I’m baaaaaaaaaack!
Miss me?
Brace yourself, this one (and probably subsequent ones) is pretty long and winding…..considering the amount of stuff I haven’t written about yet and all that’s happened since last we spoke (or since I’ve had the chance to get it down) I’m going to bounce around a lot….Tibet, Hong Kong, Georgia, Indiana, Colorado, Washington….hold on tight, it could be a bumpy ride…..(but I appreciate you wanting to ride nonetheless!)….
Well….it has been a long time hasn’t it? Very much like exercise, once you get out of the habit it’s very difficult to get back into it. And that is exactly what has happened with me. I cannot tell you how many mornings I woke up with the resolution that I was going to write some today. And what happened? Nothing. Write it off as laziness, distractions, hectic schedule, no writing ‘comfort zone’, whatever. The blunt reality is I have let more than 6 weeks slip by since last constructing an entry and I am disappointed in myself. Sure, I’ve been quite crazy the last month and half (not really). Sure, I’ve been traveling half way around the world (literally flying over the North Pole). Sure, I haven’t been in a calm and relaxed atmosphere by myself with time to write since leaving Tibet. Sure, I’ve written this time off as ‘vacation’ time and tried to make myself feel better by lying about the intention of this State-side visit. Sure, the time I’ve spent uninterrupted with my wife, my family, my friends has been glorious. But that does not change the fact that I now have very heavy rust on my brain. My mental cogs are slow to get moving again. There is lethargy to my thoughts like I’m trying to pull them up through a jar of honey, thick and sticky. Molasses-like goo has formed in my mind and it is now very difficult to get anything moving again.
It sucks because this writing that I’m doing here is the fun part of the work I’m supposed to be doing while in the States. I should be studying my Mandarin language. I should be making phone calls to editors and directors. I should be laying out my book plan or formulating a finely crafted introduction to my book idea so that I’ll have something to bring to the table if any publishers or editors want to speak with me. I should be looking up grants to help fund the work. I should be updating my website and keeping it fresh with new material. I should be out shooting all the time, everyday, no matter where I am in the world. Talking with Ethan’s girlfriend, Jen, last night about how so many underprivileged school kids (especially those w/o Social Security cards…i.e. immigrants) bust their ass to win grants and scholarships and fight tooth and nail to claw their way out of poverty, bad neighborhoods, bad family life, and a bad educational system in search of a better life. Regardless of how many people put them down or keep obstacles in their way, they just keep saying “This is what I want and nothing and nobody is going to stop me” attitude. It’s miraculous and necessary to their against the odds success. (This also reminds me of a conversation that Matt and I had yesterday about whether it’s a good thing that Americans in general have not had to suffer and work and endure the raw edges of life such as those populations in Africa or Asia or the Middle East. When their greatest complaint is their boss sucks or their commute to work is too long, how can you compare that too what the older generation of Chinese had to endure living through – if they were lucky – the destructiveness of the Cultural Revolution? Or consider the Palestinians who have had to suffer the humiliation and hardships of occupation for the last 60 years?). And on the other hand, there are the over privileged kids, most from upper middle class white suburban America, who have everything handed to them on a silver platter and don’t give a fuck and don’t realize what they have and waste their time, their opportunities, their potential or their socially and economically determined advantages. This was me in high school and this is me now – unmotivated; uninterested in pushing myself too hard; wasting my potential because I would rather watch a movie, hike a trail, drink a beer, play a video game. In general I think I can be pretty lazy. I also believe that I can be distracted easily. Why would I want to practice my Mandarin tones when I could ride a bike outside or conquering the world in some video game world?
Why? I’ll tell you why – don’t you just love rhetorical questions...like asking one about one? – because one of my greatest wishes if I could wish for anything in the world would be for there to be one language that everyone in the world could speak. And no it wouldn’t be English! Again, see over-privileged rant above. It would be something else like Latin or Arabic or Mandarin or Farsi or Swahili. Some lingua-franca that the whole world could speak, something so that we as a human race could communicate with one another regardless of age, sex, religion, country, economic class, political leaning, what-have-you….a language for the world. Call it Earthlish or Earthi or Earthic or Eartharin. But of all the disasters that befell the human race, one of the two greatest was the loss of a common tongue. The other was the shift away from hunter/gatherer to agriculture. But imagine….if we could all talk to one another? Wow. I truly believe that so many of our problems would be a non issue. So why should I bother to learn Mandarin? Because the more people I can communicate with the more my life will be enriched by their interactions with me. The more I can learn from someone from another land, another religion, another culture. The more I can teach or share with them. Imagine it (as I have many times before), if I could speak English, Spanish and Mandarin then I would have the ability to speak to over 1/3 to 1/2 of the world’s population! Not that I would really want to speak to 3 billion people but you get the idea….
