LIFE... REMEMBERED

I just wanted to put down some thoughts about life, beauty, and peace of mind. The six months leading up to this trip were some of the most stressful days I’ve been through in 5 years since we owned the bar. Work has been driving me crazy with tons of overtime and pressure, planning this trip, worrying about what could go wrong, getting all the details in order to leave our home for 5 weeks, etc. I needed this trip...BIG TIME! But I never knew how bad, or what I would discover while out here on the road.

We’ve driven over 3000 miles and have been away from home for 21 days now. We’re in a place where the sun shines for dang near 19 hours a day, so many bald eagles fly everywhere that they look like the buzzards we’re used to in Texas, and natural beauty just washes over you everywhere you look. It’s almost sick how gorgeous everything is up here. From my kitchen window right now I can see the crystal blue expanse of the Strait of Georgia with snow-capped mountains on the other side and massive old-world stands of conifer forests standing watch over the shores. Those trees were here long before this town, these buildings, or the first cruise ship sailed by. They’ve been watching the eagles hunt salmon in the streams and killer whales jump and play in the blue waters long before anyone of my skin color ever saw these islands. Yesterday we found a quiet campground in the deep, dark, quiet woods surrounding Buttle Lake. This is an alpine retreat just 45 minutes from the home we’re staying in, but light years away from anything we’ve ever seen before. We’ll upload the pics soon, but what I finally laid hold of in those woods was peace of mind. I read somewhere that it takes two solid weeks of being totally unplugged from our busy lives to get the respite we need to rejuvenate our souls and find true relaxation. I believe it! I have finally shaken all the stresses of daily life and was able to sit for hours content to have little to no thought passing through my mind. Here’s a sample of my brain activity yesterday afternoon: “did my bobber move? Nope Did it move now?.... Nope. Hey cool....Eagle....did it move now? Nope.....now? nope....” :-) It was a very cool feeling to just sit and stare. No stress, no worries or cares in the world. Surrounded by gorgeous mountains, cool lake water that looked like liquid glass, and the joy of watching my kids bond with each other and compare their driftwood catches. It’s a great place to be: at peace. Centered in your soul on what really matters most. In touch with nature and feeling as one with some of the most astonishingly gorgeous visual settings God ever crafted. Pictures, words, nor any amount of story-telling can capture that feeling, that moment, the peace, the depth of life, color, and calm. It starts in the amazing scenery around you but soon infiltrates your very core and makes you feel connected to everything around you. I am so glad to have the blessing and opportunity to do this with my lovely wife and precious children. We have all grown so close during this time. These are moments I’ll look back on for years. I’m so happy. Thanks God!

On a final note, I want to say that I’m not writing this in any way to brag. I don’t want anyone to think that I wrote this to say “look at what I’ve got”. Actually it’s the opposite. I’m writing this to say “look at what you need”. In 40 years of life, I’ve never taken a trip like this, but I discovered how much I needed it. I want each person reading this blog to know how badly you need to take time for you. Time for family. Time to appreciate nature and to discover peace. Time for what really matters. If my words or this web page inspires some of y’all to go unplug and take your own trip (however great or small) into the wild blue....your own adventure to find yourself....then I have succeeded. It’s worth it! Don’t let life pass by in a rush of busy schedules and hectic stress about little things that ultimately don’t matter. Take the time to remember how to live...rather then just exist. It doesn’t cost much...our best nights were the ones spent in a tent next to a campfire. Thanks....I’ll stop preaching now. :-)