Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Gift of Time:
Now that the holidays have passed, (like a bad case of gastritis,) I'd like to talk about gift-giving. I know some people work for months knitting wonderful things for their friends, (and we've been the recipients of some of these beautiful pieces.) Others go out and torture their credit cards to find "the perfect thing for him/her."
As a Taoist I both love and fear the Christmas holidays. I love the opportunity to spend time with people I love, eat rich food and drink good wine and champagne. (I'm fond of champagne.) It's a wonderful excuse to get together.
What I fear is all the "Christian God talk," and the inevitable gift-exchange. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but as a Taoist, and as a anti-commercialism guy, I do my best to avoid gift-giving. My partner usually gets gifts for all our friends, which helps me save face, but I still feel the twinge of guilt for not going out there and getting something on my own.
To me, the greatest gift we can give each other is the gift of time. Living here in Silicon Valley my friends are often busy with work and other projects, and that's cool. But I often feel we don't spend as much time with each other as we could.
My partner, Erik, has a very high-powered and time-consuming job. For anyone other than I to get free time with Erik is difficult. Even when he has a block of time open up, many of our friends have something else that prevents them taking advantage the opportunity.
But what would happen if we thought of our free time as a gift? What if we viewed that time as an opportunity to spend time with friends and family? We turn our time into a gift.
Maybe we help a friend get their car to the shop. Or we meet for a walk through a local park. We could also share a meal, (one of my favorite ways,) or just hang out watching a DVD. There are hundreds of ways to spend our free time with those we love.
So, based upon the society I live in, I think of time as one of the greatest gifts we can give. Instead of spending money on some commercial product we spend some time listening to our friends, hearing their fears, desires, dreams, frustrations and joys.
I would much rather have some of your time than have you spend money for some gift you think I may like.
I know there are people who really love buying gifts for others, and they would be hurt if you minimized their contribution. I do not mean to cut those people down in any way. Others make very lovely gifts, sometimes spending weeks or even months knitting or painting or sculpting something they hope we'll love. These are wonderful gifts because they come from the hand and from the heart.
But for me, the gift of your time is the best gift I could receive. I would hope that my gift of time would be appreciated in return, but the nature of humans is to please. I hope this idea pleases some of you, or at least gives you food for thought.
Now that the holidays have passed, (like a bad case of gastritis,) I'd like to talk about gift-giving. I know some people work for months knitting wonderful things for their friends, (and we've been the recipients of some of these beautiful pieces.) Others go out and torture their credit cards to find "the perfect thing for him/her."
As a Taoist I both love and fear the Christmas holidays. I love the opportunity to spend time with people I love, eat rich food and drink good wine and champagne. (I'm fond of champagne.) It's a wonderful excuse to get together.
What I fear is all the "Christian God talk," and the inevitable gift-exchange. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but as a Taoist, and as a anti-commercialism guy, I do my best to avoid gift-giving. My partner usually gets gifts for all our friends, which helps me save face, but I still feel the twinge of guilt for not going out there and getting something on my own.
To me, the greatest gift we can give each other is the gift of time. Living here in Silicon Valley my friends are often busy with work and other projects, and that's cool. But I often feel we don't spend as much time with each other as we could.
My partner, Erik, has a very high-powered and time-consuming job. For anyone other than I to get free time with Erik is difficult. Even when he has a block of time open up, many of our friends have something else that prevents them taking advantage the opportunity.
But what would happen if we thought of our free time as a gift? What if we viewed that time as an opportunity to spend time with friends and family? We turn our time into a gift.
Maybe we help a friend get their car to the shop. Or we meet for a walk through a local park. We could also share a meal, (one of my favorite ways,) or just hang out watching a DVD. There are hundreds of ways to spend our free time with those we love.
So, based upon the society I live in, I think of time as one of the greatest gifts we can give. Instead of spending money on some commercial product we spend some time listening to our friends, hearing their fears, desires, dreams, frustrations and joys.
