healing, breathing, searching

after a disheartening start to the summer, losing my job, i have been relegated to deciphering my future career options. continue on my current path of education or start something new. i am still working through this. looking forward to more positive aspects of my current situation, i was totally stoked for some racing this season, until i broke/fractured/cracked some of my ribs while cruising around the marsh creek trails one afternoon. i new i had done some damage that day, but tried to race the fair hill endurance race anyway in a somewhat compromised position. feeling good and pushing the pace i rounded a corner and twisted my bod a little funny. that was all it took to roll out to the road and search out i much needed ice pack, chair and beer, and come to the conclusion that my racing season is now on a major break if not ended for the season.

that was a few weeks back and now i am at the point where i can breathe deep without pain, and i can sleep through the night without a mandatory mid-afternoon nap to catch up on some z's. my summer has manifested into something that i had not expected, but as always, i keep a positive outlook on the future, and continue to focus on the present in order to enjoy what i love. living and experiencing the world around me. with mountian biking out of the picture for a while, i have brought some of my other hobbies to the forefront of my days: road riding, guitars and concert going. hopefully some folks have checked out some of the road loops i have mapped out on probably one of the smoothest running websites in the world, map my ride, just kidding. that website takes forever to map a ride, but it gets the job done. i have several other rides mapped. most are more than 50 miles in length and rock out on some of the best roads, climbs and descents in the region. if anyone wants hook up for a road loop, feel free to get in touch.

in between tornados!

map my fun!

down, not out

things to do with busted ribs in the pennsylvania hills:
le tour, saddle time,
pickin' and grinnin', live music, yummy

a day without a buzz...is a day that never was

open your eyes and see!

warrior

just when you think all is good in your universe, situations present themselves that are so unexpected, they will force you to new beginnings. this is my present. breathe...

enjoy today!

spring baby

as i get ready to celebrate another chapter in the book of my life i just consider the greatness in being a child of the spring. the birth, growth, and regeneration of the natural world unfolds before our eyes during the spring. the sweet smells of nature return to the air and the songs of the birds give a melody only heard if you so shall desire. for this i am thankful.

help out a starving artist

check out local jt photographer and help support his artistic endeavours by checking out his website and voting for him in the name your dream assignment. his theme is "the world in a bubble." you can find the contest information to cast a vote at the bottom of his website. the contest ends tomorrow and your votes are more than appreciated. click here and enjoy!

love your mother

it's only one month away, but should be celebrated everyday. the jim thorpe earth day celebration is in its 12th year featuring all kinds of heady treats throughout the town of jim thorpe. free music, arts & crafts, and good vibes in the town square on both saturday and sunday, with a drum circle hosted by yours truly to welcome folks to an evening of music at the mauch chunk opera house. i'm looking for a few good rythym makers to join in on the circle. so bring a drum, cowbell, or maraca and contribute in the healing power of music to thank mother earth for all she has provided for us.

the roots of creation

in case you have been locked in a block of ice, high above some miscellaneous skyscraper, eastern woods research is back! this spring they will unleash a band of enthusiastic cyclists upon the mountain bike scene. filled with vigor and an unbridled passion for the soul of the mountain trail i introduce the ewr bikes/bilenky cycle works factory team and the ewr bikes/acg opthamology grassroots team.










missing from the photo is the rancor beast!

what is and what should never be

as i approach the summit i knew the earth was far beyond repair. what once was a serene landscape was now the last place to dispose of waste created by a society of over consumption and poor decisions.

what ever happened to the slogan "going green" or "reduce, reuse, recycle?" all i could think of as i sat atop the mountain of trash was that maybe "going green" really meant going, going, gone green or reduce the amount of beautiful countryside, and reuse it to store our waste.

the days of digging your toes into the earth are long gone. no more flourishing green fields filled with wildflowers or white sand beaches for a king to romance his queen at an afternoon picnic. shoes are mandatory in this new, forsaken land.

people in the past talked about other people having bad tastes in fashion. well what about the tasteless food that no longer grows from the ground, but comes from that big factory down the street. maybe if i moved a patch of this trash i can grow a few veggies! even though they might taste like petroleum, it might still be worth it. maybe i could clear an even bigger patch and give the animals a suitable habitat as opposed to boxes and cans, cars and refrigerators.

as i stepped back to get a good lay-of-the-land to make my ideas a reality, i tripped and started to stumble. all of a sudden the ground broke loose under my feet and i began to fall uncontrollably into a pit that must have been covered by trash. i couldn't see the bottom, and why should i, it took me what seemed like hours to get to where i was. what if my idea could have helped just a little bit?! what's that?!

ahhhhh! suddenly i spring up! i look around at the view in front of me. i am sitting in a green meadow filled with wildflowers, barefoot and next to my queen. it must have all been a dream! then i thought to myself, what if my ideas could help just a little bit?!

i had my students write hypothetical stories about what would happen if there was no more land to store the waste produced by humans. this was mine. enjoy!

in these parts

the weather has been braking just enough to get the wheels turning a little more than usual during the month of febuary. cabin fever is beginning to subside, to speak the truth, i usually spend most of my free time outside no matter what the temps are, just not so much on a bike. anyway, over the winter the cabin fever has been consisting of friday night bluegrass jams at the place that i call home. we have had some epic nights this winter just diggin' on a simple groove.

