4 Day Minication National Parks & More

I had a 4 day weekend and got to visit and do so many new things. I am always one for learning new things and exploring new places and I got to do all of that over the last few days.  I bought an inflatable kayak much easier to fit into Adventure Car (yes I named her) and she has brought me to many amazing places from Montana to Tennessee and everywhere in between.  I have always wanted to learn to Kayak and have been having fun. It was part of my adventure weekend where I visited 3 states TN KY & VA. Kentucky was a first time there visit for me. Hiked or Kayaked in 2 state parks and 1 national park. Cumberland Gap National Park is amazing. Here are some photos from my adventures. First are some kayak pictures from Warriors Path State Park in Tennessee. It is named after the great trade road used by Native American Tribes along the east coast.

Cumberland Gap National Historic Park has so much to offer. History, Scenic Beauty, Hiking and Wildlife. I saw Bison, or tatanka in Lakota.

`Look at that majestic fellow taking a rest is that not awesome. There is also a lone cow and two cows and a baby!

Next are some beautiful scenes from the Pinacle overlook. The lake is Fern Lake.

Finally here are some scenes from Wilderness Road State Park in Kentucky which is close by the National Park has some historical buildings from an important station on the wilderness road that led through the gap and a photo that shows the long wall of mountains that had so long been a barrier to westward travel.

Always be willing to try new things. Fear of failure fear of what others think have stopped so many people from doing what they want having fun having adventures enjoying life instead of just surviving. It’s your life and no one else’s live it the way you want. Be daring be bold don’t be afraid. Sometimes you will fail but so what no one perfect everyone screws up and its part of adventuring and life. Happy adventuring peace love and light everyone.

Ramblings and Road Trips

It has been a few days since my last post there was the Independence Day holiday and my birthday adventuring and very busy at work and playing with my brothers new kayak, i am learning how to do that and having fun. Here are some photos of what i have been up to recently:  I took a drive and did some hiking along the blue ridge parkway. If you have never explored it you should. Runs for hundreds of miles through the mountains speed limit of 45 no commercial vehicles or buildings just relaxing scenic beauty:

I stopped along the way and hiked at Mt. Mitchell highest point east of the Mississippi and then hiked down to beautiful Crabtree falls.

Above is scenes from below the the South Holston Dam on the Holston River in Tennessee at the TVA recreation site. These are at the weir dam structure on Osceola Island this adds oxygen back to the water makes for cool pics and great trout fishing.

Above are scenes from the around the Wilbur and Watagua Dams along the Watagua river and lake area. Its a beautiful area and special to me where I started my first section hike of the AT and where I have one of the last pictures with my parents sharing an adventure with me before my mom crossed over to the good and happy land this spring.

Last are just a couple of random pics one of Laurel Run falls which is a beautiful park near Church Hill TN and a fun pic of me and smokey the bear 😛 Lots more adventure to come hope to visit Cumberland Gap National Park next month.

Immigration & Lady Liberty

Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

I understand that immigration is an issue complex beyond the scope of a blog and that a solution must be found. Any solution which involves the separation of children from their parents and their caging is wrong period. If you feel that this is correct we do not have a difference of politics we have a difference of morals, justice, and basic human decency and dignity.

I think the inscription on the Statue of Liberty that grand old Lady of Liberty says it best: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these the homeless, the tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

I think that message that golden door where people yearning to breathe free represents the spirit, the hope, and ideal of America is a much better message that a great wall that spreads the message if you are not white you are not welcome. Make no mistake this is a racial issue if some disaster financial or otherwise was to befall Canada and their people began crossing our northern border there would be no caging of white Canadian children. I have said I don’t like labels because they lead to dehumanizing an individual. The label of immigrant and further label of immigrants as criminals has dehumanized them as people. That is how we should see them as people, people fleeing violence, poverty, oppression to come to a land to breathe free a land of safety and opportunity.