I would much rather have some of your time than have you spend money for some gift you think I may like.
I know there are people who really love buying gifts for others, and they would be hurt if you minimized their contribution. I do not mean to cut those people down in any way. Others make very lovely gifts, sometimes spending weeks or even months knitting or painting or sculpting something they hope we'll love. These are wonderful gifts because they come from the hand and from the heart.
But for me, the gift of your time is the best gift I could receive. I would hope that my gift of time would be appreciated in return, but the nature of humans is to please. I hope this idea pleases some of you, or at least gives you food for thought.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Medical Marijuana to help Quit Smoking Tobacco?
Nicotine is a very powerful drug. It can suppress boredom, anger and anxiety. It can lower appetite and lends itself to a partnership with alcohol. It's also one of the most addictive drugs on the face of the earth. Many people quit numerous times, sometimes relapsing after years of being nicotine-free, and have to go through the quit process all over again. If they are surrounded by other smokers there is very little chance they will successfully quit because the pull of the drug is so powerful.
So can using medical cannabis help people break their addiction to nicotine?
By way of caveat, I want to state that there are some people who have a negative psychological and/or physical reaction to cannabis. With pharmaceutical drugs this is known as an Adverse Drug Reaction, or ADR. Some of these people get headaches, some have an anxiety attack, and some just don't feel well after ingesting cannabis.
I'm also not suggesting replacing every cigarette one smokes with a joint. That would be a debilitating amount of cannabis, and driving and/or working under the effects of cannabis can cause errors and mistakes. From 9-5 you should be as sober as the rest of us.
But when you're at home, and the cravings are getting to you, you might be irritable and angry because all those emotions nicotine was suppressing are coming to the surface. You feel like smoking.
I suggest taking two or three small hits from a pipe of good quality cannabis. The act of smoking will ease the withdrawal symptoms, as will the psychotropic effects of the drug. Those same psychotropic effects may ease your anger and anxiety, and help you relax.
There are many web sites with hints and tips to help smoker's quit, and one very common suggestion is to not drink alcohol while withdrawing from nicotine addiction. For those who might want a drink to ease their stress, those few hits from cannabis is a much less harmful replacement.
I don't really care if you're going to use the cannabis to ease the physical cravings or you're going to use it to relax and get high. If either helps you permanently quit smoking the benefit is clear. There are already millions of people who use marijuana instead of drinking alcohol, and I view that as a wise choice.
Once you get past the physical cravings you are free to stop using the medical cannabis. (It takes about 30 days for nicotine to leave the body, including the fat-cell-dump of stored nicotine right around the 30 day mark.) One month of using a little cannabis in the evening to help ease the cravings caused by years of smoking seems like a potential tool to me, and the safety profile for medical cannabis is amazing. Compared to most pharmaceutical drugs it's extremely safe.
As stated, this is not recommended for people who have a negative reaction to the drug, nor for people who are in active recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction. I'm merely suggesting it as a potential tool for people who have no ill effects from cannabis use.
When quitting nicotine it's a good idea to pick up and use every tool that makes sense to you, including behavioral and spiritual tools as well as physical ones.
Nicotine is a very powerful drug. It can suppress boredom, anger and anxiety. It can lower appetite and lends itself to a partnership with alcohol. It's also one of the most addictive drugs on the face of the earth. Many people quit numerous times, sometimes relapsing after years of being nicotine-free, and have to go through the quit process all over again. If they are surrounded by other smokers there is very little chance they will successfully quit because the pull of the drug is so powerful.
So can using medical cannabis help people break their addiction to nicotine?
By way of caveat, I want to state that there are some people who have a negative psychological and/or physical reaction to cannabis. With pharmaceutical drugs this is known as an Adverse Drug Reaction, or ADR. Some of these people get headaches, some have an anxiety attack, and some just don't feel well after ingesting cannabis.