Anyway, where was I? Tangents, digressions, wanderings…..Oh yeah. I’m a lazy, over-privileged, good-for-nothing bum.
The first day I arrived (Sunday) in Denver, my friend Ethan picked me up and took me to his house that he shares with his girlfriend Jen. We sit in the back yard; sipping delicious beers and watching the neighbors’ dogs try to kill Stump Dog, Jen’s dog, through the fence. My old friend Matt comes over, along with several of Jen and Ethan’s friends and we all cook out on the grill. Yummy chicken sausages, New York strip steaks, grilled portabellas with goat cheese, spinach salad, hummus and pita…..have I mentioned that all I’ve been doing since being back in America is pig the fuck out?! After a marathon game of Ping Pong with Matt for dessert (I would soon exact my revenge later in the evening – ha!), we all head down to City Park for their free concert series. The day was perfect, the park was green and not too crowded and the clouds were cooperating for a wonderful color display. We brought a cooler packed with 3/2 beer (which means 3.2 percent alcohol instead of the normal 5), which is only beers you can buy on Sundays, but hey, it’s better than nothing! (Take note Bible belt!). With cold beer in hand; good, free music in the ear; a nice breezy, chill afternoon was spent with friends playing Bocce. So much fun! And oh yeah, the out of towners beat the locals 21 – 6. Ha!
Speaking of being a lazy bum…..A couple days later on Tuesday, Ethan and I got up very early and drove up into the mountains with Stump Dog to tackle James Peak and the St. Mary’s Glacier. Within 45 minutes of leaving the bagel place near his house, we were at the trailhead. Amazing that incredible hikes are within an hour of the big city of Denver. If you drive 45 minutes from Atlanta you’re in Alpharetta or Gwinnett….Blah! Pulling into the parking lot we seemed to be one of two cars there which is understandable when you remember it’s a Tuesday and most normalites are working. It sure is nice to have the weekdays to play! The trail led us quickly past a pleasant mountain lake at the base of St. Mary’s glacier….the water looking cool and inviting even at that early hour. I had strapped some snow-shoes to my backpack and carried a windproof fleece, wool hat and gloves. This seeming very unnecessary when first leaving Denver and coming from Atlanta where wool hats and gloves won’t be needed again until maybe January ‘07! But get this, Ethan had strapped his snowboard to his back and was hiking in shorts and snowboard boots! The absolute height of Colorado fashion for sure. I might have inwardly scoffed at this lugging this large board up the mountain in what seemed a futile attempt to hang on to the snow season just a little past its expiration date, but I would later watch him glide quickly and enthusiastically down the 4 major snow patches on the trail in envy, wishing that I had a board to get a taste, a fix, that could last me until next year as the ski resort hasn’t really taken off yet in Tibet unfortunately. So the initial ascent began with St. Mary’s glacier with the snow being the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. To use two new words I learned on the hike - Luckily it was consolidated (compacted) enough that I wasn’t post-holing (falling in to my thighs). See, even with English I’m still learning! After a steady climb of about an hour up this permanent snow field (downgraded from a glacier recently but come on, glacier just sounds so much cooler!), we reached a high, long meadow between the glacier and the peak. In the right time of year it is bursting with wildflower color but this early in the season it was still dried grasses and skeletal stalks left over from last years explosion. The views from here were great. On one side it rose just a bit more to tree-less balds that looked much like the Tibetan plateau. On the other side the mountain ridge dropped off quickly into a tree filled valley beyond which the Rockies again rose majestically and in profusion to their snow capped glory.
