They will never take our Freedom!

Sorry this took over a year to finish and I might have photos on my laptop, but my phone did end up in the Madison river. 

I am of Scottish descent. However, my whole life I have identified with my Italian heritage. My mother's foster family and my father's family are both Italian. My grandmother grew up speaking an Italian dialect. It was easy. It made sense. Italians eat big pasta dinners on Sunday with tomato gravy, they enjoy watching movies like Good Fellas and The Godfather, and say things like fougetaboutit and "How YOU doin?" 

I admit I knew little of Scotland or the Scottish in general, but all that I have learned of this country and the people, as well as the rich and incredible history of the land has fascinated me. As it turns out, we are descended of a clan from the north and they are one of the ones known as Picts; the face painted and body art fierce warrior types. 

I met a fella from the Mcleod clan who worked in a store in Mulngavie (Mallguy) and we talked tartans and family crests. He told me of a great kilt maker I should contact when I inquired on the subject. He spoke joyfully to us about the Scots and he was genuinely interested in helping me. So much so that he stepped away from the register and called another fella to help customers while we stepped outside and chatted for about 10 minutes. It was a great time. (Good kilts are not cheap though @ 435 pounds!)
Anyway, the hiking here has been incredible. We are able to get to or walk through a town or a store or two everyday. By town I mean a hotel, or a restaurant, or a bar, or some type of resource for hot food, cold drinks and Scotch whiskey. 

The local townspeople are amazing and the folks that are out walking are incredible too. Tomas and Luke have been great travel companions and though we ended up taking different adventures when the weather turned and time ran short, we still ended up in the same town, in the same place and celebrated the adventures we all partook in.

This trip has been very enjoyable and has been good food for my belly as well as my soul. The Scots have venison on many of their menus and they eat and love to embrace their cultural foods like haggis and black pudding. They fry a lot of things including Mars bars which brings me to my next point. Embrace the culture of the candy. Every culture seems to enjoy a different variety of chocolates. In the UK, Cadbury has cornered the market. The shelves are littered with a variety of chocolate candies we never see in the US: Wispy, Crunchie, Flake, Twirl, Double Deckers, Crisps... My personal favorite is called Boost. All of these can be purchased online and mailed to the US. They also have different potato chips made by Walker, which I found amusing considering we were all walkers  (hikers). The variety of flavors range from katsup to prawn cocktail, various cheese flavors and even a Worcester flavor. (No, I m not eating shrimp cocktail chips, but I did bring some home.)

As far as driving around in the UK is concerned... Well, let me tell you this, not only was the car we rented a lot of fun to drive, (a manual 6 speed right hand drive Kia Stonic) but it was also a lot of fun to cruise around on the narrow, windy roads of Scotland in the "wrong" lane when there weren't many other cars out on them. Another good point to be made here is that the real deal is to be mindful of the signage. For example they have signs that count down 3 hash marks, then 2, then 1 as you get closer to an exit. They have red x's on blue backgrounds, white hashes on red circles and a surprise to me at first was not only the amount of roundabouts, but the fact that the signal lights go from green to yellow to red, but also red to yellow to green.

Our first turn out of the parking area was probably the freakiest moment of the entire driving experience. We all felt unsure for a while, but I really felt like I was going the wrong way on a one way street. Cars were coming at us and I thought they were going to freak and swerve and blow their horns at us but they continued on, business as usual. 
It takes a team to drive your first time out for sure. The main montra I repeated over and over in my head and aloud was "wide to the right, left is tight" and second to that was "follow other cars whenever possible".
The car itself was magical. At first I was not sure how all the features worked and I was pretty tired and pumped myself full of coffee. Possibly the greatest feature, when I understood what it was and how it worked, was the lane assist. On our first ride up, I didn't even know there were 6 gears and I don't need to remind you that I drive a 1984 model van which doesn't even have power steering. Vehicles of this modern age can get 45-50 mpg without being hybrids. The lane assist is a game changer. At first it felt like there was something wrong with the car and maybe it had bad tie rods or something weird in the steering. I would feel it pulling in the opposite direction of the way I was turning the wheel! Turns out, I m used to driving on the left hand side of the lane as well as I am used to driving on the right hand side of the roads! So, I was a natural drifter. Always drifting towards the left and the car was smart enough to push me back. Later on I embraced and enjoyed this feature when cruising the narrow winding country roads of Scotland!
Maybe we all have some preconceived notions as to what a place will be like before we get there. Thinking back though, I really don't remember what I thought Scotland would be like. All I have now are visions of what it was. There were narrow winding roads, incredible people, wonderful food, glorious lochs, ornate castles, beautiful mountains and although we ran into a couple of asshole people, (They are everywhere, trust me) I feel blessed and grateful to have had the experience! 
I had wanted to buy a kilt and stand in a field on a mountainside, and recite the speech from Braveheart, but for one reason or another it never came to pass. I imagined it was a thing that silly Americans do. You know, like those silly Americans that run up the steps at the museum in Philadelphia? I wanted to record it. Maybe I would have become an internet sensation if I did? I'd rather remain anonymous though. Who needs a gaggle of reporters or paparazzi following them around anyway? I'm not sure if I would give up my life in such circumstances, but I will never let them take my Freedom!

