The mountains do it for me.
***
I always pick up the SkyMall catalog as soon as I sit down on the plane. I figure it gives a pretty good idea of what dumb shit people are wasting their money on these daze. This sort of thing is worth knowing.
After that, I always glance through the scarcely-veiled advertisement called an "in flight magazine". This generally gets my righteous indignation boiling. Media Literacy: it works.
Anyway, flying Frontier Airlines from MSP to JAC I had to laugh when I pulled the "in flight magazine" out of the pocket. The cover of the mag showed a skier hucking a cliff. I immediately knew exactly where he was.
I opened to page two and laughed again. It was a picture taken from within the trees looking out on a tent with two surfboards next to it. A perfect beach with a decent wave beckons out front. A conspicuous cobblestone point sits to looker's right.
Too easy. Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica.
Too easy. Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica.
I swam four Canadian's luggage in a half-dead dinghy through the breakers to that very point and had the Sin Fin anchored out front for a week. Good waves there. Good people too. Sparsely populated. Old growth. Lots of crabs. Good fishing. Big sharks. Plenty of cocos. Hell of a mango grove too.
The funniest part of this particular page of this particular "in flight magazine" was the quote they'd superimposed over this pristine beach's picture.
Now I see the secret
of making the best person:
it is to grow
in the open air and to eat and sleep
with the earth.
-Walt Whitman
Wise words kicking off a scarcely-veiled advertisement.
There's plenty of smart fuckers trying to sell you something these daze.
Hell, just about everyone I went to school with works in marketing, advertising, or PR. Paid to perpetuate the BIG LIE.
What's the BIG LIE?! Figure it out for yourself.
I won't try to sell you a fucking thing. Well maybe some beat to shit skis or some beat to shit kites or a beat to shit boat or a beat to shit van...
...or a beat to shit lifestyle.
I may also refer you to friends for yer and their mutual benefit, but that's about it.
My heart's in it.
***
Here's some good shit. I can give you that. Just came across it in last year's edition of...
Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine.
Hell of a cover, eh?
***
A Hopi Elder Speaks
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered . . .
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time!"
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we've been waiting for.
-- attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder
Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona
***
Wow. Get there.
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered . . .
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time!"
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we've been waiting for.
-- attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder
Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona
***
Wow. Get there.