I'm also not suggesting replacing every cigarette one smokes with a joint. That would be a debilitating amount of cannabis, and driving and/or working under the effects of cannabis can cause errors and mistakes. From 9-5 you should be as sober as the rest of us.
But when you're at home, and the cravings are getting to you, you might be irritable and angry because all those emotions nicotine was suppressing are coming to the surface. You feel like smoking.
I suggest taking two or three small hits from a pipe of good quality cannabis. The act of smoking will ease the withdrawal symptoms, as will the psychotropic effects of the drug. Those same psychotropic effects may ease your anger and anxiety, and help you relax.
There are many web sites with hints and tips to help smoker's quit, and one very common suggestion is to not drink alcohol while withdrawing from nicotine addiction. For those who might want a drink to ease their stress, those few hits from cannabis is a much less harmful replacement.
I don't really care if you're going to use the cannabis to ease the physical cravings or you're going to use it to relax and get high. If either helps you permanently quit smoking the benefit is clear. There are already millions of people who use marijuana instead of drinking alcohol, and I view that as a wise choice.
Once you get past the physical cravings you are free to stop using the medical cannabis. (It takes about 30 days for nicotine to leave the body, including the fat-cell-dump of stored nicotine right around the 30 day mark.) One month of using a little cannabis in the evening to help ease the cravings caused by years of smoking seems like a potential tool to me, and the safety profile for medical cannabis is amazing. Compared to most pharmaceutical drugs it's extremely safe.
As stated, this is not recommended for people who have a negative reaction to the drug, nor for people who are in active recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction. I'm merely suggesting it as a potential tool for people who have no ill effects from cannabis use.
When quitting nicotine it's a good idea to pick up and use every tool that makes sense to you, including behavioral and spiritual tools as well as physical ones.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Patagonia Trip Three – December 2007 – Part Three:
The Ship and Cape Horn:
I'm using my journal notes and our photographs to share this incredible portion of our journey. I didn't want the Eco-Camp to imply that we failed to have a great time, or that even all of that part was bad – it wasn't. We saw some very beautiful things in the park where the camp is located.
Day One aboard The M.V. Australis:
From my travel journal: Talk about day and night! The ship is wonderful! Our room is very comfortable and nice for a cabin aboard a small ship, (200 passengers maximum and about an equal crew compliment. Four decks of guest quarters. Two lovely lounges with huge windows on both sides and astern. An open observation deck and haven for the smokers aboard.) The dining room is lovely and comfortable and the food is excellent.
Tonight at sunset there were a pair of dolphins that followed us for two days, often playing with the zodiac we used to get from the ship to the landing points, (islands and peninsulas along our route to and from Cape Horn.)
The Fried family; Paul, Judith, Reena and Ian from NYC; are still with us, and we continue to enjoy their company. In addition, a lovely couple (Stephen and Ting) with a charming one year-old boy (Jensen) at our table are from San Mateo, and Stephen's best friend is a guy I went to high school with, (though Stephen was raised a little farther up the SF Peninsula.) Sometimes it's a very small world, when you end up running into your neighbors halfway around the globe.
It made meals both pleasant and comfortably familiar. Our waiter, Rene, is great. He works very hard to make our meals enjoyable, and we greet him by name every time we sit down. It's that kind of wonderful intimacy aboard this ship. Even the people we talk to in the lounges and on the zodiac trips are very nice and share our love of travel. We felt very welcome and enjoyed every minute aboard the Australis.
Day Two aboard:
It was a very low-key day, which was fine by us. There was an engine room tour and talks about the area while we traveled along the Ballenero and O'Brien Channels, as well as an afternoon zodiac trip to the Pia Glacier, and an evening sailing along the spectacular, "Avenue of the Glaciers."
A made a couple of notes in my journal here. One was that Erik plans these wonderful trips for us, and how much I love that he makes these happen, and how much I just love the guy in general. Another was how grateful I was for the Scopamine (Scopolamine) Trans-Dermal (TD) patches we placed behind our ear, because we would both have been sea-sick without them, (especially rounding the Cape.) As it was I could drink a little and eat with my usual gusto, even without medical cannabis to help promote my appetite.
