"Is It Time to Go Yet?" : )

Well, actually, no, and I suspect it is getting as frustrating for anyone else reading this blog as it is for me. However, I have thought to tack a sign to my trailer with a picture of a turtle on a bicycle (like me) with the caption "Can't Rush This!" (And if the music from M.C. Hammer's "Cant' Touch This!" has come to your mind, the association would be correct. :))

I am much closer now, of course, to starting my journey, but that means my brain is also kicking into overdrive (as it did last night until 4:00 this morning) to make sure I have thought of everything I can think of that I can do to better insure the success of my journey. In addition, it is reminding me of ideas for things to do that I've actually had all along, and now I am at the point of following through on those ideas as well.

In addition, I am having to be sensitive to the patterns of the changing seasons. With my original plan, I was going to head West and then North West, assuming I would be better off traveling away from the summer heat. Now, as I am seeing myself moving more into the middle of August, with September, and "fall" not far behind, I may decide to take my route more directly West instead.

Either way, the first few weeks of my journey are going to be HOT, which ultimately means I will not be able to spend as much time each day riding, so as not to get heat exhaustion, although I'm thinking I can accommodate that some by traveling more during the early morning or late evening hours. However, cycling in the evening is more hazardous and may require using more lighting/battery/solar power as well. In general, traveling in the heat means I have to be more sure of water sources and making sure my electrolyte intake is sufficient.

All these things I have to take into consideration, and better to imagine in as much detail as possible now, and plan accordingly, than to approach this in a haphazard way without really "thinking it through" first. I have a good brain, and it is quite good at "visualization" so I am using that capacity fully. And now that I am out of my house, but have a comfortable place to do this important part of my preparation, I want to be sure I do the mental as well as practical work that needs to be done.

As I mentioned above "Can't Rush This!"...(duh, duh, duh, dunt, duh, dunt, duh, dunt...Can't Rush This!...) (Imagine a Blue Turtle Dancing in Baggy Pants!)

: ))

Progress Update

It is pretty amazing to me that almost three weeks now have gone by..."just like that"! But, I have managed to get a lot done, most recently I made several pairs of "Bell's Baggy Bottoms" out of light weight cotton fabric which I think will be the most practical for me to wear when I am not on my bicycle. I've even been able to share the pattern and sewing method with my host...I just have to clear myself out of her living room so she can have the space to sew some for herself! :)

And that clearing should take place this next week. I only have some minor adjustments left on all of my gear and storage bags. I hope I can take pictures to share, but I've had trouble uploading pictures to this blog so far (at least with my iPad).

Otherwise, I am almost fully recuperated from being sick myself while I have also been able to help my host in caring for a five-week-old kitten - the only survivor of a litter of six that were rejected by their mother. He's had an eye infection that may have cost him the eye, but with the TLC and medication we've been able to provide, it is almost completely healed now. It's been nice to be around furry animals again as I have had only my turtles the last couple of years.

I have also had the opportunity to share some of the diet info I started to share here (and hope to continue as soon as I get the picture upload problems solved) by actually making green smoothies, sprouting mung beans and lentils, etc. and cooking up my special "Egg Friend Rice" recipe to share with my host. This is kind of something I've always imagined doing, i.e. living with someone or a family for a while and actually doing these things for/with them until they were comfortable enough to continue on their own.

As a side note: While sewing I have been watching Boston Legal since my host had the complete series on DVDs. I've always been a William Shatner fan since the early Star Trek days, so it was good to see him again. What I have come to appreciate however is how David E. Kelley use the medium of the show to debate politics, etc. in a public forum. Since I have never watched television that much, I forget that sometimes...there are good programs out there that allow for some really serious consideration of important issues.

In addition, I have been listening to Free Audio Books available from Stefan Molyneux at www.freedomainradio.com. So far I have listened to Universally Acceptable Behaviors, Every Day Anarchy, and I am currently listening to The Origins of War in Child Abuse which is a Reading by Molyneux of the book by Lloyd Demause.

A major thrust of Molyneux's work is Understanding Violence (or the "initiation of force") as a major underlying "evil" of human behavior. I will still add the caveat that some "primitive" cultures may have evolved a better understanding of this than "modern cultures" - per Daniel Quinn's writing especially in The Story of B; i.e. that what we know of "human cultures" in the modern world does not necessarily represent our knowledge of ALL OF MANKIND. Nevertheless, I feel the ongoing acceptance of violence, especially that exercised by modern governments as a part of our everyday lives is one of the most important issues we are going to have to deal with more effectively if our modern cultures are to EVOLVE beyond where we are right now. I would offer that our clinging to violence as a "solution" to so many "problems" is what is holding us back and that we will continue to spin our wheels in this rut, until we are willing to give up violence as a solution - altogether.

