The Celtic Wheel of Prayer

One of the best things that has happened in our spiritual life in the last year has been taking up the practice of reading this book each evening. Chris and her friend Lisa were wandering through The Green Apple, which is a voluminous local used book store. Lisa bought it for Chris with the idea that it would be a good way to wind down the day. Chris and I really enjoy the wilderness and the old Celtic prayers really connect to the rhythms of the oceans, seasons, and farming. Most every evening we read and reflect for about 10 minutes with the guided prayers. There's a little thanksgiving section that's really helpful. And, occasionally we even do the morning prayer over breakfast together.

Mental Training

I'm venturing out beyond some of my old faithful sources of inspiration lately. On our trip to Kauai I read the cheezyiest named book I've ever heard of. But, it was pretty good. I had picked it up at Mission Cliffs while on a break when my arms were pumped and I couldn't climb. Ready? The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training for Climbers. I'll pause while you go puke.

So, with reluctance, I'll say that I think there's something to this. It's about actively taking ahold of our 'personal power' and using specific methods to learn mental focus, to untangle mental roadblocks to improved performance, and generally examing ego theory to discover poor decision making processes. At least, that's what I got out of it on my first reading. I'm planning on looking it over again and trying to use it as I'm working out. Most of my climbing trips lately haven't allowed reviewing mental training techniques before the beginning of a climb. But, I have started using a few ideas like a pre-climb routine of motions and short prayers. And, I'm more conscious of the go/no-go process that I use when evaluating a risk. Also, I am much more engaged in the mental messages that I say, "I'm gonna give this a shot." For me, that's code for, "I'm gonna give up but give my belayer the impression that I'm really making an effort by slapping the next hold." Either do it or dont.

A lot of this stuff is drawn from the spurious writings of Carlos Casteneda and various Japanese Samari teachings. I've been grateful for my friend, Joseph Farley. He has much experience in Tibetan Buddism and some of the American New Age offshoots. All of this is new to me, but he's got the perspective from having been far down that road already. I still need to buy those Rumi books he reccommended....

Kauaii

double click to see the big version

7 Days Left

For the last month, I've been slowly uninvolving myself in the work I've been doing for 13 years. It's really quite a remarkable experience. Here in SF, I've worked on the same team for 7 1/2 years - though I am the only member who was here years ago. Gradually, I've been counting 'lasts' last staff meeting, last board meeting, last regional conference, last party with our students, last trip to campus, last service project. Some of the 'lasts' have happened before I knew they were going on.

In general, it's becoming surreal. Things that have been dear to me for years are now happening in front of me and I feel differently inside. Instead of a deep connection, I stand like an outside observer. "They" are doing that, not "I". And, like any organization, it is carrying forward with renewed vision and direction. It is a bit like we were on a train, we got off, and the train kept going - barely slowing down. That's exciting for the travelers, but humbling for us. I think we see how replaceable and unimportant we are in reality - not the Titans we were in our own imagination. That, of course, is a healthy and good reality check.

Community

Business and Environmental Leadership was very interesting today. We had 3 interesting chapters for our seminar class and the discussion took a very interesting turn. First we had a representative from Acre Gourmet who had many interesting things to say. One if their values is 'community' development which leads them to prefer buying from local independant farmers instead of large agra-business operations. One shocking comment is that a McDonald's burger can contain meat from over 1000 cows b/c of the enormous centralized meat processing plants. mmmm

The Green to Gold chapter was on inspiring a green culture in business and I thought it was quite interesting. However, the student who presented it gave a quick summary and then connected it to her recent experience of traveling to Honduras and being shocked to see McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and KFC there near the airport. She commented that these businesses corrupt the local culture by offering unhealthful food and eroding the social fabric of interconnectedness in that society.

At first, I didn't see the connection to our topic but the discussion took off like a rocket and carried us for an hour. Many students seemed to resonate with her criticism of large business as somehow responsible for social erosion in the US. And, they all seemed to share a ...