I am a great respecter of law and the constitution and that also is why I will speak up here. Enshrined in that constitution is the right of citizens to petition their government for a redress of grievances. When the government is wrong is the duty of citizens to say no enough you go to far.

Thomas Jefferson put it this way, “If a law is unjust a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.”  Patriotism isn’t blind unthinking devotion to government but a desire to make it the best it can be. The law without mercy to guide it is not justice but tyranny.

3 quotes that I feel speak to my position my heart one from Martin Luther King another from Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce the last from Chief Seattle of the Suquamish.

If we are to have peace on earth our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation, and this means we must develop a world perspective.” ~MLK

The earth is the mother of all people and all people should have equal rights upon her. Chief Joseph (Him Mah Too Yah Lat Kekt) Nez Perce.

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. Chief Seattle Suquamish.

Peace love and light my brothers and sisters.

 

A Life Well Lived

Don’t fool yourself with a life filled with superficial experiences instead of actually living life.

I like to try to get the most out of life. I don’t want to watch a nature program on tv or a travel show and be satisfied with that. I enjoy them but they are tools to inspire me in my own adventures. I don’t want to live life vicariously through others if I can do it myself.

Below is a list of things I have done experienced or worked at. It not mean to brag or boast but to inspire. I have never had a lot of money but I have had a sense of wonder and adventure and by saving, minimalist living, and prioritizing experiences over possessions I have been able to accomplish much and want you to realize you can explore go adventuring and find magic in your life. The stuff we own is called possessions not because we possess it but because it possesses us.

I will turn 47 on 7/7 and looking back while there are many things I wish I had done and many more things I wish to do. I have been amazingly blessed with many wonderful experiences. I have got to bottle feed a baby lion. Visited one of the old European cities in the US St. Augustine. Seen sunrises on the Atlantic Coast and sunsets on the Gulf Coast. Hiked in the Appalachian mountains and the Rocky Mountains. Stood atop Mt. Mitchell the highest point east of the Mississippi. Crossed the Mississippi the Arkansas, the Red, the Canadian, the Niobora, the Saline, the Powder, and the Yellowstone rivers and took a ferry across the Missouri. I have spent time in an Osage teepee on the banks of the Saline River in Kansas. I have seen a wolf in the Missouri Breaks, a grizzly in Glacier, elk and bison in Yellowstone NP. I have been to Glacier Yellowstone Devils Tower and Great Smokey Mountain National Parks. Stood among the ruins of a never finished nuclear bunker abandoned by the government and seen the silos where nuclear missiles are housed. Have crisscrossed the United States following the backroads and tracing parts of the Deadwood to Cheyenne stage road and the Montana to Texas Cattle Drive trail, the Mormon and Oregon trails. Stood on the site of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce surrender and walked the battlefield in a thunderstorm. I have walked part of the Trail of Tears where ghost still linger.

I believe in service to others and have spent much of my life in that service with non profits, government agencies, health clinics, religious organizations, Americorps and my own advocacy group. I have spoken to congressman, govenors, senators, and even a vice president advocating for rural and native american health and wellness issues and addressing the death disparity (if you live in a rural area or on a reservation you will live on average 10-15 years less than others). Worked in food and hunger relief programs for the homeless, for education opportunites and equal rights for native americans and immigrants. Worked with and for people in Florida, Montana, Tennessee and with the Blackfeet, Chippewa/Cree, White Clay People, the Aaniih, Nakoda, and Lakota peoples. Worked on conservation and preservation issues.

Find in your life what fills you with wonder, magic, moments that take your breath away, find your passion what matters to you and go do that. Fill your life with experiences and stories to tell. Leave this life with more memories than dreams unfilled. Be open to new experiences new cultures new dreams.  One example go to a Native American Powwow and learn about the culture, talk to the people, and watch the dancers. To see us dance is to feel our hearts. Hopi saying.

Learn to rejoice in ordinary things.

A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu.

Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Dr. Seuss.

Beware the busyness of a barren life. Socrates.