The stairs aboard the ship, combined with the zodiac launches and nature walks, along with 20 push-ups every night; kept me in good physical shape. It's important to exercise a bit even on vacation. When we were in New Zealand I gained ten pounds, (which is good for me.) The night we rounded the Cape the push-ups felt a little weird with the rocking of the ship, but it was kind of cool, too.
Day Three:
Another fairly mellow day. In the afternoon we visited a colony of Mellgianic Penguins. (Guess who they were named after.) We landed the zodiacs but didn't get out of the boats. It didn't matter because there were dozens of penguins within feet of us. (No snow on the island and absolutely no Penguin Sledding allowed.) Erik got a bunch of great shots and I got a few myself. You can see some of our pics at Erik's Flickr site. (I'm going to post some to my web site as time allows over the next few months. I'm going to be pretty busy, but I like building on my Valdemar web site even if it's a slower process.)
We arrive at Cape Horn late tonight and land via zodiac early tomorrow morning.
Day Four:
This was the morning we landed at the southern most tip of the South American Continent – Cape Horn. There was a statue dedicated to Peace, a small marble monument to all the lost and killed sailors. There was also the famous little chapel they maintain very well, and a lighthouse that houses a Chilean military officer and his family. (There's a house attached to the lighthouse that was quite large and looked comfortable.) They watch over the island and sell souvenirs to us touristas. Then we came back to the ship for breakfast.
In the afternoon was a stop a Wulaia Bay, a beautiful place where once lived the aboriginal native Indians. Erik took the hike and I took the beach walk. Like much of this place, beautiful, awesome and grand. This area of the world in incredible and reminded me how important is to fight for the health of this planet we live on. My wish is that more people could see places like this and realize there's too much to lose by destroying our natural world. They are building a museum in this desolate place and I hope everyone who reads this gets a chance to see it when it's completed. They renovated an old military communication post that later was used by crab fishermen.
During dinner the Chilean authorities came aboard and stamped everyone's passport. The ship kept our passports while on board and it saved us from having to deal with any of the border crossings. Then we crossed back into Argentinean waters as we docked back Ushaia, (the city where our aquatic journey began,) around midnight. We spent our last night aboard in port, and began our journey home the next day. We shot 905 pictures with our digital camera, (before editing,) made new friends, and returned home with many happy memories of our journey.
I would highly recommend both the journey and the ship itself.
The Ship and Cape Horn:
I'm using my journal notes and our photographs to share this incredible portion of our journey. I didn't want the Eco-Camp to imply that we failed to have a great time, or that even all of that part was bad – it wasn't. We saw some very beautiful things in the park where the camp is located.
Day One aboard The M.V. Australis:
From my travel journal: Talk about day and night! The ship is wonderful! Our room is very comfortable and nice for a cabin aboard a small ship, (200 passengers maximum and about an equal crew compliment. Four decks of guest quarters. Two lovely lounges with huge windows on both sides and astern. An open observation deck and haven for the smokers aboard.) The dining room is lovely and comfortable and the food is excellent.
Tonight at sunset there were a pair of dolphins that followed us for two days, often playing with the zodiac we used to get from the ship to the landing points, (islands and peninsulas along our route to and from Cape Horn.)
The Fried family; Paul, Judith, Reena and Ian from NYC; are still with us, and we continue to enjoy their company. In addition, a lovely couple (Stephen and Ting) with a charming one year-old boy (Jensen) at our table are from San Mateo, and Stephen's best friend is a guy I went to high school with, (though Stephen was raised a little farther up the SF Peninsula.) Sometimes it's a very small world, when you end up running into your neighbors halfway around the globe.
It made meals both pleasant and comfortably familiar. Our waiter, Rene, is great. He works very hard to make our meals enjoyable, and we greet him by name every time we sit down. It's that kind of wonderful intimacy aboard this ship. Even the people we talk to in the lounges and on the zodiac trips are very nice and share our love of travel. We felt very welcome and enjoyed every minute aboard the Australis.
