virtualDavis

Waffling, by virtualDavis

Monday morning is Sunday night.

For me.

Which is to say, today… is yesterday.

Sleepless night.

Exhausted by 9:00 p.m. but unable to pull the darkness or the dreams deep enough.

So rested. In bed. For hours. Mind wandering.

To Machu Picchu. My parents journey to Lima tomorrow, and I follow in less than a week with my bride. Ready. Eager.

The reverse of jetlag is jetleap, I think, when the soul leapfrogs ahead of the journey. I’d better start catching up.

Why the waffle photo? I’m not waffling. Not really. But it’s an intriguing snapshot from the weekend to balance the onslaught of Halloween photo booth documentation, n’est-ce pas?

Related articles

• Machu Picchu!!! – Machu Picchu, Peru (travelpod.com)
• Incredibly surreal! – Machu Picchu, Peru (travelpod.com)
• Machu Picchu: The Apex Of Tebowing [Tebowing] (deadspin.com)

Related articles

• The Beauty of Savannah, Georgia: Part 1 (scblonde.wordpress.com)
• Savannah dining, from dawn to dark (cnn.com)

Spring has returned to Essex, New York! After a looong winter in the Adirondacks the Essex-Charlotte ferry resumed service this morning. The video above captures the very first boat from Vermont to New York.

On March 31 Lake Champlain Transportation sent out this discouraging message:

We have made a test run at the Charlotte, VT – Essex, NY crossing. The ice is still too thick (10″ – 12″) to run. We will continue to monitor the conditions daily. We will notify you of any new changes through our Email/Text notification system.

Oomph! Bad news. Or April Fools?

We waited. And temperatures dropped. Parts of the Lake which had thawed refroze. More snow fell. And then, Eureka! The following message went out on April 4:

The Charlotte, VT – Essex, NY ferry crossing will OPEN Thursday, April 7th. Departures every hour from VT: 6:00 am – 8:00 pm. Departures every hour from NY: 6:30 am – 8:30 pm

Spring has finally returned to Essex!

Karl Sprague (@karlsprague) just made my day! I met Karl at the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City last month, and his sunny, upbeat personality made him irresistible from our first handshake. He’s the quintessential poster boy for the Sunshine State. Here’s what he tweeted me this morning:

You pack a lot of life into a 24 hour period, don’t you? U keep us mentally sedentary folks updated on writing / travel / life

~ Karl Sprague

Wow. I think I’ll print and frame that when I get home from Costa Rica. Bold font. Hung front and center over my desk. Or my kitchen range. No, maybe nailed to a post by my garden. Hmmm. Duct taped to the wishbone of my windsurfer? Or the handlebars of my bike? Maybe I’ll just memorize it, repeat it like a mantra each morning. Or any time my enthusiasm sags…

I’m serious. What a gift! What validation. What encouragement. I wonder if Karl had any notion at all how his quick message would impact me. I’d like to think he did. He’s magnanimous, wouldn’t miss an opportunity to give, encourage, thank. And yet, I’m guessing he didn’t. I’m guessing he typed and sent that tiny little tweet out into the ether without thinking too much about it. That’s also the kind of fellow he is, generous with complements but totally unselfconscious about his generosity. Second nature. The kind of guy who smiles by default, laughs to relax, encourages because it’s his instinct.

Thank you, Karl. I’m not sure I could summarize my life’s ambitions better!

Photo credit: Phil Lacinak

Are you following TrekEast? Essex resident John Davis (@trekeast) is changing the world one pedal, one paddle stroke and one step at a time.

Of course, those who know John would say, “He’s been doing that for years… His whole life!” True. But his latest adventure — an historic 4,500 mile, human powered expedition from Key Largo, Florida to the Gaspe Peninsula in Canada — is a bold challenge to life (and development) as we know it in the Eastern United States. John intends to inspire you and thousands of others to connect the Eastern Wildway in order to save it. Discover John Davis’ TrekEast!

John started out in Florida’s Everglades National Park where he was joined by a wayward band of Champlain Valley friends and adventurers:

That night, my Adirondack paddling friends Brian Trzaskos, Larry Barns, and Reg Bedell arrived, with a week’s worth of delicious food prepared by Brian’s wife Susie and my wife Denise as part of their Flying Pancakes food service. So our paddling team was gathered: Brian (ascentwellness.com) is a physical therapist and teacher of tai chi and other healthy disciplines who is himself extremely fit and strong. He’s an experienced climber, hiker, and paddler, and had done much study of the Everglades in anticipation of this journey (more than I’d found time to do). Larry (larrybarnesphotography.com) is a professional photographer and outdoors person whose work has appeared in many magazines. Reg (essexlaw.organd migratoryhaven.com) is a southern gentleman turned environmental lawyer who longs to see restored the rich wildlife he knew decades ago in the South. Ron you’ve already met, as Wildlands Network’s conservation scientist and Southeast director – one of the best things to happen to our organization in years. We are a varied but strong five, with plenty of outdoor experience but little on-the-water time in the Everglades. (TrekEast Blog)