Yosemite Ostrander Lake Snow Shoe Trip

 
 
 
 

Over Spring Break - now two weeks ago - i had a great trip to yosemite. I've never been to the Yose high country in the winter. This was a real treat. It was the last weekend that the Badger Pass ski area was going to be open. So, the Glacier Point Road cross country ski path was still well groomed and holding several feet of snow. I hiked in on Horizion Ridge trail off of GPR and camped on the ridge looking out over the Clark Range. It was a terriffic view from the tent. Setting up camp in the deep snow was really fun. I learned not to bury things as tent anchors that I'll need in the morning when the snow is hard - like snowshoes. That took an hour of chopping.

I had fun getting a little lost when I left the Ostrander Ski Hut - which was incredible. (read all about it here in a Chronicle article) Long story short, there are two marked trails, one of which is not on the map and goes the wrong way - guess which one I took. :)

I made it out to Taft Point which has a great view of the valley which was a nice surprise. Check out The Prow view. Wow.

Found: One Sea Cave

What a day!

Snowstorm in Tahoe

Chris and I went up to Tahoe last weekend for a quick get away. It seems like we get a lot of juice for life here if we get out of town every 6 weeks or so. We hadn't made a trip away together since going to Shasta and the Finlandia Motel in October. So, we were over due. There's something that seems uncommonly like home for us as we drive into South Lake Tahoe. Some of our dearest friends are there and visiting SLT has been one of the only consistent parts of our life in California for the last decade of living in Santa Barbara, San Diego, and now San Francisco.

It's been over a year since we've been snowshoeing together so this was a really sweet time. We walked down to Vikingsholm (pictured) and watched the dark clouds descend as the storm first arrived. At first we could see across the lake and as we sat there the clouds swallowed the mountain peaks, the casinos, and the little island out in emerald bay. Later the road was closed so that was a good first choice. I've always wanted to see ice climbers on Eagle Falls, but no luck this time. The ice was not in. Later we went for an easy walk to Pope Beach and made a similar walk on Sunday in 18 inches of new snow.

Here are a couple shots. The full album is here:

tahoe snowstorm feb 08

The Island

I'm still not sure where I ran across this film. That's one of the fun things about netflix - films I will like show up at the house after I've forgotten that I was ever interested in them. The Island has a terriffic cast - check em out. The Island Cast etc. And, it's got a pretty interesting twist on the dystopian future sci-fi movies that I like so much. It deals with all kinds of ethical issues like genetic engineering of humans, longevity and mega corporations. And, there's plenty of eye candy so it definitely made a big effort to be a mainstream hollywood movie. I dont think I so much had a favorite part as I just liked it overall - I'd give it a B-.

Merry Christmas Across The Front Line

There was a shockingly human moment of truth during one of the darkest hours of human history during World War I when Scottish, French, and German soldiers gathered on Christmas eve to celebrate their mutual religious holiday. A moment of profound bonding and warmth was created in the midst of a terrible war which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives - an entire generation of Europeans.

I had wanted to see this film for a while and I was delighted when it arrived from Chris Netflix account yesterday. Please let me know if you've seen it. It is one of the great stories of modern times.

S1

Ahh, at this point in my life there are a lot of really wonderful tastee delights. I've been climbing the last two weekends. My wife and I have seen some great films. The weather is finally coming up out of the coldwetdrearydark and miserable season. And, my hobby past-time obsession game has just started afresh on a new server. Server 1 is up and running. Come get you some www.travian.com.

