On the farm

Today, I was in the Gaia field picking mature Pride of Venice bean pods and pulling out the seeds. Then, a girl named Tara and I replanted some of the seeds we had picked. While we were planting them, she had to leave to harvest some fresh greens.

Thirty minutes later, I was eating those greens in an amazing salad with fresh mango vinegar salad dressing. Then I walked out near the Mandala garden in the center of the property and pulled off a small twig from a Neem tree and brushed my teeth with the bark (you can actually make toothpaste if you grind the bark into powder).

I also learned how to make fire only using wood, string, and a little tender (coconut) - Castaway style.

And so much more - that will come when I have time to write it all down.

I just finished eating orange crème brûlée on the Christiansted boardwalk while watching an old drunk white guy fumble into a tiny canoe and paddle out to his sailboat anchored in the harbor, off in the black distance. He looked like Jimmy Buffet.

no shoes, no shirt, no passport, no problem

This is Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. This spot is where I was just a few minutes ago, digesting a mango banana smoothie and finishing a book.

I am finally here! I arrived via boat last night from St. Thomas (about 45 miles north of St. Croix). Speaking of boats, I apparently get ridiculously sea sick. I threw up about 20 times during the boat ride. It felt like being on an awful roller coaster that just goes up and down for an hour and a half. Ugh.

Once I got to St. Croix, I headed for food. After eating, I headed for the bushes along the street to throw up my food. That actually felt kinda good. After a cold shower and 11 hours of sleep, I felt much better.

Today, I took the afternoon to explore downtown Christiansted.


View Larger Map

My hotel is on the boardwalk that looks out on dozens of sailboats anchored in the harbor. I sat on a bench on the boardwalk and watched sea planes take off from the water (more expensive than the ferry, but a MUCH better way to travel). Then I walked into the city and explored the streets and arcades and beautiful architecture. I still had an empty stomach and needed something light that wouldn't end up in the bushes. To my luck, I ran across the Kalima Center for Health and Holistic Living. The center has a juice bar and raw food restaurant inside, and after skimming the menu, I decided on the aforementioned mango banana smoothie.

St. Croix is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to meet the people here and make some new friends. The island is obviously full of history (The above panoramic shot was taken in front of an 18th century Danish fort), and I can't wait to learn more about that as well. Also, I wish I had Adam Brimer's photography skills.

Here are a few more pictures from the past two days:

frida, beautiful as the sun

At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I'm not going to say that I wish musicians today could sing and perform like they did in the good old days. But I wish musicians today could sing and perform like they did in the good old days.

I've been listening to a lot of Jacques Brel over the past month and his absolute passion definitely translates through speakers - like a nice breeze and maybe a light drizzle. But his passion comes through like a bloody monsoon of heart wrenching bombast (what?) on all these old video recordings of his performances.

Brel's 1967 performance of "Ces Gens-Là":



And his infamous 1964 performance of "Amsterdam" at the Olympia in Paris - Brel never recorded this song for a studio album, yet this live performance has become one of his most enduring works. He received a three minute standing ovation afterward (this video cuts off just as the song ends).



It's almost as if he is eating the words and then spewing them out unabashedly onto his audience. I love it.

changes | pretty soon you're gonna get a little older

It's been 2009 for a week now.

Isn't the separation of years funny sometimes? Why January through December? All it really is is the change of a date. The eight changed to a nine. That's it. But it means more, doesn't it?

I imagine people wanting to lose weight in November but waiting for January to formally announce their goal. I imagine slates getting wiped clean and records being thrown out. Records of wrongs, I hope.

Obviously, with all the observation spent on the phenomena of a new year, people will notice change. And like any other 12 month period, a lot has changed for me. One year ago, I was in school, desperately trying to finish everything so I could graduate. I was anxious about trying to figure out what would come after that. I took baths. And I was already completely over the whole election thing.

Now, I am a college graduate, I have moved away from Knoxville for the first time in 5 years. I am leaving for St. Croix in four days, and now I take showers. Oh, and the election is FINALLY over - (you'd think I am an old man from the amount of cynicism I have already built up toward politics and its media coverage).

But on top of all these logistical life changes, I can't help but want to acknowledge a change within me as well. I hope that I have become a better friend, son, and brother. As melodramatic as it sounds, I am serious - I absolutely love my friends and family.