The Skies

What 10 days of flying looks like

AS I find myself in the middle of my summer vacation and whirlwind tour of my life, friends and family, i realize some of the most valuable things in life.
1) slowing down...
2) a smile
3) love is patience
4) family is the most important thing to maintain (Chosen or biological)
5) ambition is an interesting thing

the world looks different from 30,000 feet
and the inside of every airport is exactly the same.
i have been in so many that some times i get off a plane and don't know where I am or where I am going... and most importantly I don't know who I am there to see.

But these are the things that i need to be occasionally reminded of, because it is in this way that I return to myself and the direction that I am headed.

I have three more planes to board before I leave for China again as an Expat. Then I will really live abroad, teach abroad and BE abroad. I have more family to see more friends to see... more fried chicken to eat and more shoes to buy. I will take the best parts of The US to China with me... that is the memories and love of you. I will take my heart to China with you in it.

My Aunt Maggie's garden: Denver

a long lost friend:12 years later: Portland, OR

Nips and snuggles: Seattle

more moments in seattle to take with me and remember... only the puppy has left actual marks.

Take me out to the Ball game

Seattle: Home of the Mariners
ICHIRO. Japanese out-fielder
me, a moose and a Canadian (dear friend and poet extraordinar)

magnetic poetry: brilliance in a box

who knew it was so easy to find the words in my heart.
"Until I get over you, get in the oven... I'd been, I say, I'll how oh too but done."

summer in california

A new home has been forged out of sweat and blood. My mom has made her home in the old gold country deep in the mountains where a bit of the former existence: gnarled old toothless men, panning for gold in the rivers that cut through this land and bring the precious water and cool shade of trees on the hot days, and the small world feel of the antique wine villages and aging abandoned corners that used to be metropolitan hubs.
The distinctive golden hills of this part of California will always mean summer to me and now will remind me of home... the kind of home that moves where ever loved ones are.

It is time to get out the Atlas

I have a new home. Consider coming for a visit.

UpDate:
So less than twelve hours before leaving Shanghai for the summer I signed a lease for a great new apt. I have a place to live... and a job it is almost like I am making a new life in China. who would have guessed?

And I am back in the States for the summer, currently lying in the sun in a park in San Francisco... I will spend the next 7 weeks traipsing all around the country trying to see as many loved ones as possible. Then in August I will go to work teaching, learning, living and playing.

As I am reminded of how much I love and miss my friends I am inspired to INVITE YOU to visit me in Shanghai. I have the new apt that has a great spare room... and any excuse to travel is a good one. So consider a trip to China this year.... I will make it memorable... and well worth your while... Promise.

While I am in the US I have a new cell # so feel free to reach me: (415.283.8793)

Colombian Unrest.

Just so you know.
things are not quiet down there.
if you want to read some of the articles about the struggle students are facing (government threatening to eradicate public education)let me know and i can email you.