another great aspect of the ending of winter is the harvest of that good ole nectar from mother nature, maple syrup! over the weekend, i grabbed the axe (guitar) and headed up the road to a good friends farm to party down for his birthday, play some tunes, and tap some maple trees. it is a long process that takes about a month to a month and a half when you tap trees in the old way, but well worth it when you have a huge stack of flapjacks in front of a fire with syrup from your local trees. the best thing about using the land is sharing it with the younger generations to pass on the love and knowledge of the earth. after the trees were tapped we celebrated pickin' some righteous tunes till the wee hours of the morning. in these parts, that's how it's done!

lost cause

technology is the greatest at sucking! fuckin' beta tapes!

filler up with unregular please!

so this here online journal hasen't been getting much love in the past few days, weeks, months, but what can i say, it is the winter. nothing much has been going on that is blog worthy or maybe everything is blog worthy? you never know what people will read. well, the reason for this post is that i got posed a question last weekend and gave what i think was a totally lame answer to the question, so i am re-answering the question. even though the person who asked the question might not even see this post, i still need to re-answer.

i was asked, might i add very late in the early morning, what my favorite band was. in a drunkin' haze, i gave my answer based on the first band that popped into my mind. for the past week that response has weighed, not too heavily, on my brain. i really like the band that i mentioned, but in the overall scheme of the question, i really do not have a favorite band. i love music in general. music had been a big part of my life thus far and i can not see it going anywhere. i have had so many good times, travels, spiritual moments and realizations during moments with in the experience of music. from the first band i really liked when i was in forth grade, to my teenage years being a straight-edger that couldn't get enough of robert nesta marley, to the many concert runs of various bands throughout my life. music is here, it is real and it has no boundaries. from the rhythm being tapped out during the daily grind, or exercise, to the cosmic metronome of the sun and the moon conducting the growth of the green earth. it comes in all forms, from any shape and size, to our senses to be interpreted in anyway we see fit.

since i was young, i was very interested in creating music. i took basic drum lessons when i was in elementary school for a few years, but wasn't really into the structured format to learn what seemed like something that comes from within. i bagged the drum to later return when i was 18 once i heard the drumming of jim donovan, rusted root fame. i picked up a djembe and have been creating rhythm for the last 12 years. the best teacher for drumming, that i have found, is nature. the rhythmic patterns created by nature are the most organic and can flow consistently as long as you can. some of my favorite lessons have been with the local water falls, and with, of course, the energy of the lehigh river. as of late, i have been quenching my musical palatte with the guitar. this instrument has always intrigued me, and since my friend shawn showed me a few chords a few years back, i haven't looked back and have been learning as much as i can.

another great part of music, to me, is the way it makes you feel. hearing that same song over again that makes you think of good times, bad times, or the inbetween times. the feeling i get when i listen to a bootleg of a concert i was at, remembering my state of mind at the time or the memories of my old man and i hitting a few shows of the crosby, stills, nash and young reunion tour. that shit transcended generation barriers! the feeling is amazing not just from listening, but also from creating. joining in on a raging drum circle, to standing around in a friday night pickin' circle with some close friends, the connection is far beyond conversation and really can't be described in words, but can be conveyed throughout the surrounding area to connect everyone in the vicinity. this question has been on my brain ever since i gave the wrong answer, like it was a test or something, but i had to return with a proper answer. i can give one definite answer for right now and that is that one of favorite songs, right now, was written by joshua finsel and is called "the lehigh river song." the vibe in the room last night was brought on by the energy of that song. there will never be a definitive answer to the posed question from a week ago and i'm sure my new answer would have been better as conversation at the time of the question, but what the hell, it now has become some good reading. "You know the nearer your destination, the more you're slip slidin away." ~ paul simon ~

happy new years!!!

last night, some folks danced with the green fairy a lot harder than others...

threads

Winter time usually brings a much welcomed change of pace to the outdoor schedule of activities. The two wheeled experience takes a back seat for a few to enjoy some hiking, some trail running, and some xc/backcountry skiing. Over the past couple of days, the northeast has gotten enough snow to turn two lane townie roads into single lane passageways and the single tracks into, well, perfect for skiing. Just before the storm hit, I got some hiking in at one of my favorite places to ponder life, Glen Onoko Falls. With some steady precip, the falls have been flowing well for the past few weeks. I usually hit up The Glen a few times a week for a variable tempo hike/spiritual moment.
Even though we got a badass couple of days of snow, a topic that has been in the minds of concerned individuals is climate change. Last week, in my Biology and Environmental Science classes, we covered the topic so it is fresh on my mind and with the recent snowfall, I couldn’t help but think about how great it is to get snow. It is a welcome change to shift your focus from one activity to the next and expand your view of the wilds around us. One thing that is certain, it would suck to have made a lasting impact on the Earth by the pasts’ nonearth-friendly industrial practices. With all the advancements in technology, there is no reason to continue this type of behavior.

Being more conscious of the individual impact each person has on the planet, and supporting products made by sustainable business ventures will help bring a change to the economy and reduce the pressure we put on our mother. It would be a bummer not to be able to enjoy the flow of nature that we have become accustomed to.

must produce post

i feel like i have been neglecting the blog. well the simple reason is that, yeah, i have been neglecting the blog. no not really. it has been a real busy fall/early winter filled with the daily grind, grad school, and spending some quality time in the outdoors, as usual. i am also getting stoked for some winter time fun on the backcountry skis. i am pretty fresh with the whole experience and can't wait to get back on the snow! until next time...