I can’t say I have really had time. I just haven’t made time. There have been plenty of hours sitting in front of the computer. Most of them have been spent researching other places in the USA to live, how to get to those places and what would I do with myself once I got to those places.

The rest of the time over the past months have been spent working at Sun Island Farm three days a week. From May through mid-August we had wwoofers on the farm – Sophie, Jeff, Samantha and Jennie, whom all made my time there a lot lot of fun! At one point, Sophie, Jeff, Samantha and I were all there at the same time, which made living interesting in the container. But it worked and we all had a blast! I did some work for Dr. Bob Norton, building things, some irrigation work, planting stuff. We’ve done some great stuff on the farm. When I left things were growing like crazy, when I get back it will probably look completely different!

There have been days spent in Seattle, dinners with friends on and off the island, lots of hiking, some backpacking trips, and even a golden parade. It’s been a great summer, and I am really really really glad I did not make the move to NC I had written about long ago in my last post.

So, the current update:

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting at my sister’s house in Minneola, Florida. It’s hot and humid outside and I’ve spent more daylight hours indoors in the past few weeks than I have in a couple years combined. Florida is hot. Damn hot. And sticky. And flat. But at the same time very comfortable and fun. I’ve seen the best of old friends and spent a good amount of time with them. I’ve made gestures and thought a lot about seeing other friends, but I’ve got only so much money and so much time. I’ve really enjoyed seeing my brother and sister. And, had only a few good days spent with my Mom right when I got here.

My trip to Florida was primarily to help out my brother, who is in the midst of a divorce. There’s a lot I could say about this, but it’s best that I don’t. Mainly, I helped him move out of his apartment and into his new living situation – now he is living with my sis along with her husband and almost-three-year-old Cam. I will say I am slightly jealous of the situation because they will get to spend mucho amounts of time together (which I don’t get to have) and all my nephews – Tyler, Aidan and Cam – will have an absolute blast when they are all around.

There is definitely a part of me that wishes we all were under the same roof again. Being around my brother and sister, there is a relationship like no other – I relate to them and feel a comfort being around them that I do not feel anywhere else. I miss that.

However … I don’t think it’s enough to bring me all the way back to live in Florida!!! If only it weren’t so damn hot and flat. I’m just not compelled to make the move all the way back.

Which brings me to the other point of the trip. I hopped in my mom’s aging Nissan 200SX and headed north. I left August 2 and got back late on the 7th. Aside from a minor electrical breakdown on I-95 in South Carolina that delayed me for almost a day, it was a great trip. I swept through the Appalachians on a mission to put my feet on the ground in a few places I have been considering moving to. Asheville, North Carolina, Athens, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina (in that order). It was a great little adventure of 2000+ miles of driving, couchsurfing, camping, exploring and even an interview. 

Asheville was great. Pretty much what I thought and was hoping it would be. The night I got there, I met up with my couchsurfing host, Jason, and his girlfriend Monica and went to a potluck. Apparently one of the multitude of weekly potlucks that Asheville is famous for. It was a great first impression as everyone I talked to was really great. Very friendly and doing interesting things. All were very welcoming and encouraging. The next day Jason, Monica and I took a fabulous bike ride around Asheville. We stopped for coffee and did a nice bike tour of the city. I like the terrain a lot – it’s hilly, but not as extreme as Seattle. There’s green everywhere. Lush grasses and lawns, beautiful front-yard gardens and trees everywhere! We met up with another couchsurfer, Katie, chatted for a bit and then walked to Greenlife, the local PCC and Wholefoods-like stores. Greenlife was nice, a little pricey and over-polished – just like the Seattle organic stores. I picked up a few things and we all chilled outside for a few minutes listening to a busker jamming on guitar out front. Once we had our fill, we pedaled downtown, grabbed a cookie at a sub-street level cookie shop called Sugar Momma’s Cookies!  We stashed the cookies in our bags and headed off for the banks of the French Broad, where we dispensed of most of our clothing and took a dip. After the refreshing swim, and with thunderclouds looming, we sped back towards West Asheville and had some delicious Mexican fare. We chilled for a while. Jason and I hung out at his place for some hours, exchanging music, talking about life, living, work, eating, etc. Napped, read, prepared, etc. Then we went to a great local eatery for dinner that night, meeting back up with Monica and Katie and with Katie’s friend (who I can’t remember her name…) Dinner was great, then we went to a blues bar for a beer. A pitcher of PBR, an awkward dance, a glance at the watch and we were out of there. I was planning on leaving at 5 am the next day for Athens, Ohio and wasn’t going to get much sleep as it was! 