Day Two aboard:
It was a very low-key day, which was fine by us. There was an engine room tour and talks about the area while we traveled along the Ballenero and O'Brien Channels, as well as an afternoon zodiac trip to the Pia Glacier, and an evening sailing along the spectacular, "Avenue of the Glaciers."
A made a couple of notes in my journal here. One was that Erik plans these wonderful trips for us, and how much I love that he makes these happen, and how much I just love the guy in general. Another was how grateful I was for the Scopamine (Scopolamine) Trans-Dermal (TD) patches we placed behind our ear, because we would both have been sea-sick without them, (especially rounding the Cape.) As it was I could drink a little and eat with my usual gusto, even without medical cannabis to help promote my appetite.
The stairs aboard the ship, combined with the zodiac launches and nature walks, along with 20 push-ups every night; kept me in good physical shape. It's important to exercise a bit even on vacation. When we were in New Zealand I gained ten pounds, (which is good for me.) The night we rounded the Cape the push-ups felt a little weird with the rocking of the ship, but it was kind of cool, too.
Day Three:
Another fairly mellow day. In the afternoon we visited a colony of Mellgianic Penguins. (Guess who they were named after.) We landed the zodiacs but didn't get out of the boats. It didn't matter because there were dozens of penguins within feet of us. (No snow on the island and absolutely no Penguin Sledding allowed.) Erik got a bunch of great shots and I got a few myself. You can see some of our pics at Erik's Flickr site. (I'm going to post some to my web site as time allows over the next few months. I'm going to be pretty busy, but I like building on my Valdemar web site even if it's a slower process.)
We arrive at Cape Horn late tonight and land via zodiac early tomorrow morning.
Day Four:
This was the morning we landed at the southern most tip of the South American Continent – Cape Horn. There was a statue dedicated to Peace, a small marble monument to all the lost and killed sailors. There was also the famous little chapel they maintain very well, and a lighthouse that houses a Chilean military officer and his family. (There's a house attached to the lighthouse that was quite large and looked comfortable.) They watch over the island and sell souvenirs to us touristas. Then we came back to the ship for breakfast.
In the afternoon was a stop a Wulaia Bay, a beautiful place where once lived the aboriginal native Indians. Erik took the hike and I took the beach walk. Like much of this place, beautiful, awesome and grand. This area of the world in incredible and reminded me how important is to fight for the health of this planet we live on. My wish is that more people could see places like this and realize there's too much to lose by destroying our natural world. They are building a museum in this desolate place and I hope everyone who reads this gets a chance to see it when it's completed. They renovated an old military communication post that later was used by crab fishermen.
During dinner the Chilean authorities came aboard and stamped everyone's passport. The ship kept our passports while on board and it saved us from having to deal with any of the border crossings. Then we crossed back into Argentinean waters as we docked back Ushaia, (the city where our aquatic journey began,) around midnight. We spent our last night aboard in port, and began our journey home the next day. We shot 905 pictures with our digital camera, (before editing,) made new friends, and returned home with many happy memories of our journey.
I would highly recommend both the journey and the ship itself.
Patagonia Trip Two December 2007 – Phase Two – Torres Del Paine National Park:
We left Argentina for 12 hours of bus ands van riding to get to the eco-camp (EC) in Chili. Upon arriving we had no problem with the "domes," (high-end tents,) the crappy showers, or even the composting toilets.
The park itself was fantastically beautiful and we met some very nice people there, including the Fried Family, who shared our journey for the rest of our trip. Paul, Judith, Ian and Reena are from NYC and we really hit it off.
Then came the bullshit.
According to our itinerary we were supposed to have a "free day" to rest and catch up on energy. Erik also needed a day away from groups of people. But apparently the itinerary from Adventure Life, (the people who booked everything,) was wrong, and we were supposed to see the local glacier that day. We wanted to see the glacier, but we did not want another day of driving around in a crowded van, a three-hour boat ride to see the ice, then stuffed back into the van.
