From A Traveling Expert

So I do a lot of traveling these days. Most of it is for work, but not all of it is. Until I began BVS I hadn't done very much traveling by plane or train, it had mostly been by car. Now flying has become almost like second nature. I am also extremely fond of taking the train whenever I can, it's by far one of my favorite ways to travel and I go by train whenever I can!

The other week I had a new experience with traveling. I used the Greyhound Bus service when I was in Oregon. It was one of the only ways to get where I needed to go and even then I wasn't quite there yet! Let me just tell you that whenever I travel I am always meeting and observing the people around me. There are some interesting characters around there. I'm sure other people think the same thing when they see me!

I've been thinking of two particular stories lately that I want to share. The first one comes from when I was traveling to Camp Myrtlewood in the southwestern corner of Oregon. I flew into the town of Eugene and then needed to get to the Greyhound station downtown to go south. I hadn't really thought about how I was going to get from the airport to the bus station but I figured that there would possibly be some kind of public transportation available. On board the plane I began talking to the gentleman sitting next to me, his name is Bob, and I came to find out that he's lived in Eugene for almost 40 years or so. I thought to myself, well maybe he'll know how I can get to where I need to go. So I asked him. Bob paused and thought about it for a little bit and then said that he wasn't sure, but he thought there might be a bus downtown or something like that. Then after another pause he said that he was getting picked up but he thought that they would be able to drop me off. After getting off the plane Bob was there waiting for me and together we walked to the baggage claim. He left me at the information desk while he went to get in a smoke outside. The woman at the information desk said that there was no public transportation to the bus station but that I could rent a car if I needed to and that there were shuttles available to the hotels nearby. Neither of which were helpful. I don't think she quite understood what I was asking for. So I went and found Bob outside and said that if he thought his friend could give me a lift, I'd gladly accept. Keep in mind that I don't typically do this!! So Bob and I sat and talked while we waited. He works for a saw mill and I shared with him about BVS and what it is and what it's like to be a volunteer. Mike came rollin up in his black Nissan truck and Bob went up and asked if they could drop me off at the bus station. Mike peered over Bob's shoulder at me and said sure. So I threw my stuff into the back and Bob sqeezed himself into the back seat somehow and off we went. I made it safely to the Greyhound station thanks to these two guys!

This experience reminded me of the time three years ago when I was headed down to Pensacola Florida for several weeks of disaster response. I was flying down there through the Atlanta airport. We left Atlanta and ended up circling around Pensacola unable to land so we were sent back to Atlanta. Once we were there we were given new tickets for the following morning and vouchers for hotels in the area. These vouchers were for hotel rooms at a discounted price. I wasn't really in the mood to pay the full amount and as I walked away from the kiosk I saw a woman that I had been talking to in line. I thought for a minute and then went up to her and asked if she was willing to split the cost of a room for the night. I told her that this wasn't something that I typically did, asking strangers to do something like this. I wasn't really up for spending $50 on a room, but I was more okay with $25. So Faith and I decided to split the cost of the hotel room. We talked about how this wasn't something that either of us had ever really done. But you know, it worked out really well. And it was nice to not have to spend New Years Eve in the Atlanta airport.

It's amazing to me how many stories come out of traveling. Some good ones like these and other not so good experiences. But I like to remember these because they tell of all the good people that are out there in the world and how our lives are so inter connected.

Doing Things for Me

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I am as an individual and what that means. As a result I've been spending a lot more time talking about 'me' than I'm used to. I've been extremely focused lately (for the past several years really) on paying attention and listening to others and asking them guiding questions and putting all my energies on them.

But lately I've been taking more time for myself. Doing things that I want to do. For me. Call it selfish if you'd like. I prefer to think of it as healthy. I haven't taken the time lately to care for myself. To do the things I find relaxing.

For the last several months, since I returned from Nigeria, I have found myself unable and uninterested in photography. Something that I have enjoyed doing these past several years I wasn't able to do. So I began to wonder and think about why that was. I believe I haven't been taking care of my own well being.

So I have been taking the time to walk through the woods. To spend time wandering and being. To stop for an hour and pick green beans because I can. To make it so that I'm home and available on Frisbee days. To travel down a quiet river with a good friend and a couple youngsters on a canoe. To appreciate sunsets on both the plains and over the mountain tops. To sit and be. To talk more openly with friends. To be.

It isn't easy. I often times find myself totally lost in what's going on with work or trying to see everybody under the sun when I'm home. It's a matter of looking for those small things in life that bring joy to our lives. Things that recenter our lives and bring us closer to the small positives things in our lives that occur every day.

The Setting Sun

So this is out of order. But I wanted to get it down quick before I forget! I'm back in Elgin for just a few days between my west coast adventure and my east coast adventure. I got in Sunday night and I leave early tomorrow morning.

Today I spent the afternoon and evening at Camp Emmaus, the Church of the Brethren camp about an hour and a half away from Elgin. It was a great visit. I got to talk about BVS. I got to see my youth from Highland Avenue. I got to be at camp. I got to eat mountain pies (mini pizza's) for dinner (although here in Elgin there are no mountains so they call them pie iron dinners). I got to swim and relax a bit and catch up with a good friend. Basically it was a great visit.

But what I wanted to write about specifically was the ride home. I was driving directly east, so in the opposite direction of the setting sun. The sunlight that was cast on the wide open corn fields that are still in the early stages of growth simply took my breath away.

I think I was paying attention to this because of a conversation that I had with Tyler, one of our volunteers who is serving in the hills and valleys in Oregon. I feel more at home in the mountains and valleys and Tyler was saying how he misses seeing the sunset over the wide open fields and plains of the mid-west. He's right, there is a certain beauty to being able to watch the sun set over the horizon. Everyone should experience it sometime.