Great time in Asheville. A big plus by that one. I can definitely see myself being there!

So I got up bright and early on the 5th and headed towards Athens. The drive was amazing. Western North Carolina, Western Virginia, Western West Virginia and yes, even Southeastern Ohio are all absolutely gorgeous. The six hours from Asheville to Athens went by really quickly. My main goal was to get to Athens to see what the Wednesday Farmers Market was all about. I made it just before the closing time at 1 pm, arriving about 12:30 after touring downtown Athens hoping to simply run across the market … I neglected to write down directions to the market, but ended up asking someone on the street for the info. The market was bigger than expected. Athens was a larger town than expected, too. I started counting the farmers at the market, but lost count after I got to 10. I guess part of me was hoping Athens was an untapped market of sorts, but there is no shortage of farmers. However, even having gotten there right before closing time, there were a fair amount of people still shopping. And, after having a great conversation with Angie Starline about their Starline Organic farm and the market, Athens and such, it seems the market isn’t really saturated – at least not with organic farmers … and the Saturday market is a whole different story. Bigger, better, etc. I scored some sweet corn and cherry tomatoes while talking with Angie. I also picked up some delicious strawberries from another vendor and ate ever single one of them over the next day and a half. 

After my market stop, I had plans to meet up with another couchsurfer – Kelly. She was working at a coffee shop, off at 1:30 and was willing to show me around a bit. We had a really great time! She was a great tour-guide – taking me to the places I would have wanted to see without me really asking to see them. We have a lot in common, which is what made her such a great guide. She’s moved back to Athens four times now, I think. Which is a characteristic of the place I’ve heard from others – it has a strange magnetism that keeps bringing people who’ve lived there back. Of course, I think it’s the great community that is going on there. I’ve just heard rumors, though, and can’t say that yet from experience! Overall, though, Athens is definitely a place I could spend some time in. 

There were two other big things I was to do in Athens – visit some property in Dyesville and meet and interview with Green Edge Gardens farm in Amesville. The property is Dyesville is the first property I’ve really looked at on my quest to find my own spot on this earth. It’s a nice spot. Right about 30 minutes from Athens. It’s potentially a little too remote for me … the central “village” of Dyesville isn’t much to look at. An old church, a few other houses, and mostly decaying trailer homes. There are some houses in the hills and woods around Dyesville, but they are mostly secluded and not visible from the road. I could probably go on and on about the property, and the 1887 house that’s on it, but I’ll link to the pictures instead.

After camping out in the pasture, I headed back to Athens, got coffee at Kelly’s shop and headed to Green Edge Gardens. Amesville is a nice drive from Athens. Amesville itself is a bit more substantial than Dyesville, but still a teeny dot on the map. I met with Dan at Green Edge to inquire about a position that is opening up there. One of their interns is making an unexpected early departure at the end of August. So, they are looking for someone interested in working with them from late August until Thanksgiving. I had previously contacted Green Edge about an internship there and was on their mailing list of potentials. The timing was perfect! I had already been planning on seeing Athens, and it fit right in to my trip. I think the timing of the position will work too. It’s something to bring me east, give me a place to live, put a little bit (and I mean a little bit!) of money in my pocket, and give me a chance to experience southeast Ohio without much commitment. And, mostly, to get some incredible experience on a bigger, very successful farm.