The main thing is not to hurry, nothing good ever gets away. John Steinbeck.

The old Lakota was wise he knew that mans’ heart away from nature grows hard. Luther Standing Bear Oglala Sioux.

5 Dos and Dont’s

Don’t just look observe–Dont just swallow taste–Don’t just sleep dream–Dont just think feel Don’t just exist live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minimalism and Other Thoughts

I have began moving to a minimalist life style cutting down on what I own and reducing my impact on the world around me.  More on this in an upcoming post. I have always liked this quote: “Fill your life with experiences not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show.” I love to have stories to tell to me life is about the stories you can tell and the people you have to share them with and I am glad to share them with you. I feel you will never really discover the things that matter until you learn to let go of the things that don’t.

I think this quote is a good description of me: You are free as the wind and you don’t like following rules. You are open minded and non judgemental. You just enjoy the journey of life. You’re neither a leader or a follower you just go with the flow of life. You are on your own blissful path. You believe people should love more and hate less and yes it really is just that simple.

I also spend meditation time (yes I practice mindfulness and meditation) on this Lakota prayer: Teach me how to trust my heart, my mind, my intuition, my inner knowing, the senses of my body, the blessings of my spirit. Teach me to trust these things so that I may enter my sacred place and love beyond my fear and walk in balance with the passing of each glorious sun. There is a lot of good and wise things in that prayer.

BEING GRATEFUL: I believe very much that your attitude makes all the difference. If you approach each wonderful amazing day you are gifted with a grateful heart for the sheer joy of life it makes such a huge difference. You can’t choose what happens in your life but you can choose your attitude. In life you will general find what you are looking for. If you look for beauty goodness wonder magic love joy peace you will find it displayed everywhere if you look for ugliness badness despair blandness hate boredom stress and strife you will find those in everything. Perhaps the great Shawnee wiseman Tecumseh said it best:  When you arise in the morning give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks the fault lies with you.

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or heard, but must be felt with heart. Helen Keller 

May your days be filled with wonder magic and delight and soul always be filled with gratitude. Peace out my friends love and light to you all.\

 

FIRST RAMBLINGS

Welcome to my Blog. Thanks for stopping by. Pull up a chair, relax, and enjoy.

Charlie Chaplain once described himself thusly: A tramp a gentleman a poet a dreamer a lonely fellow always hopeful of romance and adventure.  Not a bad description of myself though I would exchange poet for photographer and am not particularly lonely lol.

What’s in a Name?  Why call my blog  Observations in Autumn? Well its not about the season though I do love the fall. It’s because I will turn 47 this summer and so I am moving into the autumn of my life. The frost that appears in my hair is warning enough lol. I am not melancholy about it I am still active, I hiked a portion of the Appalachian last summer before an ankle injury forced me off trail but I will attempt another thru hike. Plus I do not look at death as an end merely a transition of worlds. As Pierre Tielhard de Chardan said. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”  I believe I shall simply cross over to the good and happy land and start a whole new series of adventures.  I love exploring and adventuring and seeing no places and meeting new people.  We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.  Or as the great John Muir said, “The world’s big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”

I will write mostly about life and experiences and sometimes current events or well whatever comes across my  mind the fun of being old and not worrying what anyone else thinks any longer 🙂

I don’t like labels but some descriptive words for me would be hiker hippy independent free spirit nomad just going with the flow of life and trying to leave the world around me and the people I meet better off for my being there.

Life philosophies:

Love more hate less and yes it is really just that simple.

Your life is your message to the world consider carefully what you want that to be.

Trouble no one about their religion, respect others in their view and demand they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day you cross over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and bow to no one. ~ Tecumseh Shawnee.

I think that’s enough for one day.  I hope you come back and welcome all good people. If you can’t be good to me and other visitors on the site then as Bob Dylan said. Be groovy or leave man.

I hope your days come easy and the moments pass slow and each road leads you to where you want to go.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton