Day 32

jack kerouac's story 'on the road' accompanied a day of editing video and planning. music helps to offset the false light and stiff air of the office environment during these days that involve spending the majority of the workday up in the loft. one girl said she'd draw pictures to hang on the walls. this will be a much welcome addition.

after dinner, a few of us drove into town to chill at starbucks and then picked up some snacks at walmart to add to the midnight-snack stash. i wasn't too picky over coffee and the baristas ended up coaching me through the little process and made me something they promised to replace free of charge if i didn't like the creation. i was satisfied. wal-mart shopping turns into a completely different experience when there are only a few dollars to be spent on a few necessary items. and snacks. i thought it funny that when i have less dollars, i begin to notic other things i could buy instead of what i need to buy, but when i have a regular paycheck i can get only what i came to get without a second thought. having more than enough of money would take a lot of fun out of life, i'd imagine, because you could get whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it and still not understand why.

 

the whole trip turned out to be a lot of fun and we taped the empty coffee cup to the top of the car again. the passenger reactions of passing vehicles was even better than last time. i think this was because we saw the full process of the transition from gesturing to their realization of the purpose of the cup and its location. after a laugh or a wave, their cars would speed past and away into the dark highway ahead.

i'm going to spend the night with some people outside at the top of the climbing tower.

Day 27

there's a work weekend going on at the camp so families and youth groups are coming to spend the weekend and do some work while checkin out the camp. we're shooting and producing video for the event, so tomorrow will be busy.

tonight, we happened to find fresh pancakes from this morning's breakfast and some random left over blueberries and chocolate syrup. what a good late night feast. 

here are some of the videos me and friends have made on our days off..

"hello, my name is.. pole"

"hello, my name is.. paul"

more to come

Day 7

the sun was out for the entire day for the first time in a while. the temperature hit 27º today. i'm getting used to this celsius business. sort of.

there's a ton of action on the first full day of family camp. i've realized that i like doing video, however, because i get to see and be a part of almost everything without having to be stuck in one particular area with only one particular job to do in that one spot. most people show affinity to camera persons too which makes an even better job to have.

its only been a couple days of doing video work exclusively but this is probably the most i've ever liked any job i've had. this kind of feels like a big accomplishment in regard to the way i usually seem to judge the standards of life.

i'm so tired.

Day 4

i could feel the humid, deep, salty air growing cooler tonight as i sat atop the bobbing blob perch at the end of the long pier. the wholeness of oxygen made me want to open my chest somehow and breath with entire concentration. a faint fishy smell reminded me of sea world and i began re-reading don miller's 'blue like jazz' with a great zeal that had previously been strangely difficult to conjure. the soft glowing skies were matched with perfectly still waters. somewhere behind and out of sight, a trickling creek fell to the beach in a whispering crystal orchestra. an unspeakable load fell from my shoulders in the surreal stillness after considering that i as an individual, not humanity or corporations or society, was the cause of most of the problems i think i have. as miller's pages turned and the grey waters were punctuated with the heads of sea otters, the consistent tranquility was broken by a sound that made my very chest pull into itself. across the waters i heard a rolling

"bfffewe.....bfffewe......bfffewe......"

and i stared until i saw three orca whales emerge, spray, and then sink along the distant surface. they continued spraying and moving across the horizon and each exhale reached my ears just before the trio dipped beneath the glassy silver once again. i put the book down and began to play simple melodies on my pocket harmonica with a deep appreciation of the significance that beautiful simplicity can bring to a moment.

before all this, earlier today, i started my job training. i'm gonna be teaching and helping kids to shoot and edit their own mini videos of their week at camp while also working in the flow with the other two video guys to produce each week's documentary-ish recollection for the kids to take home of their camp experience. nick and ryan have just graduated from vancouver film school and are really passionate about their visual arts. i'll probably learn a great deal from them. most of the rest of my afternoon was spent watching past summer's productions and getting familiar with the cameras and computers. both went a long way in providing vision to the previously seemingly heavy duty.

there's also a couple of school groups that are renting the property for the likes of day trips and weekend retreats and, although they are almost completely on their own, we still wash their dishes and such. tonight's dinner was a totally organic creation of rice and pumice and other things that rabbits and hippies like to eat. it was quality, however.

finally, nalgene bottles cause cancer apparently. at least canada thinks so. i guess all the granolas will be faced with a huge decision- kill the environment with disposable, plastic bottles or kill themselves with toxic, environment-friendly containers. now would be a good time for someone to step up and make a new, organic water-bottle. just a thought.

tomorrow i will pack my canned salmon salad and trail mix granola bars and will climb the mountain. the forecast shows the brightest weather yet so tomorrow should be good.