Green Edge is awesome. It’s what I’m looking for in a farm at this point. It’s not “big” per se, but bigger than anything I’ve been on both in scale and in sales. I’ll let their web site do more explaining about who they are and what they do.

Anyhow … this is getting long. I’ll try to summarize the rest … after Green Edge, I headed straight south. I had one more stop on my trip – Charlotte, North Carolina. I had a couchsurfing host lined up there and it was six hours away! I got to Charlotte no problem, hunted down Dave and Hannah, my couchsurfing host and got to spend a bit of time in Charlotte. The reason I had Charlotte on my list is there is a decent Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Center there … and I wanted to see if my gut would like Charlotte or not as I really knew nothing about it. Dave was a great host. We hit the bar that night, played some pool and once again I had a stellar couchsurfing experience. Charlotte is yet another place I could hang my hat (though it’s low on the list), if only for a while.

Electrical?

Huh? It might be my next direction. There’s not really a short way to explain this one. But it makes sense – when I first went to college, I was enrolled in an “Electronics Technology” degree. Essentially the program was electrical engineering without all the math. The program tanked due to not enough interest. I have always been interested in wiring – initially mainly just car stereos, home stereos, etc., but at Sun Island Farm, working with Joe on some electrical work (and some solar stuff) I realize I have a long-lost interest in such things electrical. The electrical trade is a quite flexible one, and the energy industry is one of those things that is never going to go away and is going to expand, if anything. People will always always need electricity. Renewable energy has long been an interest of mine, and is now finally becoming a national and global interest. The time seems right to me, albeit possibly slightly behind the curve, to follow that path once again. Hence, the interest in the Charlotte JATC. However … I did not even stop by and talk to them (because I previously communicated with the training supervisor there and he was on vacation …)

What of Seattle?

So what does all this mean, then? Actually, I’m not sure yet… Why? 

As of today, Green Edge has my references and they are interviewing other candidates. I’m pretty hopeful of getting the position, but am not fully inclined to take it even if offered. I won’t know until Friday at the latest. And that’s the only real opportunity I have in the East.

Mainly because part of me is still looking for a reason to stay in Seattle. It will be really really hard to leave there. The trip I’ve been on to Florida was mainly to see if I can find a reason to leave the Northwest. There are plenty of them, for sure. But man, does Seattle have some gravity to it. And, they have a really good electrical apprenticeship there too. Seattle has just made such an impression on me, and is the place where I feel like I really created myself and who I want to be. I will surely be that person anywhere, but it was most definitely the influences of the people and the surroundings there that have made me.

Realistically, though, to get what I want I feel like the east is where I need to be.

Computer back-ups, work to finish, a new iPod to load, final bag-packing, financial arrangements … family problems to attempt to mitigate … the list goes on.

I ordered a new 80 GB iPod to take on the trip. I had to. There’s just too many good uses for the durn thing. Music, Video, Picture display and storage, language helper, contact list, calendar … it will essentially replace my powerbook on some legs of my travels. I also got the final word on whether insurance will reimburse me for the replacement cost of the things that were stolen. YES! They are sending me a check for the majority, and I’ll have two years to replace the stuff to get full-benefits. What a relief!!! I am so, so glad I had renters insurance. This is the second time it has helped out.

Most of all though, I’ve decided, I miss being in Seattle. Not the weather so much, but I do miss that some. And, now, don’t get me wrong – I would not trade my time visiting here for anything. However – one huge benefit of being in Seattle is being insulated from family issues. Being so far away is really, really nice for me, because these problems aren’t mine. Unfortunately, for me, I’m the middle child and I apparently have quite the case of “Middle Child Syndrome.” I’m always wanting to be in the middle of things, to mediate and fix problems between my siblings or between my siblings and my mom or even in others. There are a lot of positive aspects of this, like I’m usually the one who brings people together. But there’s plenty of frustrations with it too …

I have to realize that I can not fix these familial problems, but I feel like I have an obligation to assist those who don’t have the skill and the gumption to open cans of worms. There are so many deep-seeded and convoluted problems, there’s no way they will get fixed. The only way to get through it is to open the can of worms that is their problems, let them wriggle and writhe on the table, realize they are there, put the worms back in the cans, put the lid on them and store them on the shelf. Their problemos can’t and won’t be solved per se, but everyone needs to stop being in denial and pretending – we are not perfect. Deal with it. No one change is going to solve all of the problems.