I hope you will take the time to listen to more of what Stefan Molyneux has to say yourself. He has definitely opened my eyes and heart to a deeper understanding of violence and all the forms in which it exists in society today. I feel it is time that we Move Beyond this rather un-evolved way of being, as there is so much more to be gained by doing so.

Peace...

Re: Staying "On Schedule"

Just a brief post here to mention that as I have been resting, recuperating, and finishing the work of organizing what I will be taking with me on the road, it has poured down rain almost every day (except today, which is not over yet). And when I say poured, I mean, torrential, bucket loads.

If I had been "on schedule" as I had initially "thought" or planned myself, I would have been riding in all of that, or camping in it, and I'm sure it would have made for a much more difficult start to my journey.

However, for now at least, I am dry and secure, as is all of my electronic gear, food and clothing. Furthermore, "Mother Nature" has made very clear my need to be more certain about weather protection for myself and my gear, which is where all of my sewing skills are going to once again be called into action.

Now that I am not on a work schedule, or a move-out schedule, or any other particular "deadline" as far as my travel plans are concerned, I am going to trust that I will know when I am ready, and when it is actually time for me to go. I think one of the real spiritual lessons for me now is to be even more guided by "Universal Impulses" rather than just my mentally thought out plans.

For some of you that may seem impractical, and you may even grow impatient with my "wandering"... but, this is my journey and part of the whole point is to be able to engage it Freely, Spontaneously, and Happily.

There is so much in our culture now that does not allow for that, and I think it is a great loss for each of us as human and spiritual beings.

Recovering from My Move-Out

My move out of my basement apartment in Maryland ended up taking A Lot longer than I anticipated.  I think it was worse because I was not just moving to another place, but was having to sell things and put the rest in storage.  The time it took on e-mails and phone calls to potential takers of my furniture, etc., really cut into my time packing. And, then, at the end, I had to find a place to re-locate my left-over food stuffs, both perishable and not-so-perishable.  Add to that a live-in landlady who had motives of her own for slowing my progress (so that I ultimately missed my move-out deadline of June 30th), and then it becomes clearer as to why I did not actually get out of the house until July 2nd.

And now, I've come down with my usual, gunky, upper respiratory response to way too many days and nights of over exertion and not enough sleep. I am currently staying with a friend in Williamsburg, VA and I hope to be able to finish figuring out what I can pack onto my rig and how, while I am recovering from being sick.

In general, I have understood all of the challenges I have faced so far as mere "training" for the additional challenges I know I will face in the weeks and months ahead.  So I have been trying to just "Keep On Keepin' On" and assuming that I will get on the road eventually, and I will make this journey as I have planned, if not necessarily within the exact time-frame I planned.

For now, I am still in the transition phase of my journey, from living in a stable situation to living and traveling on my bicycle. I really wish I had time to pack my rig before moving out of my apartment, but that's just not the way it worked out.

As I anticipate will be the case throughout this experience, I am just going to have to adapt and overcome. :)

I appreciate everyone who has helped me thus far, by buying my stuff at Harper's Ferry Flea Market, and from Craig's list, and E-bay, etc. and for Radu who helped me move my larger furniture pieces into storage, and for others who accepted "food gifts" from my pantry, as I hate to see anything go to waste, and to those of you who have made direct contributions via this blog and PayPal.

I also appreciate all of the words of encouragement. I think some of you sense the enormity of what I am trying to undertake even moreso than I do.  But then, if I really understood how difficult this was going to be from the beginning, it might keep me from actually attempting it! Better just to take one day at a time and see how things go. :)

Thanks again, Everyone! I will be in touch.

We Interrupt This Blog Series for an Important Announcement

Hi, Everyone!

I know there are some new people starting to view this blog as well as others who know about it and who may be eagerly anticipating my next post on "Food Basics Part II" mentioned below.  That post is "in progress," however, Right Now I'm going to have to focus on getting my stuff ready to sell at Harper's Ferry Flea Market this weekend, June 25th. (For more info go here: http://www.harpersferryfleamkt.com/)

In addition, just so everyone knows, this is ALL pretty new territory for me; i.e. blogging here, and especially including images.  I'm still learning my way around the site itself and figuring out how I can make the most of it. Consequently, these first few blogs are the tougher, more time consuming ones, and I just don't have a lot of time right now, given the other things I have to get done before I actually go on my trip.

Furthermore, I'm still on my old, Familiar, PC and operating system.  Pretty soon, even That is all going to change when I get my iPad.

