24/30

The formatting of the fonts for this post is incorrect. There is a black hole of blogspot through which the correct formatting was sucked away. Hopefully, one day it will be fixed.

For a large portion of my life, I have spent my summers at Camp Winnarainbow. Each morning our director, Wavy Gravy, reads from a collection of books. One book often read from is Robert Fulghum's "All I really need to know I learned in kindergarden." For the most part, each of those things listed are pretty much all I need to know as well, "clean up your own mess...flush...be aware of wonder..."

For my 30th birthday I thought a lot about what I have learned thus far. I thought I could make it to 30 big lessons but so far I am only up to 24. What I realized is that these lessons didn't come from books or inspirational quotes read in the bathroom, they came from living. Mostly they came from watching the way the people I love live their lives and listening deeply when they tell the truth.

Below is my list and the people who came to my mind as I was writing down these lessons. In some cases I heard someone say something and it has become something I pull up when I need the reminder. In other cases, I have watched the way someone has lived their life and their way has stuck itself deep into the fabric of my I understanding of the world. In every case, I have forgotten to mention someone, so don't take offense, memories are malleable. The list has no order and will grow, take it as a rough cut.

1. Cook, especially for those you love. Mom, Kathy Spear, Brian Sweeney

2. Play games regularly. Brianna, Rami, Cassidy

3. Eat meat. Annette, Jeremy Fisher

4. Work really hard with people you love, for the sake of something you believe in. Jerica, Ori, Savannah, Matt, Catherine, Jah & Wavy

5. Women need to be in positions of leadership not because they have better ideas then men or because their gender affords them greater compassion but because young people need to see reflections of themselves in positions of power. I believe this to be the case for all young people of all races, classes, genders, ethnicity or religion. The group of young women all under the age of 10 that surrounded me after hearing me speak for no reason except to hold my hand and Ida McCray.

6. As protection from loneliness learn how to carry the love of your friends and family with you all the time. Patch

7. Don't be afraid of the dark. Jeremy Fisher

8. Learn your art and pursue it with a veracious appetite. Max, Yakira, Brian Coffey, Octavio, Jose Garcia

9. Work becomes dignified when you know it to be for a larger good. It doesn't really matter what it is, for the most basic activities are necessary for a fully functional whole. Dad, Jundit, Jah, Giulio

10. Go outside. Mom, Dad, CWR

11. Make friends that can stand in for family. Turn those families into communities where you can live, work and grow. CWR, JJSE, Amanda, Ariel, Brianna, Cara, Brooke, Eli

12. Care about the details. Kathy, Elliot, Dad, Nick

13. Not every detail matters. Mom, Matt Alexander, Mike Wakerly, Nick

14. The ability to laugh and to make people laugh is of great social importance and will build the best kind of revolution. Zappo, Avery, Jory, Patch, Brianna, Catherine, Giulio, Wavy, Mike Wakerly, Darrick Smith, Amanda, Alison Sweeney

15. Dance for yourself- perform to share that joy. Marsha, Maisha, Aisha, Yeshi, Bashari, Cara, Rami

16. Know where you come from. Ariel

17. Meditate. CWR, SF School of Massage, Quaker Hall

18. When life gets really messy, chop wood and carry water. Robert Owens Greygrass

19. Give more than you receive, but receive enough to know why you give. Jah, Dad

20. Getting older makes you sexier. Jennifer Fleming

21. Take yourself on dates. Brianna

22. Rules of love: Affection, Attention, Appreciation and Anticipation. Patch

23. Develop a Jedi Mind. Darrick Smith

24. Let people in. Lavonda, Cristy, Antonio, Yakira, Amanda, Brianna, JJSE, CWR

Surprises

My family and friends surprised me the morning of my birthday with an amazing video several weeks in the making. I was very shocked. I am not sure if my brother had made the video public but if you are interested check it out.

Aside from the video, I had well over 100 people contacting me via phone, e-mail and facebook. I also know that there were people who didn't get in touch for one reason or another but love and care about me none the less. In response to all of that love I created my own video.

Thank you for everything, I have no complaints what so ever.

Oxygen Depravation

Legend has it that the demi-god Maui, a fisherman, was out one day fishing. He had a very secret task given to him from the gods. As luck would have it a group of onlookers came around to see what all of the fuss was about. They were told to close their eyes and not to look for a magnificent event was in process and if any one else was to see Maui as he worked the spell would be broken.

For several hours they stood waiting but then one became impatient and opened his eyes. At the sight of this, the gods came down and snatched Maui's fishing hook and threw it into the sky. The hook became the tail of the constellation many know as Scorpio.

Maui was able to dredge up the Hawaiian islands by hooking into what was to become Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii. If the onlooker has heeded the gods warning Maui would have brought up a new continent. But alas, as all great myths would have it, tragedy struck leaving us screwed out of a new continent forever.

My obsession with Mauna Kea started a few weeks before the trip. Enamored by the idea of going to a place far above the cloud line, to one of the best star gazing points in the whole world, I set my sights on the big hill. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are the two peaks that define the big island. Mauna Kea sits slightly higher then its sister peak at 13,796 feet.