With Stump Dog leading the way, Ethan and I continued climbing steadily up the south side of the mountain. With each step the oxygen levels slowly dropped so that by the time we wound our way up to the last 1500 feet of so we had a 20 steps-stop-breath-20 steps-stop-breath-20 steps-stop-breath rhythm to our hiking. This gave us both plenty of time to take in the scenic beauty around us as the sky had turned a deep, deep blue almost purple/black and some distant clouds in the south were beginning to consolidate and from the easily recognizable anvil shape so feared among mountain enthusiasts (these clouds would be no threat to us however as the prevailing winds continued to take them south and east away from us). Did you know that Colorado is second only to Florida in lightning strikes on humans? It makes a lot of sense when you realize that every afternoon in the summer, almost like clockwork, a thunderstorm will gather on the Front Range, dropping rain, wind and lightning and generally causing havoc and chaos over Denver and Boulder then sweep out into the Great Plains spawning tornadoes and hail the size of baseballs! Alpine weather is crazy. There’s a saying here in Colorado that applies very well to Tibet or any area over 6,000 feet in elevation – “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute”. It’s so true. So as Ethan and I breath a deep sigh of relief when we see clear skies to the west of us and get the bonus visuals of a gathering thunderstorm to the south of us, we finally make it to the top of James Peak at 13,000+ feet. Covered in snow still and extremely windy, we quickly break out our fleece jackets, gloves and wool hats (as I whisper quiet prayers of thanks under my breath for Ethan’s foresight in planning) and sought shelter in a small circle of rocks other climbers had gratefully constructed in the past. The 360 degree view from the top was amazing and worth every deep and search breath I took during the 4 mile, 3 hour climb.
I don’t really know all the reasons for it, but I feel most at home in the mountains and even more alive climbing them. When on top of a mountain it’s like I’m trying my earth-bound hardest to reach the heavens, to get a brief taste of flight, height and perspective. There is really nothing like having pushed your body and mind (because climbing mountains is as much mental as it is physical) to the top of this massive rock where the only thing to greet you at the top is your own rejoicing, sense of accomplishment, the cold wind and the angelic of the too busy and too chaotic world below. A walking meditation that is really a more strenuous, rewarding, challenging and reflective extension of my love and passion for hiking, walking in the world around me. Not shut up in a car, not shut up in an office, not shut up in a plane but physically a part of and interacting with my natural surroundings – it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s cold, it’s beautiful, it’s hard, it’s wet, it’s dry, it’s steep, it’s rocky, it’s lush, it’s windy…..
After a quick lunch and a few pictures for posterity, we began our descent. Ethan’s was just a little bit faster than mine thanks to the snowboard and the many pitches of snow left on the mountain. How I envied him as he sped down. As he said during the climb, he had to ‘earn his turns’. So true, so true. As I was trudging down, one plodding foot at a time, he was blazing down the mash potato snow with Stump Dog hot on his heels. I had a good time just watching him, so I’m sure he must have been having a blast. I did manage to don some plastic pants at the top and butt slide down the first and steepest pitch. That was a lot of fun. It was too bad that the snow didn’t connect all the way to the bottom. That would have been one fast descent! As it was it worked out well because we stopped halfway down at the long meadow between the glacier and peak for an hour or so to fly my kite and enjoy the warmth difference a couple thousand feet can have. The hike ended with Ethan snowboarding down the glacier on his best and fastest run of the day and I basically cross country skiing down even though I had on very tractioned hiking shoes on. Back in the car after an alternative route down past the lake through a stand of very, very old and grooved bristlecone pines and we were back on the highway heading down to Denver by 4 that afternoon. We had hiked about 8 miles and gained/lost 4,000+ feet, ate lunch and flew a kite in 8 hours.
And then as all hard play days in the mountains ends, we went to a brewery and had a couple cold micro-brews to refresh our tired bodies and minds. Ahhhhhh…….not a bad day would you say?
Many people have been asking us two questions (besides the obligatory “How do you like it/how is it going?”)…..these are 1) What do you miss most about America? 2) What is the biggest surprise there?
What do I miss most about America? Besides family and friends (obviously), the things I miss most about America is refrigeration, Mexican food and a semblance of democracy….in that order. Ice makes many incredible things possible – sushi, iced tea, cheese, popsicles, and air conditioning. I don’t know if any culture in the history of the world has come up with a better food combo than rice, beans, and chilies. And even though the American democratic system has major cracks in it and we all love to complain about it, at least we can complain without fear of being arrested or tortured (so far)!
What is the biggest surprise there?
Well, do you want the 2 minute answer, the 5 minute answer, the full answer or are you just being polite in asking and don’t really care? It’s like the almost habitual how are you that people ask you as you pass in the workplace hallways. Do you really want to know or are you just trying to be friendly? I’ll tell you how I am, sure, but when neither of us stops to really listen and engage, why bother? Tibet (and what Leigh and I are doing overseas – living, working, loving) seems to be so far out of people’s reality and everyday life that it is therefore outside of their conversation comfort zone as well. I am really surprised at how many virtual strangers have asked us the deep, probing, fully engaged questions, while some of our best friends don’t ask us about our experiences at all! It’s amazing to me that we have been on the other side of the world for months and when we hang out with some of our friends, old friends at that, they just want to talk about themselves, their dogs, their lives. Fine…something they are comfortable talking about, something they might know a little about, something they can talk about. Ironically, I find that as strange as they probably find our trip to Asia to be. Oh well.
Where was I? Oh yeah, biggest surprise. The answer would have to be the rapid and unexpectedly prevalent modernization that is happening in Lhasa especially but in Tibet overall. From previous entries, you’ve heard of me talking about the computers, clubs, cell phones, internet, cars, etc. I find it very interesting and visually engaging. And it’s pretty cool how what Leigh is researching (How contemporary artists inside of Tibet are using a modern medium – art – to both tap into the roots and traditions of this ancient and very rich culture but also to push forward and explore the concept of Tibetan identity. What does it mean to be Tibetan? How does this change in a rapidly changing modern landscape? How are they expressing this? How are, if they are at all, Tibetans ingesting the modern world and making it their own? The ongoing question/debate between Leigh and I currently regarding this subject – Does globalization/modernization (Are they even the same thing? And if not, what are the differences, similarities?) have a flattening out effect that makes all cultures seem the same or do cultures absorb the effects and make it their own? For example, do the artists in Tibet use modern paints and techniques? Why not traditional processes and materials? And if they do use acrylics and oils, what are they saying with them? Is it new, repeating the past, a re-thinking of the past, etc? I seem to take the pessimistic view that modernization has a flattening effect on the world’s cultures. And if they aren’t absorbed into the major cultural force (the Western capitalist free market idea is the current model), then they are marginalized and pushed to the side. Either join us of get left behind. Look at the American Indian as a prime example. I don’t have any first hand experience with the Lhasa of the past but according to my lovely wife’s repeated “When I was here 10 years ago…” statements, it seems that much of the Tibetan we’ve all known through films, books, stories and photos is fading, being brushed aside by the mounting cultural and economic pressure coming from all sides. Lhasa looks more like a medium to large sized Han Chinese city than it does as a once independent (and completely unique and different) country’s capital. This is what I am currently interested in documenting. What is happening on the ground right now? Not who is right or wrong because who can say that. I think one of the major problems with so many people is that they want things to be black and white. The world is not black and white but infinite shades of gray. How can I judge? Leigh on the other hand believes that traditional cultures absorb the modern world, digest what they need or what they want and then make it their own. With all the shades of gray in just this one subject, I have to think it’s a little of both.
Now, a good question that only a couple people who have traveled outside the States were astute enough to ask is what is the biggest surprise coming back here? A great question because ever since my first trip to Singapore and Thailand in 1997, I have thought that the reverse culture shock coming back into the country is much more powerful than the initial one leaving the States. My initial observation upon returning to America, land of the free, home of the Big Mac, is that a large portion of the population is grossly overweight. America is obese and unhealthy. Why are so many people overweight here? Easy: processed foods. In Asia, every meal is basically straight from the garden. Organic gardening might not have hit the big times there yet, but if you think about it, most traditional farming techniques are organic. It’s only in the last 70 years that pesticides and fertilizers have really entered the market. Fortunately the global movement now is swinging back towards natural and chemical free methods, though it will take some time to break the corporate grip on the arable land. Currently, the greenhouse rules in Lhasa and unfortunately it’s only the yak meat and potatoes, typically grown by Tibetans in the time honored chemical free way that could be considered ‘organic’. Everything else, grown in greenhouses by the Chinese, is grown with heavy dependence on chemicals. It’s sad as that is the techniques they know and have brought to Tibet….but at least there are veggies! I think the most detrimental ingredient in American food is High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not only is it a severely processed food with absolutely no nutritional value but it actually suppresses the hunger trigger! In other words, when you eat or drink HFCS it suppresses the naturally occurring chemical indicator that you are full. So you actually keep eating even though your body is really saying stop. That and it is nothing but extremely cheap, processed sugar. Sadly, if you look at the ingredient list for anything you buy these days in a typical grocery store, most will have HFCS – drinks, cereals, soups, cheeses, etc. No wonder America is fat….we’re all living off processed sugar.
Did you know that over 90% of corn (and soy by the way) grown in America DO NOT are not for human consumption? Ouch.
And while I’m at it, since when did the Jackie O sunglasses become the dominant force in eye fashion? It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. Do all these people realize how stupid they look? Just because Brangelina likes to wear….I mean since when did they develop good fashion sense? It looks brainless people! Get over it….
So, where have I been all this time? Where has the infamous blog writer been all these days? Where has my weekly dose of Sanky’s madness been? Well, children, your uncle Jason has been running all over this crazy God-blessed world! It has been quite a crazy, hectic but fun whirlwind the last couple months.
It begins a long, long time ago….in a land far, far away…..
The journey from Lhasa was very long but thankfully smooth. Over the course of our travels back to the States we traveled on a few buses, several planes, a couple cars but alas no trains or boats this time. Our itinerary sounded like a passage from a National Geo Excursion…..Lhasa, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hong Kong. We flew from Lhasa to Hong Kong floating over the misty, snow capped Himalayas, the tops of the mountains poking up through the clouds like steep islands in the white sea. It was a beautifully serene flight watching the craggily mountains pass far below. There is something so ethereal and surreal about looking down on clouds. If there is a God(s) and she does live up in the heavens, then what a view! Everything looks so small, harmless, calm. This, along with the more comfortable sleeping arrangement, makes the window seat a must for my travels.
Hong Kong was stunning. I mean like mouth agape, stop you in your tracks overwhelming. With its super multi-cultural population (Indians, Africans, Malaysians, Thai, Korean, European and oh yeah Chinese), its garish neon lighted shops lining the avenues, its double decker buses plowing the main routes, its crazy and crowded nighttime street markets....Leigh and I were just overpowered by awe and magnitude. I think this was especially true after coming from the ‘backwater country’ of Tibet almost directly into Hong Kong. What an astounding contrast. High rises and Rolexes. Fruit we’ve never seen before. Seafood and sushi! Mosques and museums. Rich, poor, diversity, strangeness…not that Tibet didn’t have all this…..just different, greater scale. Getting to Hong Kong from Lhasa was via planes through Chengdu (capital of Sichuan province - hazy, polluted, big Chinese city at the base of the Himalayas) and Shenzhen (gateway to Hong Kong and ‘special economic zone’ of China) and then from Shenzhen a bus ride to the border where we ‘hopped’ on a train to take us into HK. And I say hopped because it was no simple transfer but a total process including immigration from China into HK with passports stamped with exit stamps on one side and entry stamps given on the other side. Many people have asked if HK is a part of China now and as far as I know it is. They call it the ‘One country, two systems’. But the way we went through the train station it was just entering another country. They have their own money, their own visas, their own governmental process and set up. It’s a strange land, a strange place that I can’t easily define. Let’s just say a cultural and economic juggernaut that has its own gravitational pull in the region.
While in HK for two nights, we stayed at the Chungking Mansions (won’t do that again) off Nathan Road (the main drag in Tsim Tsa Tsui – say that 5 times really fast – the main tourist area). We did a lot of walking around and just trying to absorb the bright lights and big city. We ate all kinds of food, from eggs Benedict to fruit juices to baked crab to sushi! But I was most excited about finding we had arrived during mangosteen season. For those of you who have not had the world’s most delicious fruit yet, I’m truly sorry that your life is still incomplete. But for those of you who have been blessed enough to put this jewel of a food into your mouth, you know what I am talking about! Wow! Definitely the most succulent, juicy, tasty fruit I’ve ever eaten. Favorite fruits (in order) – mangosteen, strawberry, peach, pineapple, banana, mango. It was raining almost the whole time we where there which we loved coming from the rainy South and now living in the dry Tibetan plateau. We spent a day walking around the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Pretty nice place. Great exhibits on Chinese watercolor paintings from the 18th -19th centuries, fabulous collection of ancient and historical relics – pottery, iron works, glass, etc, and the current special exhibit was by one of my favorite artists, Mark Rothko. The selected works were on loan from the National Gallery in DC, which if we had gone there in DC would have cost us about 15$ but in HK it was on 1.50$....so super special bonus! We got harassed around every corner by someone who wanted us to buy fake Rolexes, Gucci bags and anything else you could think of. Finally we rode the double-decker bus out to the airport, passing many of the 250 islands of Hong Kong along the way.
The flight was fine. In fact, I kind of like Continental. The staff was helpful, the planes clean and comfortable. The meals were actually tasty. And the entertainment wasn’t half bad. Comparing them to Delta, they are like the Audi to Delta’s Saturn!
After splitting up in Newark so Leigh could go to North Carolina and visit her family and pick up our car, we reunited back in Georgia, the jungle state. Georgia is soooooo green! A veritable jungle of trees, shrubbery, flowers, grasses…hot, humid, wet, sticky. We were initially shocked in Hong Kong by the hot and humid but down in Georgia it really set in. Oppressive, invasive, unavoidable. 20 minutes after a shower you’re still soaking wet kind of feeling. And though I have grown up in the climate and really never minded it until experiencing the delicious warmth and coolness of the dry mountains of Colorado (or Tibet/Nepal), my mind has now completely rebelled against this sub-tropical and rejects it whole-heartedly. All I want now is high climates where the sun is strong, the air dry and the evenings cool. This really kind of strikes a major blow to our potential plans of moving t the Pacific Northwest after our Tibet campaign (especially after having spent 2 glorious weeks in sunny, sunny Colorado!).
But being home with family and old friends felt really good, warm & comfortable. We were only away for a few months but its all relative. It felt like forever and a day to us! Reuniting with folks, we would inevitably ask what was new and the answer was almost equally evitable – ‘nothing much’. So we either have really boring friends or we weren’t gone that long…..
It was so nice to know we were only going to be in Georgia (and the States as well) a few days and all of those days would be filled with fun, friends, family, celebration and food, food, food! It has been our mission to eat while in America. To try and gain back some of those 30 lbs I lost in those first 4 months of being away. So much good food! We went to Alon’s (delicious fancy French neighborhood bakery in ATL) like 3 times in a week! Sushi, bread, Mexican…..so much eating! We only cooked one meal for ourselves the whole time we were in Atlanta. People would either take us out for dinner/lunch or we would meet a group out at a restaurant….oh, the joys of good food! It is a drug like no other. Can affect moods and humor like no other. It’s a really amazing thing and I for one will be the first to admit I’m totally addicted to it! And lest we forget, a comfortable bed equals really good sleep. And good food and good sleep a happy Homer makes!
It has also been so wonderful and humbling to see all these people come out from their lives, the comfort of their own homes to visit with us, to adjust their schedules and visit us. To see that we have touched so many incredible, interesting, unique people that they would go out of their way (some driving 2 + hours thru ATL traffic – Star you fucking rock!!!) to see us and spend time with us, even just a few hours or a beer or two….very grateful for these blessings, for these friends. Thank you dear friends, thank you beloved family for the visit. It was truly wonderful! Thank you for all the joy, laughter, support, fun, hospitality, kindness and love you gave to Leigh and me while in the States. It has recharged our soul batteries and allowed us to feel confident about leaving and being away for a year (or maybe more!) with a full heart and happy memories.
