Yesterday, a new thing was added to my life that can help booster my quality of life.  I got a hearing aid.  I have been mostly deaf in my right ear ever since I was born.  One of the three inner bones in my inner ear did not grow properly during development and has caused me to have a conductive hearing loss in that ear and helped prevent me from hearing conversations I am having with friends or family, especially when there is background noise.  I was finally tired of saying, "Huh? What?", all the time.  I figure it is better to do this now, then miss out on too much else in this marvelous adventure called, 'life'.  This device will also help me with hearing bird songs, hunting and other natural wonders.  When I first placed it in my ear I almost cried.  It was unbelievable how much I have missed out on over the years.  This hearing aid will help tremendously with not only with my vocabulary in the English language, but also with getting ready for complete emersion in a new language and culture.  I am sure there will be some things I will not want to hear, but that is the price you have to pay.

I was visiting my friend Greg, Becky and Bowman Klauk in East Glacier several weeks ago and I was waiting for Greg to get home from work (imagine that), and I was perusing through "The Economist" and the most recent edition of "Time" magazine.  There was an article about Steve Jobs the ex-CEO of Apple and he had some great advice that I have always tried to live by.

He stated, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life,"  he said sounding as if the very thought infuriated him. "Don't be trapped by dogma's which is living with the results of other people's thinking.  Don't let th noise of other's opinions (fears) drown out your own voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They shomehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary."

I am a member of this free poetry website called, "Poetry Chaikhana" that sends you a daily poem and on my last day of work in Glacier National Park this year I checked my email a few days afterwards and a poem was sent me that day that was very fitting and appropriate.

The poem is called, "POEM for NEW BEGINNINGS" by John O' Donahue

In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground.
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of  beginning
That is one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses that world that awaits you.


John O' Donahue


Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream.  My life is wide open at this moment and it feels great!  Scary, but pregnant with potential and opportunities.  I don't know what my future holds but I embrace it with open arms. 

I visited my oldest sister Nancy, her husband Jeff and my nephew Jamison  last night in Leland, Illinois.  We grilled beef steaks, had salad and a wonderful new fruit salad consisting of  apples, snickers, marshmallows, grapes, pineapples, raisins and miracle whip.  It is scumptious!   I have heard of snicker salads before, but that was a first.  Normally, I don't like fruit salads, but this one will be going into my cooking repertoire.

Those of you who know Jamison, he is doing great.  He is seventeen years old, driving, dating lots of girls  and practicing Kar-a-te'.  He is now a yellow belt and has won several trophies.  One of them is over six feet tall.  It is helping him a lot with focusing, discipline, and  hand-eye coordination.  His family and I are very proud of him.

Another video link of my favorite mythologist and teachers that I never have had, but have been fortunate to read almost everything he ever wrote.  His name is Joseph Campbell and he was good friends with George Lucas the creator of the movie, "Star Wars."  He is famous for coining the term, "Follow Your Bliss!"  In this video he describes what exactly that means.

INSPIRATION:

a drawing of mine reflecting the Roaring 20´s with genesis of cinema, bootlegging, gambling, jazz and dancing.  A restless decade celebrating life.

INSPIRATION:  (1) Breathing in, as of air into the lungs; inhaling  (2) an inspiring or being inspired mentally or emotionally  (3) a) an inspiring influence; any stimulus to creative thought or action (b) an inspired idea, action, etc. (4) a prompting of something to the written or said (5) Theol., a divine influence upon human beings, as that resulting in the writing of the Scriptures.    

This is a great video about world traveling that I would like to share.  It is called, "Where the Hell is Matt"? 
As this video portrays there are certain things that transcend language and those are smiling, laughing and dancing.  Perhaps these are the part of the Language older than words.

One of the greatest speeches ever made was not only made by comedian but a man who did not speak much in his movies.  This speech is taken from a movie done in '20's or '30's, the movie is called, "Le Dictateur".  This is one of those messages that is timeless and and should be shared with the world.

The Last video I want to share is from a young girl who silenced the world for five minutes.

Just a couple of more videos to watch and inspire and share!

I have been in the Midwest for over a week now and I am getting kind of antsy here.  I wish I was either in Argentina or back in Montana.  The weather here is that in-between phase, which I wish it would either make up its mind and be winter or be summer.  It has been in the low sixties, which I have to admit has been nice, but coming from Montana and especially Kishenehn cabin where outside there was eight inches of snow on the ground just three weekends ago and then coming here has thrown my body and mind for a loop.    My body has climatized to this warm weather and I guess it is a good in-between phase before the balmy and clammy warm and humid weather of what Buenos Aires will be like. 

Being in the Midwest has been nice visiting with friends and family.  I had dinner with my friends Doug and Sherri Hamby in Rochelle, Illinois and they are both phenomenal cooks.  They cooked Paella, which is a Spanish stew-like dish with shrimp, andouli sausage and chiken breasts with a hint of safron, diced and sauteed garlic  and spanish rice.  We had several beers in the mean time to enlighten the tastebuds and inspire the belly towards appetite.  For desert they made homemade ice-cream  and made a dish called, "One Night in Bangkok".  It consisted of  peanut butter, cream cheese, half and half milk, corn starch and water, a touch of cayenne pepper, bananas, roasted coconut flakes, and toasted spanish nuts, etc.  The ice cream dish was very rich, but was very orgasmic for the tastebuds.  The dinner and desert were amazing to say the least.

Doug and Sherri

Figoro, Franky and Sherri

Floyd (an American Bull Dog)

Figoro (a wild cat, somewhat domesticated and looks very much like a cross between Ocelot/jaguar/Geoffrey's cat)

I will be updating this on regular basis throughout my adventure and journey in Argentina and Patagonia and over the next couple of days before my sojourn.  In the meantime check out these great videos that I want to share with you.


This one is a video by the band "Iron and Wine" and Sam Beam plays his accoustic guitar while beautiful women dance Flamenco-style in front of him and just reminds me of some of the dancing I will see in Argentina (the dance capital of the world) and the link is: 

Another video is composed by Ennio Morricone and is based off the movie "The Mission".  It is Gabriel's Oboe.
The link is;