief from anyone (outside his lovely wife, Thelma). He had no intent on changing and recently got into a fist fight at the home he was in and slightly fractured his hip. No one noticed and when he tried to get up the next morning, he put weight on it, fell and really broke it. As often happens in these cases, he got pneumonia and just couldn't pull through.

The way I see it... There are worse ways to go than going down swinging at 90.

R.I.P Uncle Hershey.

Thank You Senator Mike Doherty

It is unfortunate that Mr. Doherty and others are having to go to these lengths to protect the 4th amendment, but I am glad he is doing so. I took the following text directly from his legislative site:

New Jersey Senator Michael Doherty (R-Warren, Hunterdon) announced today that he has introduced three pieces of legislation drafted to eliminate any immunity TSA agents might enjoy when violating New Jersey law during unnecessary and invasive airport screenings:

“For more than a month now, the TSA has quite literally stuck their finger in the eye of law-abiding American citizens while trampling on their constitutionally guaranteed liberties,” Doherty stated. “We call upon every state legislature in our great country to immediately act to put our federal government on notice that the dignity of our citizens shall not be the cost of a failed federal open border policy.”

The following bills were introduced:

*Makes certain body searches third degree crime of sexual assault under certain circumstances. View as PDF.

*Prohibits use of body imaging scanners to screen passengers and airline crew members. View as PDF.

*Specifies that certain images generated by body scans violate State statutes, prohibiting invasion of privacy, pornography, and endangerment of child welfare under certain circumstances. View as PDF.

“All of these bills remove any claim that TSA agents are immune to any state statutes that they violate when searching passengers or crew,” Doherty concluded. “If we don’t take strong action against these violations, where will it lead? Today planes, tomorrow trains and buses, what then? Will the drive to the market be viewed as a ‘privilege,’ the walk to church? Will we stand upon the slippery slope of paranoia that leads to invasive searches becoming a way of daily life, or say ‘No’ and defend our rights to privacy now while we still have them.”Senator Doherty has launched an online petition to support his efforts to stop invasive TSA screening procedures at www.stopthetsa.org.

National Opt Out Day

Tomorrow is National Opt Out day for scanners and genitalia searches.

As far as I'm concerned, every day is Opt Out day!

We still have the 4th amendment in place and the current TSA protocol is in clear violation.

There is NO LAW requiring us to submit to such offensive, oppressive tactics.

Yes, it's a different world since 9/11. But, I don't remember anyone saying anything about dissolving the 4th amendment. Until we do that, we don't have to allow a search of our genitalia to leave town. If we allow fear to rule our intellect, history tells us we are on a dangerously slippery slope.

Let's not let the argument be misdirected; this is NOT about being forced to absorb radioactivity (although a valid argument), it is about privacy and our inalienable rights.

Fear does not overrule the Constitution of the United States.

Mr. Pistole, the TSA Administrator, in his US News and World Report interview said, "We want to treat each passenger with dignity and respect.".

Mr. Pistole, treating citizens with "dignity and respect" does not include the presumption of guilt, rather than innocence and it doesn't include a reach-around!

Matt Kernan provides an example of how to be respectful, not allow the TSA or police to violate your 4th Amendment rights and then be allowed to travel.

Sam Wolanyk also declined. His approach was more attention grabbing.

Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your country.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.

~Thomas Jefferson

Be Love

Enough is Enough

Ron Paul on the floor of the Congress last night, speaking on the ridiculous treatment of citizens by the TSA:

Terrorism is bad.
The 4th Amendment is good.
Fear should not rule our intellect.
Fear does not trump inalienable rights.
Let's reinstate the 4th amendment--then there wouldn't be a need for his bill.

The One They Had to Leave Behind

I promised to post these a while back and just stumbled across them unpacking camera goodies. These were taken as we were dropping off the camper just before leaving B.C..

It was an amazing gift to have it in our lives.

It gave us much more than shelter.

We gave it more than paint.

Murray Kyle - A Conscious Roots Groove

Today we begin our journey back to the States. I want to thank everyone who helped us along our journey. We experienced more love and generosity than we ever expected. This adventure has reawakened my sense of wonder, connection and appreciation. I will miss all of you and think of you often.

This is from Murray Kyle's new conscious roots album, "Up From The Ground".

Thanks to Rio, who sent me this one, it really started our travel day off on the right note.

All Smiles Tonight

A beautiful tune that dates way back, performed by Mac Wiseman.

Slice of Life

A peaceful afternoon spent enjoying friendship, creativity, and joy. I am so thankful for with we have been gifted with and the beauty available in this life.

Meet Ken

We met him in our travels and found him to be a delightful gent. He served in the Black Watch and has shared so much of Canada's history with me.

Room With A View

The photo below is from our new front porch. I was starting the fire for dinner.

This one is of our first meal. Awesome!

Are You Kidding Me?

Staying at a hotel the other evening, I received a complimentary copy of USA Today (Fri., Sat., Sun. edition Sept 11-13, 2009).

They posted, on the front page, results of a survey given by TripAdvisor. The question was: Should congress place size limits on carry-ons?

54% of respondents replied yes

46% of respondents replied no

Are you telling me that it has gotten to the point that 54% of traveling

Americans believe that Congress should even consider such a ridiculous notion? Please tell me it was an anomaly in sampling and that USA Today was just trying to drive more traffic to the story about "Representative" Lipinski.

What do you think? Am I way off the mark?

The Gift

Life hands me gifts each day

Gifts I recognize and gifts I don't

Gifts of love, joy and peace

Gifts of longing, pain, and even grief

Each shapes me, each changes me

Appreciating each day here more

The humming of my humility and

The buzzing of my thankfulness

Is this what the prophets attempt

Am I listening for the right thing

As I travel through each day

I choose to listen for love

The Destination

A dream, you wonder

No. You were there

No. You are there

Sentient, Lucid, Away

Soaring, not soaring

Being, yet searching

An astral path unexplored

A journey without time

Breathe joy and fear not

Arrival is not the key

For the journey is

THE DESTINATION

Toes in the Sand

Think Big - Draw Big!

Erik Nordenankar had a dream to create the world's largest drawing. He had the idea to use a GPS unit as his brush and the globe, his canvas. He has created a fictional work to document the viability of his idea.



Erik provides clarification of the project on his website:

(Click to enlarge)

Bullwhips in Canada

During my visit in Canada, I had the opportunity to teach the little guys how to use a whip. I spun the whip around for about 30 seconds:



My li'l pardner, Fraser, had his version:



He was able to get the whip to crack a couple of times. Unfortunately, none of us were able to capture it on video.

Incredible Trip

Thank you to the O'Briens for all the wonderful Canadian hospitality. They shared the arts, culture, sights, sounds and flavours of the Okanagan with us and generously allowed us to share their home during our stay. We are thankful they are our friends.

DRIVE SAFELY dear friends.

(Photo: Arlene Waghalter)

Special thanks to Otto Wickstrom for the countryside tour and to the Emeny's for sharing their incredible story and homestead with us. We really enjoyed it. (Arlene paid special attention to Otto's photo preferences.)

Home again, home again. As usual, we had a fantastic time photographing the Okanagan. I tried to stay on task to shoot just what I came for, but there is so much beauty everywhere. I have enough for 2 projects. I am going to try to get some sleep as I missed a flight and ended up taking a full 24 hours (with no sleep) to get home. It wasn't necessarily a bad experience, but I would rather have been cuddled up at home with my sweetheart.