The laughter and storytelling that these characters enjoyed doubtless inspired John as he set out on his ambitious mission. John will be joined off and on throughout his ten month expedition, my wife and I among the fortunate ones who’ll travel with him in person. And many, many more will follow via social media data stream as John posts updates and tweets and blog posts to transport you vicariously into the bicycle saddle or the soggy kayak seat with him. Consider weaving yourself into the narrative…

Soul Delay by James Morrison, on Flickr

Did you ever get back from traveling and feel like you’re not quite at the top of your game? This is especially true with long distance jet travel. You step into a glistening time capsule in Istanbul, for example, and not too long after you step back out of the time capsule into the sunlight of Newark, New Jersey. You’re tired and addled. But there’s something more. Soul lag.

I’ve just been introduced to this quirky-but-compelling concept via Linda Hollier, and it reminds me a bit of a chat that Pico Iyer delivered at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan a few years back.

unlike other books or especially TV shows… that seem to move folks around the globe as if this was no big deal… Gibson actually discusses the problem of world travel, and encapsulates it in a single phrase: soul lag. It’s not that you’re tired, or that there’s some mysterious thing associated with jet travel known as “jet lag”… instead, he acknowledges that one feels, well, not quite all there when one gets to another place, as if your soul, unlike your body, cannot travel as fast as an airplane and therefore takes a little while to catch up with you… it’s like you’re existing about half an inch to the left of your actual body, and you can’t seem to reconnect with it… sometimes, in extreme circumstances, your soul never catches up. (second americano)

I’m especially keen on the visual image of my shadow self still trailing behind, trying to catch up, sort of like the visual traces in “old school” television.

I had the good fortune of spending several weeks in Costa Rica in February 2010. The first ten days on Peninsula Papagayo revolved around family time, catching up with my nephews and lots of windsurfing.

In the middle of week two my in-laws headed back home and my wife and I headed down to Tamarindo where we met up with friends who write, create beautiful art.. and surf! This goofy little vignette was my first dabble with iMovie. A bit of surfside fluff for your amusement.

Pura Vida!

I often take to wandering the city [Paris] toute-seule and although I do tend to find some really neat things, or things that I really didn’t expect to come across (especially in the 16th) I still think that this a city of meeting up with people, of being headed to somewhere where a group awaits you. I’ve often wondered how a Parisian would survive in Ann Arbor.

Yesterday’s post on La Flânerie was a halting but thoughtful rumination on cultural/social differences between studying abroad in Paris and living in cozier, more familiar Ann Arbor, Michigan. And more too… the differences between solo flânerie and group meandering, between France and Spain, between urban and rural. In closing Emily affirms that she’ll continue trying to understand Paris, but she also leaves us with a more universal and contemplative question: “So how are some people so easily flowing in the hyper-social society while others are perfectly content to have their jobs and come home… and stay there?”

Read the full post at Em Wanders Paris.

Lake Placid, New York is rated one of America’s Prettiest Towns

101 Best Outdoor Towns co-authors Sarah Tuff Dunn and Melville both put the upstate New York town of Lake Placid on their (independently compiled) lists. Dunn says it’s the “classic Main Street, pine-speckled hills and pristine small lakes” that appeal to her, while Melville describes Lake Placid as “the closest you can get to living out West when you’re in the East. It’s got the jagged mountain backdrop surrounding an unpretentious ski village bordered by two crystal lakes.” (Forbes.com)

It comes as no surprise that Lake Placid, tucked into the heart of the Adirondacks, is featured as one of America’s Prettiest Towns along with these notorious gems:

• Annapolis, Maryland
• Aspen, Colorado
• Burlington, Vermont
• Dillon, Montana
• Guttenberg, Iowa
• Monterey, California
• Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Savannah, Georgia
• Sedona, Arizona
• Rockport, Maine

Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder, so the definition of “pretty towns” was left up to the experts: Alan Blakely (architectural photographer), Erin Anderson (residential designer), John Vander Stelt (painter), Bob Krist (photographer and host of PBS’ Restoration Stories), Sarah Tuff Dunn and Greg Melville (coauthors of 101 Best Outdoor Towns), Danno Glanz (designer at urban planning and architecture firm Calthorpe Associates), and Greg Ward (coauthor of The Rough Guide USA). The overarching criterion was that all locations balance man-made and natural beauty. Obviously Lake Placid was a shoe-in, but I suspect that there are probably many more that should have made the list. What do you consider to be America’s prettiest town?

Photo via flickr.com

My wife stumbled upon this gem while shopping in Keene Valley the other day. I’m a Yellowstone fan too, but I’ve got to admit this is a pretty clever t-shirt!