Erik told the guide we were not going with the group, and were just going to hang out and read. This caused an argument they lost. But after losing the argument they took a "fuck you" attitude towards us. There was no shady spot to read and the eco-domes get too hot during the day. (I wondered what they did when someone was sick.)
So we wandered around the place, looking for a shady spot underneath some trees so we could just relax and read. They made no offer to show us where the spa was, (at another place down the hill,) or even a trail-head so we could take a short hike.
They really just blew us off, but we said (to ourselves) "fuck you too," and we found shady spots to read and recoup our energy.
If that was all, that would've been enough of a complaint. But the food was shit. I've gone white-water rafting where they cooked an amazing meal over a fire, so there was no excuse for the shitty food we were served at EC. On the last day a woman from Australia got food poisoning from her lunch meat, and the dinner that night was inedible. Erik tried to eat some of it and got food poisoning.
That was the final straw that broke my camel's back. I found the manager of the EC and tore him a new asshole, (verbally.) I told him the dinner was inedible and had sickened my partner, and that our experience there overall was terrible. Erik is demanding a partial refund from Adventure Life for that portion of the trip.
We took a couple of hikes, saw some great things, but hated the EC.
But not to worry. Phase three – the ship – more than made up for the Eco-Camp. More on that tomorrow.
We left Argentina for 12 hours of bus ands van riding to get to the eco-camp (EC) in Chili. Upon arriving we had no problem with the "domes," (high-end tents,) the crappy showers, or even the composting toilets.
The park itself was fantastically beautiful and we met some very nice people there, including the Fried Family, who shared our journey for the rest of our trip. Paul, Judith, Ian and Reena are from NYC and we really hit it off.
Then came the bullshit.
According to our itinerary we were supposed to have a "free day" to rest and catch up on energy. Erik also needed a day away from groups of people. But apparently the itinerary from Adventure Life, (the people who booked everything,) was wrong, and we were supposed to see the local glacier that day. We wanted to see the glacier, but we did not want another day of driving around in a crowded van, a three-hour boat ride to see the ice, then stuffed back into the van.
Erik told the guide we were not going with the group, and were just going to hang out and read. This caused an argument they lost. But after losing the argument they took a "fuck you" attitude towards us. There was no shady spot to read and the eco-domes get too hot during the day. (I wondered what they did when someone was sick.)
So we wandered around the place, looking for a shady spot underneath some trees so we could just relax and read. They made no offer to show us where the spa was, (at another place down the hill,) or even a trail-head so we could take a short hike.
They really just blew us off, but we said (to ourselves) "fuck you too," and we found shady spots to read and recoup our energy.
If that was all, that would've been enough of a complaint. But the food was shit. I've gone white-water rafting where they cooked an amazing meal over a fire, so there was no excuse for the shitty food we were served at EC. On the last day a woman from Australia got food poisoning from her lunch meat, and the dinner that night was inedible. Erik tried to eat some of it and got food poisoning.
That was the final straw that broke my camel's back. I found the manager of the EC and tore him a new asshole, (verbally.) I told him the dinner was inedible and had sickened my partner, and that our experience there overall was terrible. Erik is demanding a partial refund from Adventure Life for that portion of the trip.
We took a couple of hikes, saw some great things, but hated the EC.
But not to worry. Phase three – the ship – more than made up for the Eco-Camp. More on that tomorrow.
Patagonia Trip One – December 2007 – Buenos Aires and El Calaphate:
We started by spending many hours in the air. Because Erik flies United for business we are able (at the moment) to upgrade our coach tickets to Business Class, (though we got bumped to First Class on the way back, which was a little sweeter,) – we had to fly from SFO to Washington D.C. then D.C. to Buenos Aires. It takes a lot of traveling to get to "the end of the world," (or very near it.)
