we woke to ice this morning, blowing snow.
those sleeping inside, those outside.
clear skies - living wind through knit fibres

Blowing from the south, cold,
I was riding towards the sun
from the north

It has been some time since I've seen a deer
And there he was, in offset glory
playing with height as
he bounded over the stalks of now dead
grasses.

Sometime this last season
with young living antlers
some sort of hurt
- and break -
has set his rack one
sided

too much
too early
too fragile

He would later have known,
his body would understand when,
he would be ready to rub.
to harden the softness of vulnerability
to sharpen his wit and respond
to his needs.
territory, breeding.

And here he was
playing with height 'cross grasses
in the wind from the south
blowing cross the face of a man
riding a bicycle

learning to observe

Touring north on vancouver island, feasting on salmon berries north of campbell river, enjoying the view, contradictory beauty, change, changing attitudes.
There are so many views of life, of landscape, and the humility beauty and sky bring me.
Eating dinner with the currents.

Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ

Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ bought me a hamburger from a cornerstore in washington state.
'who's this with a bike? i'll buy you a burger, let's go in..."

Normally I would have been the first to converse, captivated by his woven cedar hat trailing eagle feather. But Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ didn't remember the weaver's name and so we sat in the shade at that timeless intersection between national park and indian reservation where this man's family walked well before Jesus had dusty feet and continue today well after curt cobain left, and I think Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ is still drinking

'i'm ben, what's your name cobain?'
'I'm Jesus F%#in Kurt Cobain'

Fair enough, a name isn't more than a code and names aren't so important when it's a conversation over a burger.

'food's up' Don Juan called.
I don't know his relation either, though I know he doesn't work there. Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ offered me money for groceries but I couldn't find food in the adjoining grocery store, the beer probably being the most nutritious option. god bless america.
we sat down to that meal at a crossroads between now and then, a gas station grocer resteraunt beer store with a sign for surf board rentals and neon lights that told me: we make enough money to stay open: this must be a food source for people...

that burger and fries was better than any real food, and that's the problem i figure. with fatty factory beef and bacon, processed 'cheese' and iceberg lettuce. together they're better than anything it seems.

I located ketchup and mustard in anticipation for failed flavour while jesus and don juan chatted about heavy weight boxing.

I wa glowing from days of hiking on the beaches, watching eagles learn how to fish, finding feathers, finding seals. i was facinated to be hosted by a person fro this place, enthralled by the layers of contradiction pressed like sedementary stone into the shape of Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ, older than most mountains.

I met Jesus Kurt Cobain Christ
and riding away amazed
at rich experiences
in incredible places

words from the road

"I knew it, the beer's cheaper at walmart..."
-overheard while I was buying 1 l of guiness for 3 bucks at the grocery store

patient land
sitting calm in the sun
covering herself

More whole than language or thought
these forests are alive as only
wind and rain
know

knowledge manifest

Now do more americans have guns, or do more americans just shoot road signs?

If we took the time we wouldn't need cars
because we'd be able to walk
and then with the time
we'd have the chance to talk

It seems we're teaching our children to speak with very little to say
adopting new technology with little thought to our way

Do people drink more beer here, or do they just litter more?

I live to realize
how i am connected
though not as a result of activity
but of existance
that i am a vibrant reflection
an expression of
life force

Do they drink while driving, or drink at home and litter all the next day?

I've watched freedom
and it looks like people living on land with nothing to lose. learning skills throughout the days, living with all the life, learning how to recognize and aspire to be as close to those plants as plants are to sun.
Freedom, doing what one needs without the violence of 'should', living one's life, not any other.

washington clear cuts

those receding hairlines
mountains trimmed, shaven
pock marked faces
erosion come land slide

as i cycled that bicycle to witness
those blank faces
mirrored many of those in
those cars

"why is that fool on teh bicycle smiling"
i could almost here them say
"he's not even there yet" (the park, the destination)
and I would laugh an explanation
that cycle touring is about being where you are
sometimes even less than where you're going,
kinda like my thoughts on life
enjoyment

smiling towards the surrounding, replanted, devestation
i laughed at the falling of the limited seed stock
filling valleys with a half dozen gene sequences
foolish to see a forest as trees, and even more foolish
to not see those trees as the result of millions of years
revolutions of this star, this sun
an infinite, like salmon,
being out competed, sponsored by human involvement
tree planting and hatchery
let's not fool ourselves, we're coping, not helping
for our work is not to procreate the fish, the trees,
but to live our responsibility

____________________

Charles Dickens writes in Coketown Hardtimes (1854) 1969 p.65

"Hope drives us to invent new fixes for old messes, which in turn create even more dangerous messes. Hope elects the politician with the biggest empty promise...
Hope, like greed, fuels the engine of Capitalism
Poor [americans] see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires"

backpack roads

20 miles of logging road on a sunday
me and deer and plant life and river
oh river life, some life! that pulled me over and through
places that were new I followed bear creek up, north
passing over to follow west twin river down, north
to juan de fuca straight, my eyes found canada again.

I didn't expect to meet this geography,
and then to meet this land in human form.
Josey greeted me by the beach
a human married to the life force of a place
and to be giving, oh so giving, as the land.

to love a river is to sacrifice oneself to change
change heard in a rivers tumbling stones under water, over winter
change of running salmon, spawning, learning, birthing
to love a river is to reconcile control
to listen

They bolted, chained and cabled thousands of tons of wood
to slow this force, and river collected it all, placing it on a bend
while Josey listened and placed rocks appropriately
letting river do rivers work, protecting his cabin
respect

to listen well enough to a rivers work
is beautiful
and i'm blessed to have met, been gifted and learned from
a man who does such things.

Thanks Josey!

Gifted backpack that allowed me to leave the bike
and adventure the beach...

world class beach, world class time

Coming to America, the great olympic penisula, has been one of the best spur of the moment decisions i've made.so i smiled lots

because of the beauty
and feeling alive

you can judge the winter storms by
the size of the drift wood
(these two join together at the stump!)

and i slept well
with no need
of a tent

washington !?! who knew?

mountains bending rivers
This is the Hoh River

Without a doubt
I move faster than these trees

116
Take someone who doesn't keep score,
who's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,
who has not the slightest interest even
in his own personality: He's free
-Rumi (Open Secret)