Plans beginning to take shape

Time is compressing down on this long awaited adventure. Only a matter of mere months now. It's challenging to even relate all the little details. So many moving pieces, so many beautiful new connections, so many inspiring new inspirations. With all that's happening, it's sometimes difficult to maintain focus on all the ducks that I'm trying to corral into neat little rows.

Over the course of the next three and a half months I'll be handing my role as Stocking Supervisor at Wheatsville Co-op over to a new set of hands. With any luck, this new person will be able to take the position (and the co-op) to places I've not even considered. Already the position is rapidly evolving into one that will be much more effective for my predecessor. I've taken a lot of pride in my work there and it's important for me to continue to see it progress and improve, even when I'm not at the helm. 

Even as I'm planning an effective exit strategy at Wheatsville, I'm working to insure Community Cultivators has a solid foundation and leadership to continue growing and making a difference. The variables involved in those two things alone are enough to take up all my energy and then some. Somehow, I've still managed to make time to enjoy my life. In fact, I think I enjoy it now more than ever!

I'm not sure how exactly I've found the time to maintain two blogs in the midst of all this, either. One thing I do know is that I've hardly seen my house in weeks!! It's mostly a place were I go to sleep at night and brush my teeth in the morning. why I'm spending so much money on something I could get at a free camp site I'll never know.

Once the next three and a half months are up, I'll have only a month and a half to get my stuff together before I embark on this crazy adventure. During that final month and a half there are several things that still need to happen. A trip to Douglas, Texas to visit my folks and store the few personal affects I'd like to retain is not least among them. A tour through Dallas and Houston will surely also be in the works for that short time.

On September 14th, two short days before my 31st birthday, I will board a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii. While there, I will spend much valuable time catching up with my cousin and aunt who I've not seen in several years. This is where I hope this blog will really start to take shape. The plan is to travel across the islands meeting new people and exploring the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. 

Oahu, Molokai, and the big island are all definite destinations for this leg of my journey. My aunt lives on the big island, in Kailua-Kona. I'm looking forward to checking out the lava fields and other sites I've been hearing about there. In Oahu, my cousin has a beautiful home (I've only seen in pictures) in Honolulu. The surf calls to me and, with any luck, you'll see a picture or two of me riding the waves and climbing the mountains of Oahu.

My adventures in Hawaii will conclude, most appropriately, with a trip to the island of Molokai where I hope to meet up with Malia Akutagawa who heads up the Sust`aina ble Molokai network. Recently, Sust`aina ble Molokai Partnered with Permaculture Research Institute USA to develop a Molokai Permaculture Education Initiative. Check out this video that came out as a result of their hard work:

It's a highly inspirational piece that I'm very excited to get the opportunity to visit first hand. I'll do my best to document the progress their work has made on the landscape and share that with you here. 

Of course, there are plenty of things I'd like to get to do while I'm in Hawaii, and I'm sure there will be plenty of adventures of the spontaneous variety, but my time will be limited and the things I've listed here are about the only things important enough to me to have scripted.

After almost 20 days of island fun I start the grueling 22 hour flight that will take me to Brisbane, Australia. From there, I travel 3 hours inland to start my internship on Zaytuna Farm with the esteemed Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. 

The internship is a 10 week intensive that traverses five weeks of course work interspersed between five weeks of hands-on application. After completion of the internship, the real fun begins... and this is where I begin to show what your generous donations can do. 

After the internship I will venture into unknown territory. Although I am trying to establish some idea of where I'll end up... I'm also hoping to leave this end of my trip somewhat open-ended. I'm sure opportunities will arise while I'm in Australia that are too appealing to pass up. The book is open and the pages yet to be written. Your generosity will help to carry me into unexplored lands. And, through this blog, you'll have the opportunity to see the powerful influence a small donation can have on the lives of people who have very little.

Imagine, you could provide generations worth of food security to a whole community abroad with very little effort of your own accord. In return, I'll show you techniques and methods to achieve the same thing in your own back yard!

Thanks to all those who have donated already. It's been very inspiring to witness the generosity of my family and friends!

My deepest appreciations,

Theron

the sound of a distant train

As I shift things around in my house my mind drifts to all the new adventures I've yet to encounter. On the floor of my living room I'm building three piles of all the things I've accumulated over the past several years. 

One pile contains all the things I want to come back to, a collection of soft and comforting thoughts to welcome me home.  

Another, the largest of the three piles, is built of all the things that no longer serve me. Everything I've collected and, for one reason or another, found no particular reason to continue hanging onto. 

Last and, in this case, also least, is the small collection of things I will be taking with me. Purely utility, this pile includes mostly hiking and camping gear, a few books and a small collection of outdoor attire. The most recent addition to this area of my living room floor is a pair of durable, waterproof, italian leather hiking boots which will double as a sturdy work boot for my permaculture practice. 

Each of these piles represents a totally different frame of mind. Basically, my headspace, much like the physical space I occupy, is divided into three distinct piles.

I have, in this lobe, between these folds of gray matter, the thoughts of all the people, places and the various "works in process" that I hope will be here to welcome me back. With all the great friendships that have developed for me and all the projects I'm starting to see grow and progress, I feel that I'll find it difficult to say goodbye. And so, like the pile on my floor, I put these things in a place that I can come back to with the hope that I will one day again have the opportunity to appreciate their fine qualities.

Then there is the large load of karmic accumulations that I will leave behind entirely. In the physical world... this is the largest of the three piles. In my figurative headspace, this is pile is actually quite small and mostly made up of intangibles. Things like a 50+ hour a week job, rent on my little North Hydepark cottage, and other stresses and obligations that go along with such vestiges of my "modern" lifestyle.

lastly, and conversely NOT least, is the space that I store all the dreams, goals and aspirations of what's to come. Between almost every thought and idea there is a whisper of the adventures ahead. Like the sound of a distant train, these thoughts are increasing in size and volume, not far now from permeating the entire landscape that is my mind. As the steady hum of this approaching train draws nearer, I realize its becoming more and more difficult to focus on all things still hanging out in the other two piles. Drowning out many of the less significant things I would normally occupy my time with, the only things that really seem capable of still capturing my attention are the ones that are starting to shout at me through the recognition that I'm clearly not paying them nearly as much heed as I once had (ahem... utility bills, for example, have a good way of reminding me I need to maintain focus for just a little while longer).

And so, for a little while longer at least, I realign my focus and anchor my resolve so that the sound of this approaching train does not uproot me before I'm all aboard!