Ok? Got all that? (Not that any of my family members even read my blog …)

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to leaving on my travels. And, I am soooo looking forward to traveling on my own and seeing the world. It is here – my departure from this sad state of a country. I can’t wait to open my eyes to the rest of the world! To lose myself in wander and wonder and travel. Live the freedom I have and just go!

I also scanned in a bunch of photos for my mom and she posted them on her flickr account. The majority of the ones up there were to show how much Cameron looks like Lynn. There’s no doubt, though, that Cam looks a lot like Jeff and Lynn.

Actually, I probably won’t be able to sleep because I’ll be so excited about flying to Rome the next morning! I have quite a problem with traveler insomnia, actually. That first day seems like it will be a long one, with the flight from Orlando to London, the time difference and the exhilaration of FINALLY starting my travels.

Upon my friend Christina’s suggestion, I hope to spend at least some of the day exploring Southbank London. Hopefully we’ll even meet up with Christina herself, since it will be a Sunday.

This past week I finally received all the big monies for my trip. I’m pretty much set for quite a while. The insurance claim for the stuff that was stolen out of my truck is finally being processed. So, I placed an order to start replacing some of the stuff. Getting a new iPod will be interesting, the one I’m getting will have 60 Gigabytes MORE storage space that my last one. I’ll be able to fit every mp3 I have on my powerbook, a few movies and still have gigs and gigs of space left for photo storage.

I’m pretty beat right now though. I’ve been helping my brother put down a new floor in his bathroom. I haven’t laid vinyl tile before, or any tile for that matter, and it is a lot more work than I ever thought. It’s nice though. Feels good to do some manual labor. The only wish I have is that we started working on the floor earlier than the last week I’m here. It would be good to see it finished, but even more, it would be good to spend more quality time with my brother. It is truly something we haven’t shared for quite some time and it is really good to experience again. We work well together too.

That’s about it for now. I need sleep …

I still haven’t checked out the places I wrote about a couple weeks ago. It’s mainly because driving here is a pain in the ass. You have to drive EVERYWHERE. Nothing is close. And public transportation? pah! yeah … People here would look at you funny if you were to ask. It does not exist. I went to the bank yesterday to close my oldest bank account (which I don’t use after I paid off my truck loan) – it took me 40 minutes to get there – and that’s without traffic. The grocery store is 20 minutes.

Living in Florida is where I developed, what I think was, my skewed ideas about driving. I used to think nothing about driving 40 minutes to work. Now, I think driving more than 5-10 minutes is way to much. I don’t think this is idealistic, I think it’s reasonable. A complicated debate, for sure. The choices people make in the name of cost and expense vs. sacrificing time.

Enough of that …

One place we drove to for fun recently was the Zellwood Corn Maze. We had been planning to go out in my mom’s boat on Lake Harris, but they’re having a bit of a cold snap here. Lows in the 40s, and brrr … highs in the low-70s. I keep telling mom and Gary it’s like summer in Seattle! The maze was interesting. Aside from it being in a sea of corn, which we navigate everyday in the food choices we have, every year they have “themes.” This year was “American Heroes” and the maze itself was cut in the shape of a cowboy on a horse. An odd combination, I thought. I guess it was easier to cut a cowboy into a field of corn than a soldier defending himself or a firefighter doing their thing. My criticisms aside, I think Tyler had a good time. I know I did. We didn’t get to finish though, something that left me a bit disappointed. The maze is quite huge and we would have been there for hours. Tyler just couldn’t take it. Four year-old attention spans don’t quite make it. It was also “Girl Scout Day” and the maze was packed with troops and parents. You don’t quite get the feeling of being lost in a maze with so many folks around.

