it's been a while since i've packed a pack, a real pack, for going out in the woods with nothing but the essentials. tomorrow i will be in georgia, two hours north of atlanta, in the blue ridge mountains. our house on the river, with a boathouse full of kayaks ten minutes down the path along the ocoee. everytime i'm there it's just so incredible. the first time, going to see the house with my dad in february, was such a good change to get out of miami. and then again in april, after a weekend back at duke, it was so hard to leave everyone and the amazing four days there, for detox in georgia. and this summer, having an all night talk with my grandma, and white water rafting down the ocoee sections that were where the 96 olympic whitewater races were held, with my dad, brother & uncle.. amazing.

this time, i'll be hiking with my dad again, we're going back to the start of the appalachian trail & the falls. i'm so excited for cold weather & the mountains.

at the nasher museum of art, i got this little varnished silver charm that says 'live simply'.

i think the last time i really packed a pack for a long trip costa rica.

exactly two years ago, right now i was at mario's in la bahia drake. one of the most amazing times of my life.

2006 has been an intense, crazy year full of changes, decisions, and beginnings. lately i am at peace with life, dealing with the fact that i still miss things (totally normal!) with the fact that i love where i am right now.. and comforted by the fact that i have seen that love doesn't always leave, friends that truly matter will always be there, life is a circle..

...I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood and all the living and the dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago and the clouds as they pass overhead...

it's funny. after not having written for a while, i am suddenly finding myself with so many words. looking back on my writing, i miss the specificity, the way one single incident would be so important. and now, day's blend together. a word a trip a lovesong or two.


-------------------------------------
archive. profile. notes. random.