In other words, just like my actual riding of my bicycle, this is all kind of starting in "low gear" and it might take a while for me to build up some speed and momentum.  But I trust that with my Awesome Blue Turtle Powers of Slow and Steady Perseverance...I will ultimately be successful! : )

I do appreciate All of the Support I have received from my current friends and associates and the new ones I am starting to meet.  I will do my very best to Do What I Say I'm Going to Do; and in that way, not betray the trust you have in me, and not betray The Life Impulse that brought me to this point in the first place.

No doubt, there are some challenges ahead, New Challenges that will require different kinds of adaptation from me.  And even if it appears daunting at times, as I said, I am going to do the very best that I can to meet those challenges with courage and humor. : )

Thanks again to all of you who have offered your support and encouragement.  Thank you for Believing in Me as that makes all the difference in those moments (though relatively rare), when I begin to wonder "What the heck am I getting myself into?!"

But, here I am...and it appears the only way "out" at this point is "through." In other words, I'm just going to have to Go Through This and see what happens!?  Although I might have some idea of what's to come, the Future is as much of a mystery to me as it is for anyone who might be reading this blog.  All I know is, right now, I have to get my stuff packed up for Harper's Ferry and once that is done, there will only be five more days before I will be On the Road!

WooooHooo!!! : ))

Food Basics Part I - Enzyme Nutrition

In 1990 I read Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond.  I was so "moved" by my reading and new-found understanding about proper food combining and raw food eating, I invested a significant amount of money ($1587.00 to be exact) in an entire home-study course in Natural Hygiene and even made a trip to Austin, Texas to meet with the publisher, T.C. Fry.  It was one of those early attempts in my life to do something more "entrepreneurial", even though I had no clue about the time investment or the amount of life-stability and self-discipline that would be necessary to complete the training. Consequently, I did not get very far through the course - however, a couple of the more significant books I did read during this time were Dr. H.M. Shelton's Fasting Can Save Your Life  and Edward Howell's, Enzyme Nutrition

In Fasting Can Save Your Life I learned that fasting, i.e. removing the demand for the body to digest food for a while, actually allows the body to "clean house." In so doing it removes toxins that build up and that might otherwise be causing various "-itises"; i.e. irritation and/or "inflammation" of organs and tissues.  In addition, and maybe most importantly, the body starts to "autolyze" (i.e. break down) defective cells, even cancerous or potentially cancerous ones. Through this "house cleaning" process, cells, tissues, and organs are "rejuvenated". A fast of seven to ten days can restore years of life to the body, while fasts of even longer periods can help the body heal from many different and even very serious diseases.

Nevertheless, fasting - i.e. removing something (i.e. food) by stopping some other activity (i.e. eating) runs completely counter to both ancient and modern medical approaches to add something more (i.e. medications) or do something more (i.e. administer other treatments or therapies).  It is just beyond most people in this society to think that the body often has a better chance of healing itself when you stop feeding it (for a while) and/or refrain from doing other things to it or with it; i.e. just let it rest.  (Of course, in modern society there's not much profit to be made by such an approach and that is probably why most people still don't know about it.)  Granted, fasting alone may not work for all illnesses, but for those that are so often caused by poor diet in the first place (and that is a very significant number of diseases, actually), going without food for a while kind of makes sense.

From Enzyme Nutrition I learned that even squirrels sprout their nuts (! : )); i.e. by burying them in the ground they are creating the conditions in which the seeds naturally start to germinate. So... when the squirrels eat them later, especially during the colder months when they need to conserve as much of their own Life-Energy as possible, they are no longer eating the dry, dormant seeds, they are actually eating a "plant embryo" with a much higher water content, activated enzymes, and Life Force.

Although there is certainly much more common knowledge about enzyme nutrition today than there was 20 years ago, there are still many people in our culture who do not know about it. Many people do not appreciate the Life Energy that is expended in the basic function of digestion and more importantly, the body's creation of enzymes for that purpose.  Enzymes are the "heavy laborers" of the human body and just like labor for any job, you should take advantage of "free labor" wherever it is available. Enzymes from the foods themselves are just that: Free Labor to help your body digest food efficiently.  However... just as you wouldn't want to set your construction workers on fire, you can't heat food enzymes much either without destroying them or rendering them incapable of doing their jobs.

Furthermore, movies like  Food, Inc.  really bring home the fact that Food Processors have completely lost touch with the reality that Food Is Life for human beings. This is clear by the way they disrespect and literally destroy that Life through all of their production and processing methods.  Is it no wonder then that so many people in our society are sick; i.e. dying (sooner than they should be) or living as if they were "half dead" already? Or why we feel the need to constantly be "faking" Life Energy by our daily rituals of self-stimulation? Coffee anyone? Fast paced computer game or music video?

