Day 173

i spent the day advertising and talking to more people and meeting more business owners and scored an interview for monday.

there's another opportunity that has come up that might develop. more news soon.

sorry for the obscurity, but you know how it goes by now.


funny thing is that all i needed to acquire for a costume was the vest



and may i again suggest www.wallblank.com

Day 172

the dying days of october taunt the strongest, fighting leaves with a smokey and surprisingly warm gust. there are swirling and dancing paper fires skipping and clicking across the pavement and i imagine that the shuffling leaves might be wondering where they're meant to be this winter as well.

more than twenty people showed up for the snowboarder's for Christ Bible study tonight. the discussion started by going around the room and having people listed the first, next thing they want to buy. then the commandment concerning coveting was brought up, then the subject of contentment, and through the transition of the night, a lot of people ended up sharing times where they've given things away to others, in faith and practicing contentment, even when it wasn't easy. once again, i wish i could remember the whole flow. i need a tiny tape recorder to bring everywhere. still, people here know what it is to live life.

scott and i had ridden bikes to the gathering while everyone else carpooled and, seeing that my situation is still unsettled and unclear, i pedaled to tim horton's after the study. out came the baggie of coins and i sorted out enough for a cup of coffee and sat down again to be still. silent. alone. listening.

tomorrow is friday- the last of the month and last day before move in. i'm not sure what's going to happen for me on that day.

still as we grabbed our lunches at the supermarket today, i imagined, for a few seconds, what it would be like to be living in rockford and to still be working at the sporting goods store. even in this current mix of uncertainty and provisions, i knew that i'd be wishing to live something like this if i happened to still be punching that green clock.

we're starting to put together our menu, of sorts, of cheap and healthy meal combos we've created during the past couple weeks. maybe that'll be put up here soon. they usually average 3-4 dollars. you might even find yourself wanting to try it out once or twice.

Day 171

we drove up one of the nearby mountains this afternoon. the drive up was about twenty minutes on a rocky and rutted path and it felt good to maneuver a 4x4 again. the three of us had mountain bikes and, after parking one car at the bottom, we drove the other to the top for the hour long bike down.

i didn't know what to expect and, after seeing ten foot drops and jumps and forty-five degree trickling tire paths, i took it easy and made sure the bike didn't ride me down. the scenery was awesome and the town of fernie sat quietly below amidst the river and fading treetops. i'm going to try to get back to the lower part tomorrow to do some shooting.

still there are no obvious answers today for the elusive next step. calls are being made and people are in on the situations, so it'll be a close call. word of mouth is good, though.

i got tired of all the thinking and explaining and re-explaining of this already detailed and confusing permit situation so i headed off to tim horton's tonight for some coffee and chill and silence. to be still. alone.


finally, being wednesday night, we went out for the open mic and jammed for a few hours. my lungs are seriously tired from the harmonicas.

Day 170: part 2

haha.

i am laughing now, even though i lost the security of a full time job today and the value of a free, one thousand dollar ski pass that comes with it. it's no wonder why nobody knows about american-canadian work visa protocol. i'd guess that those who've tried either gave up and never spoke of the frustration again or just ran away into the country forever and started a new life chopping wood and making log cabins. into the wiiiild.

anyways, things did happen during part two of a difficult day.

there was double comfort and ease in talking to a good friend from back home. funny how older friends are always a little more there in the interpretation of whatever situation you're in now.

seconds after goodbye and the accumulated readiness to take whatever next steps in a deeper exercise of faith and trust, one of the my new friends in nearby montana, from the weekend, hit me up about the situation and made a suggestion. montana has a solid ski mountain resort and she knows cool people i could stay with. then we could come visit fernie on the weekends and such. just the thought of the simplicity of working in my own country is an incredible concept

secondly, my friend in washington talked about going to portland for the winter. portland.

both these developed right after the frustrating and blinding setback. in some respects, i'm in the same place i was this morning. on the other hand, i'm starting to wonder if faith is trusting farther than i can see. i still have a couple job interviews here for the next couple days. i definitely haven't made any decisions yet either way. i don't decide.

it should be known that, in all this, i still have the strong and remarkable feeling that the adventure is not yet over. and why should it even be? even after some bad news today concerning the inability to work on the hill due to the catch 22, i've come to accept that perhaps the plans for the future are not as inclusive as i first thought and, if approached in faith and trust, they might just be the dot on the horizon that leads to something never seen before. nate, the new new zealand guy who's staying as a temp in this house as well, shared the same sentiments when we went to the grocery store. he had come over to attend a Bible college that ended up falling apart before the semester started.

also, i've reached a point where, for the first time in probably forever, i'm actually looking forward to going to school to study and finish a degree. i'm not sure what or where it's going to be yet, but i don't need that understanding right now. this part of the big transition is complete. only a couple more to go.