I’ve also started to take more photos. It’s mainly spurred by an idea by Stevie-G to do a daily photograph to share with the world. Steve has roped Louis, Susan, Annette and I willingly into this idea. We’ve started a flickr group to share our one-a-days with each other. This is one of the things I’ve been busy with instead of posting to my blog. I was very diligent about it for the first week or so. Now, the last few days I’ve been lazy with that too and haven’t posted/taken a daily photo. I’d like to incorporate it into my blog if I ever get time. It shouldn’t been hard at all to bring in the daily photo to display in the sidebar or something. I need to find the right balance, as taking photos everyday and hopefully posting one for everday, if not posting one everyday, is something I want to do when I’m traveling.

Speaking of traveling, I have less than a month left before I leave and the planning has really cranked up. I’m getting sooooo excited! I cannot wait to leave. I have another story to tell about my friend James, though. (James is traveling with me for the first three weeks.) That one is still developing though. He is totally insane.

Take a look at this article if you have time:

THE NEXT ACT
Is a damaged Administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

Cheney really needs to be thumped. (Asshole).

INSERT_MAP

The boat is moored off the Anclote river and we motored down the river into the Gulf of Mexico to do our sailing.

Saturday was pretty tame. Not much wind at all when we started out on the water. We sailed south of Anclote key for the most part. We putted around with the engine for a while, but the little diesel is pretty annoying compared to the quiet of being under sail. Even with what little wind there was, it was nicer to have the engine off. There was so little wind, I think, it felt like we were actually going backwards, the boat being moved by the tidal currents than wind in the sails.

The wind picked up a bit more towards the afternoon. At one point we were enjoying it so much we stopped paying attention to where we were going and ran aground on a small shoal. (Actually, I think everyone but Bob were napping or reading.) It wasn’t a big deal, we tightened the sails, motivated the boat to tilt to one side and we were off with the wind shortly. The wind kinda died down toward the evening. We anchored right off Anclote key and started making preparations for dinner. Only to find out the alcohol tank was completely rusted out and wouldn’t hold any pressure. We ended up having cold-cut sandwiches for dinner (the same thing we had for lunch). But it was good enough, anyway.

I like sleeping on the deck, so that’s what James and I did. It was nice. The temperature was very mild and there was just the slightest breeze blowing. I slept pretty well, better than I ever have on the boat. I woke up several times through the night. The moon was 1/2 full and the stars were out, so it was fairly bright. All was well until about 5 am when it started raining. We scrambled at the first drops to clear everything below-decks. 20 minutes later the rain was done and I was wide away. Everyone else snoozed off to bed and I stayed up to snack on cookies and finish off the last few pages of Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.”

And yes, the sun did rise later for us on Sunday morning. It brought with it 10-20 mile and hour winds. Perfect! Excellent weather for sailing. We had a blast for two hours. I think James took a picture of me wearing myself out at the helm, keeping us in the best wind. It would be great to have a picture of the boat some day. I’m curious what it looks like at full-tilt on a close reach.

It was a great, exhausting day out. I sleep very well after sailing trips.

• Garden Café
• Dandelion Communitea
• Bull and Bush Pub

I’ve already done the walk down memory lane in my hometown. I drove past the house I grew up in. Past the middle school and elementary school. Drove down to Lake Apopka, by the city pool and docks and playgrounds where I had fun as a kid. Not much has changed, really. Yeah, the schools have changed a bit. They’ve been renovated and added on to, and Dillard Elementary has grown across the street, with a whole new campus overpowering the teeny, outdated school I attended. There are some houses that popped up where there were never houses when I was living in the area. But the area right around my house is largely the same. There are some trailers in the trailer park down the street that have been there since before I was born. Yuck.