So we had a day in Buenos Aires before we went to our first stop, the glacier at El Calaphate. BA is a wonderful city, beautiful at the center and terribly poor on the outskirts, (much like many big cities in the world.) After a night of much-needed, post-travel sleep, we had lunch at a nice meat-oriented restaurant, then went to the cemetery where Eva Peron is interred.
Why go see a cemetery? Because this place, aside from being the burial site of a very famous person in history, has been built like a small city for the dead. Every family tomb is a small building and the paths seem like streets for the dead residents to move around. I took a number of pictures of these small houses for the deceased because they were so ornate and interesting.
(It will take a while to get through them and add them to my web site, but that's how I like to do things. You can see some of the images at Erik's Flickr Site.) Look for "EoW" boxes on the right-hand side of the web page.
Erik went to the Galleria Pacifica to see the Frescos painted on the ceilings and I went back to the hotel for a short nap. I took my time on the walk back to observe just how much BA was like any other big city. I thought to myself that I could live there if I spoke better Spanish, but it would not be high on my list. Auckland, Sydney and certain other places in New Zealand and Hawaii are much higher on my "I could live there" list. Still, "taken for all in all," it was a nice place.
The next day we had a short flight to El Calaphate. We stayed at a working wool ranch on the shores of Lake Argentina, (the largest fresh-water lake in the country.) We were there to see and walk upon the Perito Glacier, (our second walk on a glacier in a temperate zone.) I wouldn't say, "seen one glacier you've seen them all." It's a new experience every time. You can only walk on the glacier for a couple of hours before you start getting tired. I exercise and hike a lot, so I'm in pretty good shape for a 43 year-old guy – but even with the ice clamps on my hiking boots walking on ice is a tricky thing. At the end the guides served us scotch with glacial "rocks," which was pretty cool, but I'm not a big hard-alcohol guy in general.
After lunch they took us up to a vantage point above the back side of the glacier. Very pretty, but also two extra hours on the bus. Good photo point, though.
That night was a big dinner after a sheep herding and shearing demonstration that Erik took but I passed on. At the BBQ we met a very nice family from Palo Alto, (my hometown and just down the road from us here on the SF Peninsula.) Just goes to show you what a small world it can be. (More on this subject later.) The daughter is going to Palo Alto High School so we hit it off immediately, plus she loves to read so we had that common ground. She looks very Persian, so they get "randomly selected" by the fucking racist TSA at the airport. "I've never seen a blond, blue-eyed person selected for extra screening," she said to me.
That kind of shit really pisses me off. The whole TSA is a bad joke being played upon all of us who fly. Fascism=Security in the eyes of the Bush Administration, and they make other countries perform the same "bad theater" through pressure. It doesn't make me feel any more or less safe than before 9-11. Most of the really effective changes have taken place outside the public sphere, like reinforced cockpit doors – but I digress.
The next day was a 12-hour bus and van trip to the Eco-Camp in Chili. That experience was unique, and not in a good way, so I'll save that for tomorrow.
I loved Argentina and would go there again, but Chili was the start of seeing parts of Patagonia that really blew us away.
We started by spending many hours in the air. Because Erik flies United for business we are able (at the moment) to upgrade our coach tickets to Business Class, (though we got bumped to First Class on the way back, which was a little sweeter,) – we had to fly from SFO to Washington D.C. then D.C. to Buenos Aires. It takes a lot of traveling to get to "the end of the world," (or very near it.)
So we had a day in Buenos Aires before we went to our first stop, the glacier at El Calaphate. BA is a wonderful city, beautiful at the center and terribly poor on the outskirts, (much like many big cities in the world.) After a night of much-needed, post-travel sleep, we had lunch at a nice meat-oriented restaurant, then went to the cemetery where Eva Peron is interred.
Why go see a cemetery? Because this place, aside from being the burial site of a very famous person in history, has been built like a small city for the dead. Every family tomb is a small building and the paths seem like streets for the dead residents to move around. I took a number of pictures of these small houses for the deceased because they were so ornate and interesting.