My sister’s wedding on Memorial Day weekend went off without a hitch. This was one of two main reasons for us coming back (and for me the most important). It took place at the Park Tavern, which stands on the corner of Piedmont Park, the large city park in Atlanta. It also too place during the free Atlanta Jazz Fest. And finally, it took place in the late afternoon so it wasn’t deathly hot (as I was in a penguin suit for only like the 3rd time in my life) and the sunset was gorgeous and colorful. It was great, fun, funny, touching and memorable. For example, many of you know that the Sangster family are HUGE Georgia football fans (Ryan especially). We have my mom to thank for that. I can remember going to UGA football games every Saturday in the fall when I was like 7 or 8. So by the time I was like 16 or 17 and too cool to go anymore, it was deep in my blood and laid their dormant for many years (including during my stint at UGA when I was still ‘too cool’ to go to too many games). In fact, it was only recently in the last few years that I have been able to fully embrace my passion for UGA football and not feel embarrassed or shy about it. This of course much to Leigh’s chagrin. However, I must admit that she has spent a few Saturday afternoons snuggled on my lap and asking questions like “What’s an interception?” and “Why do you get 4 tries to get a 1st down?”. She’s coming around…..slowly but surely, she will be a football widow! (insert evil laughter here) Anyway, as I was saying, we are all big Dawg fans and as only could be appropriate at my sister’s wedding (who is the biggest Dawg fan of any of us), the mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs, Hairy Dawg, resplendent in full costume, showed up at the reception! He danced with Ryan and then with all the girls (there was quite a line to get some Hairy Dawg. *Note to self – buy college mascot outfit to get in good with all the college chics*. Then there was the very memorable moment when ‘The Devil went Down to Georgia’ song came on by the Charlie Daniels Band….very famous, very southern. This song somehow released some deep buried block that my mother had been carrying around with her for the last 10 years because she cleared the dance floor (minus Hairy of course) and started clogging! Boy, all the family secrets are coming out here. Yes, my mom (and to a much lesser degree my sister) was a clogger. In fact, she was a part of the most famous clogging act in the South, Buckwheat. They used to do parades and festivals and the Grand Ole Opry and even were on TV a few times. God how I dreaded going to those events! So anyway, there they were, my mom and Hairy Dawg at my sister’s wedding reception on the dance clogging…..my eyes still burn with that image….definitely an unforgettable night of joy, laughter, love, and commitment. By the way, if you’re interested, the pics can be seen here – http://www.blueworldstudios.com/RyanAndTim/.
Finally….
Happy Birthday America! For better and for worse, you are my native land.
I’m baaaaaaaaaack! Miss me? 
Speaking of being a lazy bum…..A couple days later on Tuesday, Ethan and I got up very early and drove up into the mountains with Stump Dog to tackle 
After a quick lunch and a few pictures for posterity, we began our descent. Ethan’s was just a little bit faster than mine thanks to the snowboard and the many pitches of snow left on the mountain. How I envied him as he sped down. As he said during the climb, he had to ‘earn his turns’. So true, so true. As I was trudging down, one plodding foot at a time, he was blazing down the mash potato snow with Stump Dog hot on his heels. I had a good time just watching him, so I’m sure he must have been having a blast. I did manage to don some plastic pants at the top and butt slide down the first and steepest pitch. That was a lot of fun. It was too bad that the snow didn’t connect all the way to the bottom. That would have been one fast descent! As it was it worked out well because we stopped halfway down at the long meadow between the glacier and peak for an hour or so to fly my kite and enjoy the warmth difference a couple thousand feet can have. The hike ended with Ethan snowboarding down the glacier on his best and fastest run of the day and I basically cross country skiing down even though I had on very tractioned hiking shoes on. Back in the car after an alternative route down past the lake through a stand of very, very old and grooved bristlecone pines and we were back on the highway heading down to 
Where was I? Oh yeah, biggest surprise. The answer would have to be the rapid and unexpectedly prevalent modernization that is happening in 
While in HK for two nights, we stayed at the Chungking Mansions (won’t do that again) off Nathan Road (the main drag in Tsim Tsa Tsui – say that 5 times really fast – the main tourist area). We did a lot of walking around and just trying to absorb the bright lights and big city. We ate all kinds of food, from eggs Benedict to fruit juices to baked crab to sushi! But I was most excited about finding we had arrived during mangosteen season. For those of you who have not had the world’s most delicious fruit yet, I’m truly sorry that your life is still incomplete. But for those of you who have been blessed enough to put this jewel of a food into your mouth, you know what I am talking about! Wow! Definitely the most succulent, juicy, tasty fruit I’ve ever eaten. Favorite fruits (in order) – mangosteen, strawberry, peach, pineapple, banana, mango. It was raining almost the whole time we where there which we loved coming from the rainy South and now living in the dry Tibetan plateau. We spent a day walking around the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Pretty nice place. Great exhibits on Chinese watercolor paintings from the 18th -19th centuries, fabulous collection of ancient and historical relics – pottery, iron works, glass, etc, and the current special exhibit was by one of my favorite artists, Mark Rothko. The selected works were on loan from the National Gallery in DC, which if we had gone there in DC would have cost us about 15$ but in HK it was on 1.50$....so super special bonus! We got harassed around every corner by someone who wanted us to buy fake Rolexes, Gucci bags and anything else you could think of. Finally we rode the double-decker bus out to the airport, passing many of the 250 islands of 
My sister’s wedding on Memorial Day weekend went off without a hitch. This was one of two main reasons for us coming back (and for me the most important). It took place at the Park Tavern, which stands on the corner of 