Author Archives: kelvingurr

Up, Up and Away!

Posted on by Standard 7
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First flight they can remember. Hawaii bound and loving it.

When I think about when our RTW trip starts I knee jerk to this first flight from Portland to Hawaii.  IMG_6453

The truth is it began for me when we left our house, our home, of 12.9999999 years (as most of you know I don’t even like to write the number after 12). We drove the Amobile (adventure mobile- 99 suburban complete with custom wood bumper) and our van to Idaho to spend time with family and friends. As well as drop off a bunch of shit on my folks including The Amobile.  A wonderful visit filled with an undertone of preemptive homesickness. IMG_6352Smiles on people’s faces as we depart for a year knowing it will fly by but at the same time a sense longing to get together sooner.

 

Headed for Portland to fly to Hawaii just happened, without planning of any kind, be the solar eclipse. Our journey we have made many times would be blessed with an unbelievable spectacle as we passed through the path of totality.

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Side route to Huntington, OR and down to Brownlee reservoir on the Snake river gave us a view of two states shrouded in darkness. At totality nothing could hold back my primal hoot and holler. As in the movie Better Off Dead, we had witnessed a truly awesome spectacle. My father was on hand bringing wisdom, a 70’s tripod with legs bigger in diameter than swing sets and an old pair of Bushnell binoculars attached with a piece of bike tire (no shit), 50/50 cord and a small bungee. DSC00331The master of improvisation was able to project the eclipse to an old easel.

Patience

Posted on by Standard 2

“Chaotic action is preferable to orderly inaction.”- Will Rogers securedownload

I’ve been holding out on you.  I’m told I’m one of the most patient people on the planet.  Family, students, peers, employers, and more have stood by saying “Well? Do you have an answer yet?”, “Did you hear me?”, “just tell me the answer, Chef.”.  In my defense; yes, I am listening, always.  I am a fabulous listener and observer. Yeah, it’s a bit creepy.  I am also an introvert.  For my former students this might be hard to realize but it took all I had to present, lecture and interact with you.  I would go home and shut down to the point of not communicating with my family and honestly, it wasn’t fair for them.  I had spent all my extrovert powers at work and left nothing for the people closest to me.

I have been wanting to write for years.  Putting it off until the time was right, when I had the time, when my computer was running well, ect…  I am a thinker and sometimes I will not do something until I know the outcome completely.  It sucks.  I put in all the scenarios and then won’t start until I am sure of the outcome.   Luckily for you I have changed a bit.  Not completely but some.

Years ago I started to build, no wait, I started to plan to build, a chuck box for hunting and camping.  Research included looking at what was in the market already, materials, tools required, space to do the job, and, of course, time to do the building.  A little more than two years later and I had made my own chuck box.  Mission complete!

Bulllllsssshit…. I had spent two complete hunting seasons (spring turkey, archery and rifle deer and elk) improvising with what I had and done just fine.  I had found that being flexible and having less was the key.  I used the chuck box for one season of camping/hunting before using as a storage shelf in the garage.  Two years for one fucking season what a waste!  The most valuable lesson I had learned was to start something.  Yeah, just start it and keep hammering nails into it.  You can change it or fix it later.  Be flexible, don’t try to figure it all out before starting.  Most solutions present themselves in the moment.

The excuses have all gone by the wayside and you are all in for what I hope is a treat.  My perspective.