We originally thought we would hike to the summit, however, after consulting my co-pilots, we decided to ditch the hike for the drive, which made for a much more leisurely day. While oxygen depravation is easier to deal with in a car, there is significantly less oxygen (-40%) at that altitude. The effect of having only 60% of my normal oxygen intake was similar to the feeling of walking around in a tub of jello. Everything was slow and difficult, but the world from that height is something that I have never experienced. Luminous and saturated, the colors were brighter and clearer then anything I have ever seen.

New snack pillows

The big bonus at the top of Hawaii is a series of observatories, which are responsible for some of the most important astronomical findings of our time. For example, we have now seen the planets the UFO's come from.

Neither words nor photos truly captures the magic of this place. Maybe it was the slightly hallucinatory affect from lack of air but everything was still, silent and glowing. We left the top and descended to 9,200 ft to watch the stars. I have been lucky enough to have a lot of stargazing under my belt, but never have I had the experience that I had that night. I saw the rings of saturn and a globular cluster, which looks like a huge star that has broken into a million shards of star glass. I saw a black hole, which looks like a big black hole. And I learned about Eta Carinae a star that may explode in our life time sending gamma rays and destroying life as we know it. (For the record the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim.)

Even at the top of the world they have port-o-potties

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark nor even eagle flew—

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

- John Gillespie Magee Jr.

Deep South

Volcanoes National Park

To get to Volcanoes National Park from Kona, you have to drive to the southern most tip of the United States. South Point has a windy rugged landscape with horses, a wind farm, incredible cliffs and great fishing. There is a slightly creepy feeling as you head out on the road to the deep south, mostly due to the fact that one of the wind farms closed leaving the huge wind mills to fend for themselves against the elements.

The green energy junk yard at the end of the world was that necessary reminder that for all of our brilliance we fundamentally lack the ability to take care of what we have already created. I think the Natural Energy Lab should move a satellite office here and re-open the farm, I am sure the research will have a far wider application then the wild stuff they are working on over at headquarters.

Speaking of satellites, look at the other weird shit at the end of America. There were no signs, fences or visible security systems making me wonder whether someone really just thought they would set-up camp out here in the middle of nowhere. Don't be surprised if this land becomes the first US area to secede, then promptly launches an attack to take over the world.

Other than that weird, slightly apocalyptic scene, South Point was quite lovely.

We then put our fleece jackets and rain coats on and went up several thousand feet to begin our trip into Volcanoes Park. What we encountered was a strange and beautiful landscape.

The earth really shows its struggle. Some areas are placid, flat and smooth while others have mounds of rock frozen as they surge towards the surface.

The rock still holds the form of liquid, it is sharp and light, in places it is glass and has these dark rainbows that glitter.

While I am sure you don't need too many more photo journals of this trip, I wanted to pass along Donal's website, where you can see many more photos taken from much greater heights (he is 6'5") and in full color. The three of us are quite ridiculous, we have five cameras between the three of us and all feel the need to capture each place on our own. The photo collection is already close to 1,000.

As a complete aside, this morning while cooking breakfast, Donal found a cook book by a woman named Cresent Dragonwagon. I have friends with some crazy names but this name clearly takes the cake. In case you want to know more Ms. Dragonwagon has set up a website with the story of how that became her name.

It's Coming

Imagine this: I am walking around the neighborhood while Mike and Donal are taking a nap. I turn a corner and a man in his 70's appears wearing little itsy-bitsy running shorts with a Hawaiian print. He has a cane, a rottweiler and a pair of am/fm headphones with an antenna that sticks up. He sees me and gets this huge grin on his face and then shaking his cane at the sky he yells "it's coming, it's coming."

What was coming? I was hoping a UFO or meteor or swarm of three headed polka-dot monkeys, you know something I could really write home about. Instead it was a downpour, so no big deal. Only a man with tiny shorts and a big dog to write about.

Mike and Donal came last night, which means naps, games, fun and adventure.

Natural Energy

The most interesting part of this place was something I couldn't photograph which was one set of solar panels, built by the government, directed one way and a solar farm, built by a private company, directed another way. Who is right? Based on what the sun path would be for this location...private company 1, government 0.

Today was mostly a back and forth between the airport to get my boys, but next to the airport was the Natural Energy Lab. As the guide books mention, the Natural Energy Lab was set up in the 70's to create electricity using the temperature difference between 38 degrees (F) at the deep sea level and 80 degrees at the surface. I can imagine what the grant for this must have looked like..."As oil becomes more and more untenable through the 80's we must look to sources of sustainable energy that can be generated right here on American soil. With the Hawaii Natural Energy Lab we will be able to address this critical need with an ever renewable source, the natural temperature stratification of the ocean..." Unfortunately, most of the waters that touch American soil don't have 80 degree surface temperatures and the idea was mostly scraped. The land is now mostly divided between private companies that are working on your garden variety oceanic science projects. Microalgae energy generation, solar farms, some of the deep sea work, along with pharmaceutical companies, fish farms and best of all a sea horse farm!

I should point out that while the idea of electricity generation from deep sea temperature variance may have been a little off the mark, the location was a bullseye. Those of us that think we got it good with Lawrence Berkeley Lab being on a hill, have been fooled. This was the 4:00pm scene right next to the main lab:

Notice the bbq tents in the background.

Oh yeah, and then there was...