(It will take a while to get through them and add them to my web site, but that's how I like to do things. You can see some of the images at Erik's Flickr Site.) Look for "EoW" boxes on the right-hand side of the web page.
Erik went to the Galleria Pacifica to see the Frescos painted on the ceilings and I went back to the hotel for a short nap. I took my time on the walk back to observe just how much BA was like any other big city. I thought to myself that I could live there if I spoke better Spanish, but it would not be high on my list. Auckland, Sydney and certain other places in New Zealand and Hawaii are much higher on my "I could live there" list. Still, "taken for all in all," it was a nice place.
The next day we had a short flight to El Calaphate. We stayed at a working wool ranch on the shores of Lake Argentina, (the largest fresh-water lake in the country.) We were there to see and walk upon the Perito Glacier, (our second walk on a glacier in a temperate zone.) I wouldn't say, "seen one glacier you've seen them all." It's a new experience every time. You can only walk on the glacier for a couple of hours before you start getting tired. I exercise and hike a lot, so I'm in pretty good shape for a 43 year-old guy – but even with the ice clamps on my hiking boots walking on ice is a tricky thing. At the end the guides served us scotch with glacial "rocks," which was pretty cool, but I'm not a big hard-alcohol guy in general.
After lunch they took us up to a vantage point above the back side of the glacier. Very pretty, but also two extra hours on the bus. Good photo point, though.
That night was a big dinner after a sheep herding and shearing demonstration that Erik took but I passed on. At the BBQ we met a very nice family from Palo Alto, (my hometown and just down the road from us here on the SF Peninsula.) Just goes to show you what a small world it can be. (More on this subject later.) The daughter is going to Palo Alto High School so we hit it off immediately, plus she loves to read so we had that common ground. She looks very Persian, so they get "randomly selected" by the fucking racist TSA at the airport. "I've never seen a blond, blue-eyed person selected for extra screening," she said to me.
That kind of shit really pisses me off. The whole TSA is a bad joke being played upon all of us who fly. Fascism=Security in the eyes of the Bush Administration, and they make other countries perform the same "bad theater" through pressure. It doesn't make me feel any more or less safe than before 9-11. Most of the really effective changes have taken place outside the public sphere, like reinforced cockpit doors – but I digress.
The next day was a 12-hour bus and van trip to the Eco-Camp in Chili. That experience was unique, and not in a good way, so I'll save that for tomorrow.
I loved Argentina and would go there again, but Chili was the start of seeing parts of Patagonia that really blew us away.
Ode to Patagonia:
Phillip T. Alden
December 2007
I wrote this poem in a van while driving through Chili. It's my first stab at poetry writing, (and maybe I should be stabbed for my poetry,) and I'm aware that not all good writers are necessarily good poets.
I saw a lone black horse aside a dirt road.
I saw mountains carved by wind and snow.
I saw a horizon that went on forever.
I am in the heart of Patagonia.
I saw a tree that smelt of cinnamon outside a dead cave.
I saw cracked rock touching the clouds, a cathedral of god.
The land spoke to me in hushed tones.
I walked on glacial ice in a temperate zone.
Thistle and daisy, rock and grass.
I saw a family of painted horses aside a dirt road.
Phillip T. Alden
December 2007
I wrote this poem in a van while driving through Chili. It's my first stab at poetry writing, (and maybe I should be stabbed for my poetry,) and I'm aware that not all good writers are necessarily good poets.
I saw a lone black horse aside a dirt road.
I saw mountains carved by wind and snow.
I saw a horizon that went on forever.
I am in the heart of Patagonia.
I saw a tree that smelt of cinnamon outside a dead cave.
I saw cracked rock touching the clouds, a cathedral of god.
The land spoke to me in hushed tones.
I walked on glacial ice in a temperate zone.
Thistle and daisy, rock and grass.
I saw a family of painted horses aside a dirt road.