Moths and Mysteries

Surely people have used a great many bathrooms in this world. Sometimes it's a hole they dug that serves as a toilet. Sometimes it's a bucket with a plastic bag inside. Sometimes theres a great view from the log they're sitting on. There have been gas station bathrooms with poop smeared all over the place like Hanky the Christmas poo was doing his best Picasso or Rembrandt impersonation in there earlier that day. Surly there are fancy hotels with untra soft toilet paper and a little sprinkler for cleaning your bum and there are cheap seedy motels with sandpaper on the roll. In all the many years of my  travels, of my entire life really, and the great many toilet experiences there have been, never has there ever been a time when 15 or 20 moths decided to fly out of the toilet paper roll when I went to pull off a few squares... until now! Here's the scenario. You wake up fresh and ready. Make some coffee, have some oatmeal for breakfast and empty the mouse traps. (Ye intruders beware) Then you make your way over to the pit privy in the park. A block building with very little air flow greets you with a heavy stench emmitting from the open plastic lid over the hole. Following protocols that history has taught, you wipe the seat with a sanitizing wipe and sit to take care of business. All goes well and in less than a minute you are ready to clean yourself and get on with your day. You reach for the paper roll and pull gently on the hanging tabs. Then the unexpected startles you with objects that fall and fly and begin to swarm about the room! "OH MY GOD!!" "HOLY SHIT!" Followed by, "What the fuck is that?!" Do you jump up off the toilet? Probably a 99.99% chance.
Then you focus and realize what they are. Moths. Phew, they are only moths. If you weren't awake, you are now!

In other news we found some really interesting old stones... Artifacts of some sort. Petrified? Fossilized? Ancient for sure, but what exactly... I do not know.
Sometimes things are meant to be a mystery. Sometimes things are meant to be put in a museum. Sometimes they are meant to be taken home and kept as a momento. But sometimes things are meant to be left right where you found them. Today I found that out.
Teddy Roosevelt believed he could and should go out into the world and bring back specimens for science. He wanted them to be studied and then left on display for those who couldn't afford to or were not able to go out on their own to discover them. Indiana Jones believed that culturally important and rare items should also be on display or maybe studied by scientists. "It belongs in a museum!" Was his tag line.

On the way to a slot canyon inside Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, there is a sign that reads, "No Collecting". No collecting of what? It does not say. Further investigation at this point has not lead me to any real solid answers but the pieces of history that were found I decided would be best left for others to discover on their own. Maybe 500 or 1000 years from now, a young adventurous family will venture out to see the slot canyon. Maybe it will be thousands of years from now and the slot canyon is wider. In either case, wouldn't it be much more exciting for a child in that family to sift through the sand in the washout and discover the fragments left behind by those who dared venture out before them? Had the landscape been deprived of these artifacts, the only wonder for those people to discover could be a mere tunnel like cavity. Not that slot canyons in and of themselves are not an incredible spectacle, an incredible experience, because they are. But, finding treasures that were buried millions of years ago, that were then encased in stone, frozen in time for centuries, and then unearthed by the forces of nature, this my friends is an experience to behold!

What other mysteries are being unearthed on this journey? Are we guided? Is there a thing such as fate? What does it really mean to be a Dharma bum? Is it not just following your inner spirit? If your purpose is to be in accord with the Tao, "The Way" then the Qi, the life force, should guide our actions in accord. If we encounter each day with Wu Wei, or unforced spontaneity or effortless action, shouldn't the life we are living feel as though everything is right in the world? Often, I feel like it does. Then there are days where the little monkey brain voice inside my head tries to act as though it is in control. What happens then? Frustration happens! That's what happens. Yeilding seems to lead to outcomes that are pleasant. There are less anxieties. Making a plan to go climbing, and then encountering "by chance" other climbers who are interested in having you join them for a sport climb, seems less likely when you are out of alignment. Is there really a guiding force? Are we out here floating like a bird riding on thermals? Are we swished around by unseen currents?
Afloat in lake Powell, one can feel the forces of nature on one's self. The cool temperature of the liquid. The warmth of the sun. The waves created by the winds or the ripples sent to the shore by passing boats. Afloat, we are set in motion by the natural world. If we use a fresh mind to see the world, to experiemce each moment as though it were the first moment of its kind, being the "uncarved block" of intention, attention and experience, then as the world unfolds before us, amazing mysteries and experiences aught to unfold before our very eyes. I challenge you to try it.
Lately, we have found that we are leaving a trail of chance encounters behind and each one seems to have us feeling a little better for having had the experience. When the intention is to be immersed in our current reality we no longer see the divisions. We see the links that bring us together. This being said, I've given and received. I have given physical objects, and received food or shelter in return. I have given energy and love and have received them both as well. I have experienced the beauty of grand places and have been visited by humming birds while meditating. The seals and sea lions of coastal California sing and dance in the water for me, while the flowers bloom and spread pleasant aromas through the air for me to smell. I feel the ocean breeze and the rays of sunshine on my skin. The winds might sweep me your way and I hope they do. For I look forward to the experiences we will share, though I know not what they will be. Continue to be kind to one another. Have love and compassion, for the Dali Lama says they are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity can not survive.

A harbor seal swims by

Sunrise outside of Bishop CA

The milky way will make you feel small.

Bone fragments? Petrified poop? A perfect mushroom cap made of stone?