Jeep Expedition and Rescue

As some of you know I arrived in Boulder on Friday the 22nd. Upon getting settled in, I was talked into taking the jeep on it’s first excursion to Left Hand Canyon! Now, when preparing for the trip I made sure to take along my tool box and recovery equipment, even though I did not intend to use them. My plan was to take Zach and Mindy on a nice and low key offroading trip for the day! Well when we arrived there we ran into another Rubicon and began riding together as he knew the course much better than I.

It was going pretty well until we hit the backside of the mountain and ran into a huge amount of ice which was a brand new experience for my jeep and I. We made it down the first few slopes avoiding the ravine below, until we came to a long slide and Greg (leading us) almost slid into a stopped jeep on the track. Turns out some local CU students got themselves in over their head while offroading the day before.

We decided the best way out was to back track the way we came up the mountain and down the other side. To begin with we had to winch our own jeeps back up the icy slope and then we responsibly winched up the third jeep! This winching line, composed of one jeep tethered to a tree, the second tethered to the first and the third being winched up, continued for 50 or so feet until we could all turn around safely.

We then continued up the road until we approached the long slick. I decided to air on the safe side and winched up it. However Greg decided to go for it and came screaming up the slope at 40 mph. He made it his first try and we were all in disbelief. Upon making it back to the trail head, we celebrated by showing the newbies jeep stacking, and left everyone with a memorable experience!

~Shaun

All We Need is Love and Starbucks

http://starbucksloveproject.com

On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played “All You Need is Love” together. Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song.

Join in by lending your own voice to http://StarbucksLoveProject.com Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing All You Need is Love yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa. You can also help increase the Starbucks contribution to the Global Fund by submitting a drawing to the Love Gallery.

The global sing-along is part of our continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. In just one year in partnership with (RED)™, Starbucks has generated money equivalent to more than 7 million days of medicine to help those living with HIV in Africa.

~Shaun

Baraka

Here is some cool facts about Baraka!

• Baraka was the first film in over twenty years to be photographed in the 70mm Todd-AO format, an extremely high definition wide-screen film format developed in the mid 1950s. The previous film filmed in this particular format was The Last Valley (1970).
• Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, which can be translated “as a blessing, or the breath, or the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds.”
• Was filmed by a five person crew over a period of 14 months in 24 countries across 6 continents.

To those who have not seen this terrific movie, it is across between Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel and Aborigines in loin cloths you might see on National Geographic! The movie demonstrates how even though we are all very different human beings, we all move to the same beat, and represent the same themes in a different cultural context! You can check out the trailer below:

I highly recommend you see this! It is one of those movies you can see over and over again and still see new things each time. Plus there are so many themes within the underlying material worth talking about, such as: Connection, Rhythm, Suffering, Religion, Ritual, just to name a few.

~Shaun

Pilots License

For the last two years I have been working on my Pilot’s License! On and off during college, during the summer, during the holidays. It seemed like I spent more time learning how to fly and less time actually flying for fun! It all started when it was recommended to me through a good friend to become a pilot. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into and I can honestly say that it has been one of the hardest accomplishments I have achieved in my life.

Now you should know that learning to be a pilot is not fundamentally hard. You start out with an instructor, then take a written examination, next you go on a few solo cross countries, you do some ground and prepare for the check ride. Last you sit for the check ride and demonstrate what you have learned. This would normally be easy, however I had 5 different instructors, and learned on and off which made retaining the information difficult. Last, my biggest problem I later learned was an anti-authority issue with having to learn anything that seemed unpractical or inefficient. After struggling with this issue for  a few months I finally found an instructor that seemed to understand my mindset, and had the patience to work through it with me. It also turned out that Jason, was the first instructor I met in Tallahassee but didn’t end up working with him because he was busy at that time. It’s funny how things work out in the end.

For me this lesson in life turned out to be one of those that you look at in the beginning as a large mountain. You are pumped to climb and conqueror this mountain. Halfway up you began to question your judgment on the ground, wondering in fact how tall the mountain actually is. When you are near the top you think to yourself, “This mountain will never end and I will die trying to climb it”. Once you reach the top you breathe a sigh of relief and pat your self on the back remembering your performance. On the way the down you think wow that wasn’t such a difficult mountain, how come I was complaining so much. When you reach the ground you think wow, what an experience and a challenge, I will remember this forever. As you walk away and the mountain becomes smaller in the distance you realize that in fact it was just a mountain like any other and you reminisce on the feeling of your accomplishment. As you look into the distance up ahead you realize the horizon is filled with what appears to be small mountains like the one you just climbed!

I will say that this experience did more than just teach me a lot about myself and give me the ability to fly safely, because at the end I now had a close friend who had been patient and encouraging enough to fare the journey with me, not only as someone who had already climbed this mountain, but also as someone who helped me as I was stumbling over all the small rocks on the way up!

Jason Burrows (left) me (right)

Jason Burrows (left) Me (center) Robby Turner (right)

So what did I learn from this experience? Well for one the thing that which you dislike most about yourself, is usually the one thing you need to work on most. Also, if you are interested in a future vision, sometimes you have to put up with the small things along the way in which you do not enjoy. Basically, pick your battles!

During the check ride, I became a completely different pilot then I had been up until that test. I pretty much nailed every single maneuver Robby asked me to perform and at the end I was able to stick a perfect short field landing on the mark we chose. The last landing I did was a soft field landing and I even performed it with a cross wind, which can make it tricky! You have to put one wheel down before the other, while your flying sideways (crabbing into the wind). Again I performed it spot on! The video below demonstrates what I am talking about.

~Shaun

Rocky Mountain High

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had in the mountains.  I flew to Boulder and had a reunion with Mindy and Kevin and family who are graciously hosting Shaun while he goes to school and interns in social ventures.  We had an awesome time walking around the cute downtown area and what a lunch at a local cafe.  We had time for some skiing at Eldora and then went hiking up 1270 feet on a local trail into the mountains.  We also had a tour of Naropa University, where Shaun plans to attend in the fall and a tour of Green Garage, where Shaun is interning.  Boulder is just a great little town with friendly people and breathtaking scenery.  I am so grateful to visit this beautiful part of our planet.   Thank you for friends and family.

Sacred Women’s Circle

We had an awesome birthday celebration having a sacred women’s circle.  We all shared what it was like to turn 40.  We shared our insights, changes, fears and accomplishments.   Turning 40 is becoming in tune with yourself as real and OK just as you are.  It is knowing that to contract and turn within is good.  We read poems, lit candles, honored the 4 cardinal directions and earth, fire, water, air and ethers.  We meditated and then made a rose petal infinity sign (8) and the birthday girl walked the labyrinth of candles.   We shared our spiritual paths and insights.  What a blessing.    Thank you wonderful friends.

Great Waffle Recipe

1 cup all purpose unbleached flour   (3/4 cup white, 1/4 whole wheat)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 cup rice or soy milk
1 large tablespoon plain yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon oil

mix and pour on to waffle iron.
serve with bananas and strawberries and yogurt

~mom