Dieter

When I first moved to SF, Dieter lived downstairs from my coworkers. He was up at their house all the time. I think at that point they were sharing some appliances - a washer and drier. Anyway, I got to know him a bit. Not too long after that he mentioned that he knew a bunch of people who were planning to gather weekly to practice spiritual disciplines together and have a pot-luck meal. I was pretty interested so Chris and I jumped in with the group and instantly made 30 great friends. Dieter and I made a bunch of climbing trips, lunches at the yummy $4 plate lunch Chinese place (it's since been closed and renamed - the Health Department might have been involved), and for a few months I was coaching soccer with him. He intially asked me b/c he was in a pinch for an assistant coach and I told him that I'd failed to make the JV soccer team in High School. And, JV soccer in Memphis has remarkably low standards. He didnt get the message untill I'd been 'coaching' with him for a couple months. My coaching contributions were primarily emotional support and ball chasing for the 8 yr olds. So, that didnt last. We've been backpacking once and have stayed in touch a little since he's moved north of SF. All in all, as older guys go, he's one of my better friends even though I dont see him much lately.

Last monday he had a stroke - completely out of no where. He's run marathons and is a very healthy guy. It seems to have been a serious stroke and he's still in a coma. They brought him out of it for a few minutes last night. There's more info on this blog.

It's hard to know how to really feel about it. I'm afraid he's going to be messed up. He's really deep so I'm sure he'll be able to cope with it. And, he's got a strong family, so I'm sure they'll pull together. It is just strange to still be waiting to see what will really be the result of this trauma.

First Trip of Many to Pinnacles

Our climbing adventure on Saturday was one of those brilliant overlapping coincidences that have the markings of the hand of God. And, we are grateful. We actually made our 6:30 AM planned get away from SF. All three of the alarms I set went off reliably. And, the little visitor’s center at Pinnacles National Monument was open when we arrived at 8:45 with the recently updated copy of the guidebook – which on only Thursday was unavailable there. And, the rain did indeed stop for us. Discovery Wall was dry and as I hoped, we had good weather until 3PM. That 9 hours of dry daylight looks like it’s going to be sandwiched between nonstop rain for several days on both sides. In an unusual turn, we actually made it to the base of a good first route, … within 1/2 hour of leaving the car (note the wonderment and confusion here on Luke's face as we try and find the climbers trail). We met a couple of other hospitable local climbers who helped direct us. Portent, 3 star 5.6, was our first and it went very well. We'll have to go back again and get the 2nd and 3rd pitches.

At about 2:45 I started up Ordeal, a 3 star 5.8 which is reportedly one of the best in the park. I was really struggling at the 3rd bolt anchor and was not feeling confident on my gear placements in the sketchy rock. Over the weekend Chris was gone to DC to party with MJ for her 40th. When she's gone, I pick up my stinky food habits. So, I indulged in a lunch of smoked oysters and double cream brie on a baguette. That didn’t put me in good strength for the climb ... go figure. So, I left my first bail out carabiner and gave up the climb. Then, to my surprise, it started to sprinkle. I was really glad I wasn’t getting rained on 10 feet from the last bolt on that pitch! What a messy situation that would have been.
This was my first outdoor trip with Luke and we had a great time. He’s a super conversation partner and was very patient with me while I was struggling up on my toughest sport lead on Wet Kiss. On the way down and back we had remarkable conversations about ecology, marriage, our vocations, and love of the outdoors. Luke has some amazing stories of climbing in his home area in Oregon and of amazing trips to Denali. We discovered that might even be able to partner together in the ongoing battle with our own consumerist urges at the local outdoor store.

a new love

Wow. I love when I discover something new that I really like! Me and my old buddy Kyle (center) from SD found a good little spot in Vegas for some Hookah.

Next stop. Hookah in the Haight at Kan Zaman which comes highly recommended from my friend Shobani from SFSU so it's probably a hit.

 

Rediscovering Creativity

This year Chris and I decided we'd like to branch out and explore some new things in our spiritual lives. We've been friends with several people from ReImagine for years and even participated in a Jesus Dojo a while back. When we heard about this Rediscovering Creativity workshop it really connected with our desire to stir up our creative juices.