But, lest I err as so many others have done, I will now step away from the soap-box!  My Guru Adi Da Samraj was quite astute in observing how people can get very serious (>:{) about diet, and dietary disciplines, and can become convinced of how one way of eating might be so much "better" than another (making the people who eat that way so much "better" than other people who don't - at least from the "point-of-view" of the "ego-'I'" :]). He called this common phenomenon "Lunch Righteousness". And believe me, I Was "Lunch Righteous" after reading Fit for Life...so much so that my proselytizing began to alienate all of my friends. It wasn't until I was considering it all in a journal entry one day that I realized I had to make a decision: Did I want to be "right" or did I want to be in relationship. I chose to be in relationship and I have not been overly "serious" about my diet ever since, or attempted to "convert" anyone to my "point of view."

That doesn't mean I've stopped talking about and sharing my experiences with others, it's just that I do not see it as my main mission in life to change the world through forcing my idea of the "perfect diet" down other's throats...so to speak!

I have, however, continued to explore options for myself and to adapt what I have learned about raw food eating to whatever circumstances I have experienced. One perfect example of this was my continuing to sprout mung beans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and almonds in the file drawers of my work center while I was deployed on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier for six months at a time. It was a good thing too, because sometimes...the lettuce they served us in the galley came out looking a little more like sauerkraut! It was especially on those days I was really glad I had some fresh mung bean sprouts as the base for my "salad" instead!

As I will be discussing in my next blog, this ongoing consideration and adaptation has reached a critical point in that I have been preparing and eating certain foods on a regular basis now since 2010. These are foods that I have also been eating while I on my Bicycle Trek Across the U.S. (2012-2013). The key is that this "basic food plan" includes all the major essential vitamins and minerals from whole food sources, and on a normal work day, I can fit between 15 and 20 of these different whole foods into a large lunch bag (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks).

Once you've read my next blog (or two), you will know how to do that as well - If You So Choose. I will be the first to say that, ultimately, Everyone Has to Find Their Own Way through this vast maze of food options in which we live. And It is Not Easy! It's taken over 20+ years and four fasts of 8 days or longer, trying something new here, tweaking that, realizing something else just really had to go, and/or something else needed to be included...to get me where I am today. And furthermore, what I will be sharing next is the most recent development in what I see as a still ongoing consideration, with even more experimentation and adaptation to come.

But for now, if you're still interested, please read-on through my next blog: Food Basics Part II

I Can Already Feel Myself Growing Beyond Limitations

It's kind of funny really... Most of you may not realize this but...I'm a closet introvert! And yet, here I am getting ready to start on a journey that I'm sure will stretch all of my limits - physically, mentally-emotionally, practically, and spiritually.

In the last few weeks, I've learned how to sell things via E-bay and today I figured out how to add a PayPal button to this site (even received my first donation...Thanks, TS! : )). This may not seem like a big deal to some of you (especially younger folks who have grown up with computers) but, honestly, all of this digital stuff is a bit overwhelming for me so what may seem like "baby steps" for some are more like "quantum leaps" for me. But, that's okay, I want to be an "old turtle" that can still learn "new tricks." : )

Although I am most comfortable writing - I'm going to be making videos on this trip as well and posting them to YouTube, something I still need to learn how to do. I expect the first few videos will be kind of rough, but, hopefully, they will get better with time.

Furthermore, in spite of the fact that I am still feeling like crap physically after my trip to New Jersey, I am feeling encouraged as well - in fact, there have been very few people with whom I have discussed my plans who have not offered words of encouragement and support.

I guess, for people who have known me for a while, I have already developed a certain "reputation" over the years - for doing what I say I'm going to do...no matter how crazy it might seem. : ) I may not always do things as quickly as I think I will, but - eventually, with my "Turtle Power" I do follow through.

All-in-all though, I know this trip really isn't just about "me" - I am going to be relying on a lot of support from others along the way - whether it is a couch to sleep on or a place to set-up my tent, or a bag of mung beans here and there. So as much as I may be on my own journey, it is humbling to know that I will not be able to face the challenges alone - just as it would be for anyone in this world today.

We are All In This Together - and we Have to Find better ways of living with one another and with the Natural World. Part of my motivation for making this trip is to help with that basic understanding - to be a "mobile bridge" if you will to help people "cross-over" from one point of view to another and to start re-thinking all of this - all the choices we have made and are making.

It is never too late to Change Your Mind - to try a different approach, to take some chances and just see what the Universe has to show you. : )

(P.S. I just realized it was 12 years ago today that I joined the US Navy - May 25, 1999! Yet another "leap of faith"... so I guess this has become kind of a habit with me. : ))

Update: 6-5-2011 - First YouTube Video posted - Not a big deal really, just a short demo for my Total Gym that I'm selling on e-bay and the "Accessory Caddy" I designed for it. But - there ya' go - another "leap" for me. : ))