A fun thing happened today. This evening my mom and I went to the (Thursday-only) happy hour at the Crown and Shield Restaurant at the Monarch Golf Club at Royal Highlands. We ordered two drinks, a frozen margarita and a gin and tonic – total? $4.00. Four bucks! I think the bartender thought I was weird as I looked at her like she made a mistake. I’m used to Seattle prices. The same drinks would have been double that price even at happy hour! Needless to say I’ll be walking, biking or driving that 1/2 mile to the clubhouse to enjoy cheap drinks again next week. We also chatted up some Royal Highlands residents from Delaware. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice and liberalthey are. Hopefully there are more residents in the same mindset as them.

I’m gonna try to keep track of decent places around the area and tell my friends about them …

Tyler drew the pumpkin face on a piece of paper and I had the honors of cutting it. I thought it was a respectable pumpkin, then I saw this one on flickr. That is one excellent pumpkin! I have never seen one quite like that, but I imagine I’m a little behind the times with pumpkin carving technology. I love that the eyes have pumpkin veins!

I spent a few hours chilling out with Lynn, Jeff and Cam too. The new family is doing well, albeit losing more sleep as time goes on it seems. Things will smooth out for them I’m sure! I can imagine they think it won’t end at this point!

My sister had a birthday and a day later had her first child! Baby Cameron is a beautiful little guy. He was born around 2pm on the 25th, 21 inches and 7 lbs. 6 ounces.

That day alone was quite a wild ride. Lynn and Jeff were at my Mom’s new place for Lynn’s birthday dinner on the 24th. A few hours after they left, they were at the hospital ready to have the baby. My mom and I got two hours of sleep and then headed to the hospital. It was quite the experience. My first time being anywhere near the whole birthing process and definitely one of the most stressful “family” days I’ve ever had. (The most intense being the day my father passed away, coincidentally exactly 10 years to the day my sister gave birth.)

After 14 hours of labor, Lynn ended up having an emergency cesarean-section. I totally missed the commotion while eating lunch in the cafeteria. I came back to her room to find Jeff visibly shaken and talking to his mom on the phone. My mom and Lynn had been swept away to the operating room for the procedure. In the end, everything has turned out great, with Lynn and Cam doing just fine. I’m sure there will be many more links to baby photos as time goes on.

Besides the baby, I’ve helped my mom do the majority of moving into their new house. They hired movers to do the piano and the sleeper sofa and other huge items, but it’s been just us for everything else. It hasn’t been to bad, but makes me appreciate more how little I own and just how portable I am right now!

We also went to a Wilson family gathering at my Aunt Janice and Uncle Hal’s house. A great-cousin of ours was down from New Jersey and it was a good occasion to catch up with some of the extended family anyway.

In the midst of all this I’ve even had a bit of work to do here and there. It’s been nice as I’m not sure what I would have been doing with myself if I didn’t have something to do. The money will be nice to have, for sure. Hopefully there’ll be more for me, not much more, though.

I’ve been playing with Google calendar lately. It’s nice to be able to share calendars – not only so other people can see them, but to give others the ability to add upcoming events to your calendar(s). I’ve got the Europe schedule up so far and I think anyone can view it.

My sister is beautiful! She’s 39 weeks pregnant with her first kid. My mom and Gary have bought a new house in Leesburg and I’m helping them move in and such. My sister and I are in the “living area” of the new place in the picture. It’s a very central Florida house, in what is known as an adult golf community. 80% of the residents are retirees. Neither my mom, nor Gary play golf. But, the house is nice!

I’m here to visit family, soak up some sun, hang-out, be lazy, see friends and then take off to Europe on December 16.

Leesburg is in Lake County, and as you can see by the map below, this part of the state can be described as “porous” it has so many lakes in it! All those black dots? Lakes. If you scroll the map to the right, to the big lake shaped like a gourd – I grew up at the south end of that Lake in Winter Garden.