We've had two sessions so far and there are about 35 people participating. It's over in the New Door Ventures property on 21st, which is another plus - I've been a fan of their work. Last week we reviewed some affirmations and beliefs together and discussed what it's been like to do our creative writing assignments each day (it's pretty simple, just 3 full pages of download journalling). And, did a found object type sculpture project with a piece of yarn, a piece of fabric, a piece of metal, a plastic bubble, and a silver star. The group came up with some really cool things. It was quite remarkable to me how many different directions people took with the same basic materials.

At home, for my at home project (aka Artist's Date), I did something I've wanted to do for years. I hung up these postcards. These cards are really meaningful to me. Each captures a special museum visit and
experience with a piece of art or a trip with Chris or some place I'd like to go. Having them on the wall to look at all the time is really great. I kind of feel like it's a centering reminder to where I feel my life is supposed to be going.

Joshua Tree December 07

I connected with my friend Eric from Seattle and 3 of his climbing buddies for a really excellent trip to Joshua Tree - 2 hrs east of LA. The weather and the rock was terrific. I was particularly excited about the climbing there b/c I got access to several styles that were new to me - slab and crack. And, I had my strongest lead yet on a 5.7 crack. Very very fun. Not to bore you with the details - here are the pictures:

Joshua Tree Dec 07

Good Little Stuff

The Finlandia was so much fun last weekend:
http://www.finlandiamotel.com/
At $65/nite with the sauna (pronounced s-ow-na) it's a bargain - if a little dusty. We had a great time chatting about the future and just catching up together. We even found a great little coffee shop "The Stage Door". It's a little weird how much the crystal rubbing hippie culture has hung on up there. Apparently Mt.Shasta is some kind of magnetoid vortex of hyper purple power. I just like to climb it.

This weekend the highlight was a couple visits from Scott Helie. He and Jason were our best neighbors ever. We even had their wedding in our dining room. Now that's a long story by itself. So... we went out to Postrio http://www.postrio.com/ As always it was a decadent palate adventure. I ordered salmon, but the chef and manager sent out 7 other courses for Scott and his 3 lucky friends. Wow. We had a great time catching up with Scott. He apparently hates NY. He has hardly ever said a negative word about anything - except our landlord. So, I think he's serious. It's still unlikely that they'd move back. Scott's mom loves having him close to home. Apparently, NY is: dirty, expensive, mean, low paying, impossible to drive in, and generally awful. OK, I'm cured. No more wishing for Gotham. We miss Scott and Jason a whole whole lot. I dont think we'll ever have neighbors as wonderful as the two of them again. With us was our great and dear friend Jennifer, who we just dont see often enough. She has really great taste and turned us on to some great wines from Chateau Saint Michelle

A 'friend' of mine gave me a helpful book for people going through mid-life crisis, "Half Time". Nuff said.

The village is doing very well.

Lately

It's a little tough to come up with something deep to blog. Most of my deep thinking has been committed to working out my future plans. Along the way I've had a pretty vivid sense of God's presence. It seems like He is really leading me and making things clear as I move down the path. It is not coming along as quickly or as neatly as I had hoped. I think that I'm discovering some icky spots in my character. I'm definitely not dealing well with the ambiguity and sense of being in limbo. I want to work on that - and move past this in between time as quickly as possible. It is humbling to see how I've been merciless to others during their leaving process. I'm realizing how hard it actually is to leave well.

In other parts of my life, I'm enjoying school. For my economics class I'm doing research on new economics concepts that could be helpful for my company of choice, The SF Food Bank. I ran across an article that helps me work out some of the tension I've felt about American foreign policy - the myths and truths about the 'good' we do in the world. There's a new rating system that includes more than just dollars given to poor countries. In rates that as compared to GDP, includes peace keeping efforts, shows how trade polices contribute, and also shows environmental issues which effect the poor - such as contributions of green house gasses. The measure isn't perfect, but it's a good step toward a more accurate measure that could strip some of the rhetoric out and give world citizens a clear picture of what their leaders are actually doing for developing countries.

Posting Pictures

Hey All, Here are a few pictures from my climbing trip to Yosemite with Peter Russo a couple weeks ago. We had a great time!