Life on the road has morphed into hanging around on the street passing the time with whatever.  Playing cards, dumpster diving for bike parts etc, wandering from the plaza to our friend’s places, throwing a frisbee on the field or the disk golf course, going for a bike ride, having a beer at happy hour, and other fun types of activities.  Arcata is nice enough city for this but for Julie and I the “whatever” is a tiring process.  Being summertime, the long days give lots of opportunity to be active and pursue the doing of life.  Summertime is also nice for vacationing and camping by the river.  We got to the river last weekend with some friends and genuinely enjoyed 3 nights camped above a deep green river.  A fire every night, swimming and cards all day.  In Willow Creek the heat of the day topped out at 90 F and at night it fell to around 65 F.  The Trinity River was refreshing yet pleasant any time of day.  I found time to get our kayak off the roof of Dolores and do a 15 mile paddle.  It is a fantastic river to float down and the class 2+ flow keeps it exciting.  I did have to stop once along the way to bail out my boat because the huge, old, gortex, spray skirt leaked and often caved in under the weight of the turbulent water coming over the bow.  Besides all the small stuff that needed fixing on the kayak it worked for me and I enjoyed the evening float with all manner of bird life, deer, river otters and gorgeous mountain scenery.  It turned out the evening float was a farewell voyage for the kayak as someone else decided to have it for theirs.  From where we left it on the beach I would not have guessed that the next morning it would disappear so easily but, off it went.  I have tried to refrain from judgement about why or what should have been done to “save” the kayak.  Both Julie and I genuinely feel okay that someone else has it to use.  We had barely been using it so it is easy to see how our vibrations had stopped resonating with this huge piece of equipment.  It might have been nice to sell it but my “make do” attitude had several fix-it projects lined up for it.  I had already started making a trailer for pulling a kayak with a bicycle (now it will be for a surf board.)  So the kayak has gone off and we have let it, for this allows us to feel lighter.  We might hope to recognize those things which weigh us down on our journey and actively transform them into joy.  But grace is a mysterious process and we are just glad to let it unfold and not muddle it up with thoughts like; why didn’t we put the kayak on the van that night, should we file a police report, or those thieving jerks at the Kimtu Swimming Area.  We know all those types of thought are toxic and only bring our vibe down.  It is lunacy to believe that the laws we create in our culture are the best way for this word to order itself.  Plus it feels nice to give things to others and apparently this takes many forms. 

The weekend is hear again and we will enjoy free live music on the plaza here in Arcata.  The parties will be numerous!  Hopefully working will be on the agenda for next week.  Both Julie and I would love more focus in our daily activity and to be compensated for our contribution.  For now we ride the wave as it breaks.  Light and love. Zach

p.s. Here is a pictorial journey of us preparing Vince's Summer Solstice Kimchi!