Day 170: part 1

this might be the end.

i went back up to the hill today to get the last papers for employment. the h.r. lady adamantly and, rudely even, rifled responses with an occasional dry, "this helps nothing" grin. the hill and company demands that foreigners have their working visa ahead of time. that's cool for everyone except americans who need the paperwork in order to get their permit. whatta catch 22.

this comes as a huge disappointment. i have a permit to work the very part-time job as janitor, but that alone might barely pay rent and i wouldn't have a pass for the mountain. right now i wonder if this is a bigger test of faith. maybe i've gotten self righteous by thinking too highly of the circumstances and events that have brought me this far.

for the first time i'm at a real loss of what to do next. move in date is three days away. hopefully i'll know before then.

p.s.
it's only two in the afternoon and today is far from over. i'll be back on tonight to add some more and wrap up today. i think something is happening as i type.

Day 169

i headed to church this morning for my first day of work as janitor of fernie fellowship baptist church. it's a good place and i'm glad to be plugged in and officially and legally employed in only one weeks time of first attending the church. i got my key and code today and went over the list of duties one last time with the now former janitor as she heads off tomorrow for an backpacking trip to india.

the rest of the day didn't go as planned and i didn't get as much accomplished as i wanted. it all came down to bad breaks. i was discouraged, a little, and let myself ponder the situations ahead, considering if this is actually the right decision and place to be. i needed a prod.

i did get interviews set up with the lodge restaurant manager for playing live music in their restaurant in the winter. he's gonna call to set up a time on thursday for me to come over and play for him. this is in that same room from a couple nights ago with the digital baby grand and big windows.

still, with a such a low amount of free cash during this settling period i'm being very careful about spending on anything, but wanted to attend one of my friend's birthday dinners at a decent curry bowl restaurant with the rest of the guys. i couldn't buy any food there, i knew, but we had a good time anyways. as the rest ordered and received their food, the waitress happened to bring out a mistakenly made order. she was flustered and knew there was nothing she could do about it now, so she dropped it onto the table and mumbled that it wouldn't be put on the check. the guys slid the plate towards me and i was provided for, in timely and last second fashion, once again.

money can't buy faith. faith can't buy money.

i could live like this forever.

Day 168

today has been huge. huge. huge.

but first,

we woke up in montana and went to church in a surprisingly populated town- in montana. who knew. the church is only a couple years old but apparently has been growing rapidly and is now held in a sweet, former movie theater. it's sweet and their sermon titles and weekly activities are designed as movie posters that fill the display boxes outside. we sat in the balcony of freshlife church and their mannerisms of music and teaching and overall vibe reminded me of imago dei in portland. good place.

adam and i, along with the two guys in the house from church we're living with and a new zealander nate who's crashing here temporarily too, went out to lunch with the friends from last night. afterwards, we all hit up glacier national park and spent the afternoon waiding in the icy streams of glacier runoff and skipped rocks and climbed trees in the crisp and perfectly clear fall sun. we were hippies.


here's the huge part tho.

we left montana late after having dinner with the girls. all the preparations and future of these plans for the winter revolved around tonight's process of getting my work permit on the way back up. i was nervous, considering my success with past border experiences, but felt a strange sort of comfort/excitement in the fact that this border crossing was the same one that chris mccandless passed through after going north from wayne's farm on his way to alaska.

i showed them my papers and janitor job offer from the church but they suspected i needed one other document- one that is very hard to get. i sat in their lobby, spending the minutes praying and playing solitaire on the ipod, all the while feeling an incredible combination of peace and faith. there's nothing better then gratefully understanding that what's about to happen is meant to happen exactly the way it does.

bob marley still happened to be echoing choruses of ''everythings gonna be alright." the song had been stuck in my head for most of the drive back. after over an hour of talking on the phone with the immigration at a different border location and getting a clutch benefit of the doubt concerning an almost detrimental detail of my permit's 'religious organization conditions', i was granted (literally granted as they could have rejected me) a permit and happened to have the necessary cash in my wallet for the fee. i had just enough to pay the $150 canadian and hadn't had that much money in my wallet in months. before leaving, i asked the two night border guards if they'd heard of the movie 'into the wild.' "that was a horrible movie" snapped the female guard. i stifled any sort of opinion-based response and thanked them for everything and left the building with a bigger battle won.

we finally began driving again after almost two hours of waiting and i watched the murky outline of nearby mountains slide against the haze of stars and galaxies. once again, i stand amazed at this path and place in life that's been presented for me. i can't easily remember a time where i've been as happy as i am in this moment.

now, i'm very low on free cash and am going to the vintage clothes store in town tomorrow to sell some of my summer threads. i think that's a win-win situation because i'll be lightening my load and maintaining survival until work starts. i'm selling a kayak setup back home too if you're interested. and a jeep. and i'll soon have photographs available on wallblank.com


overall, i felt something huge tonight. again. faith and trust are more real to me than ever before. this path, this life, and this adventure as been blessed and guided in countless ways.

whatever it is You have me here for, i'm ready.

Day 168

saturday, october 25th, 2008

canada ends with foothills from the valley of mountains and opens to montana highways and open land. there are some mountains in the distances but i don't understand why people build their ranch style houses in the middle of this no where.

we've come down for one of our friend's friend's birthday party. it was a good time meeting some more new friends, here in montana, and jeremy and i ended up jamming and doing some music at the party.

tomorrow's the big day and final step to finalize my winter travel situation in fernie.

i recross the canadian border with my papers and purpose to get the work permit and temp sin number. hopefully the situation goes better than the first re-entrance.

here we go.