The Woolley Mammoth

8/6/12

22:03

PST

The journey has begun... FINALLY!

After my last day of work at the Albuquerque BioPark on July 27th, I hopped a flight to PDX, snagged a shuttle from the airport to the king bed my parents reserved me at the Marriott and crashed. Hard. I hadn't slept like that in weeks. I've been too busy selling and slinging my cumbersome worldly possessions to friends and strangers for the past couple of months. What the hell happened? Everything I owned used to fit into my Subaru. Now, I have a whole house full of knickknacks and useless items. Like dishes! I've gotta get rid of these things! They're crampin' my style.

I finally sold both my car and my bike at the very last minute. No joke. I didn't get top dollar. But I didn't get screwed either. I got what I needed for my trip and I was happy about the people I gave things to. I found good homes for my belongings. I think that was important to me somehow. Your things are a part of you in a way and I wanted them to live on in good hands.

I arrived in Oregon with two Rubbermaid totes, a camera bag and my beloved 42 liter red Deuter backpack. In it is everything I will be taking to Guatemala. The rest of the things were either gifts or the bite-sized sentimental objects that made the cut and will be time capsuled in the attic above my parents' garage. 

I'm not going to lie. Sorting through every little thing that I owned and slimming it down to 21 pounds of stuff is not easy. Even for me. People get attached to their stuff. Stupid things. Like an old torn up T-shirt. Or a set of colored pencils that I've had since I was 14 but only used twice. 

Slowly, I build momentum and very little seems important enough to hold onto. I can't imagine myself coming back years from now to sort through boxes and boxes of mundane objects. They're really not that special. In the end, it feels great to lighten my load. I realize that as soon as it's gone it's out of my mind and I won't miss it. I don't want anything holding me back. Not even those colored pencils.

A couple of days at the family lake house is enough time to enjoy myself briefly before reuniting with my instincts to run away at the first opportunity. I love my parents, but they are overwhelming. Check, please!

Off to a little quality time with my sister, Sarah, and my friends from my hometown. Eric and Russell never fail to assist my ambitious intoxication efforts. Eighteen hours later I am still reeling from one of the top three hangovers of all time. Ugh. I tried drinking it away in the morning but was only successful in amplifying it. Bleh. No mas cervesas, por favor.

Eric and I had a nice lunch with his sister Melissa and her husband Evan in downtown Portland at a little place called Por Que No. It was great to hang out with all of them right before I hopped on my northbound train.

I had chosen this particular work exchange north of Seattle for a couple of reasons. Proximity being one of the most important. But also because I missed the lush green landscapes of the temperate rain forests in the Pacific Northwest. Something I had missed quite considerably over the past couple of years. The train pulls me farther north, into the dense living mass, and I can feel my green meter move from "E" to "Full".

Only a short wait at the station before I am greeted by Jeff and his girlfriend, Amy. We stop by the grocery store on the way back to the commune and pick up a few essentials."A ripe watermelon," Amy requests. "Today was the hottest day of the year. It sounds so refreshing!" 

We walk into the store and I get my first real opportunity to speak to Jeff. I had learned from my previous travels to ask specific questions about the situation I would be getting myself into. But despite my best efforts to find out what kind of work I would be doing - how much, where I would be sleeping and what the atmosphere was like - all I got out Jeff on the phone was a quiet, "We're trying to build a sustainable community living space. We try not to work too hard. We generally work about three days a week, six hours a day. We like music festivals. Do you like music?" Heeeeeeeeeeell yeah I do! Unless this is some sort of cruel conspiring hippie trap this place sounds amazing! It's a short drive outside the small town to the property. And at the end of a trip on the winding Bacus Road lays the giant sleeping Woolley Mammoth!

I always enjoy arriving to a new destination at night. This way I get to experience the magic of entering a whole new world twice. At night, I get brief glimpse at a small piece. But in the morning - I get to eat the whole pie!

Everyone I meet here is very welcoming and kind. And everyone, it seems, has a good amount of skill or knowledge in things I am very interested in learning about. For example: the process and benefits of food fermentation such as kimchee and kambucha, herbal supplements, healing and general nutrition, goat keeping and even screen printing. There's a lot to learn here. I almost wish I had more than a month to spend. Overall, the experience I plan on having here will fly by quickly, and I may arrange to swing back by on my way back from the third world... Whenever that may be.

As it turns out, my room has a killer view of the valley below. As it also turns out, my room was the intended walk-in closet of the "Master Bathroom Wing" for the wife of a failed dot com millionaire. But don't worry. It's a cozy 144 square feet. I guess now would be a good time to mention that the house I'm staying in is massive. MASSIVE. It's 8,600 square feet. Jeff bought it as a foreclosed shell following the exodus of Mr. and Mrs. Bankrupt to New Zealand. What was once intended to be a modern monarch's mansion for two is now the happily converted hippie commune for twelve. And that, my furry little friends, is irony that you can not make up.

I hope you've enjoyed my first ever blog post. I haven't traditionally been this open and expressive about my personal life. However, I am aspiring to involve writing more heavily into my life, and I thought that this might be a great way to practice that all while keeping a record of my life and travels for myself and my friends. Expect to see more fairly regularly. I'm not sure how much of my daily life people will be interested in. For that, I may keep personal journal entries separate, and condense the more notable items into the blog... But I'm open to feedback. So let me know what you think. Shoot me an email - litocroy@gmail.com. I'm sure this will evolve into its own creation soon enough. 

Also expect to see some flashbacks as there are stories I would like to chronicle but haven't yet gotten the chance or motivation to record. I may choose to publish those entries as a separate blog. Stay tuned for info on that.

Cheers!