I am in the moment and not in the moment. The rocks come at me fast, but I do not see them. I see only where I want my skis to go in my semi-controlled free fall down some imposing Alaskan peak. I sense the snow coming from behind as I get around the last rock and out of the way just in time. That is skiing, and if you know skiing you know what I like most to do in this world. That is why I moved to Alaska. The story of where I come from is long and tangled so I will give you the skinny. I was born in Cleveland Ohio but do not remember it. My true memories began on the family trip West to Portland Oregon where my family set up shop until I was 13. Then I moved to North Carolina where I went to high school and took my first crack at college. The summer I turned 21 was intense. It was a long road trip that went on for years. I styled my life on 2 of my favorite books, Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. These books spoke of the spirituality and freedom associated with hitchhiking and camping wherever you ended up. And so it was a sense of freedom that led me here and a sense of awe at the mountains that initially kept me here. I then set about the task of climbing mountains all over the state and skiing down. But of course life has a way of leading you and one day I met this guy who set me up with a job fighting forest fires. I have fought many blazes with many men and women. I have flown in helicopters overlooking fires that are just raging with over 100 foot flame lengths, and then got out and tried to stop them one foot at a time. In the winter when the fires stopped I bought plane tickets all over the world. I have visited Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. I have seen Mexico, Guatemala and Peru. Mind expanding trips. Then of course I met my wife, Emily and everything changed, for the better. I no longer live my vagabond traveling lifestyle, but I have gained so much more. I have love, trust, a solid future and a son, Summit who is a joy everyday. He is just 15 months old. My wife works as a doctor at Providence Hospital here in Anchorage. My dream is to start an organic farm and orchard in some remote corner of Alaska with big mountains and lots of endless nature surrounding it. I am excited about life and even more excited about teaching and meeting the students of the next generation.
i like how your blog is one paragraph
ReplyDeleteJoel I Liked the story about the squirrel that caught fire when you were fighting a forest fire and you had to kill It. I'm not going to lie I was laughing about it when I was In the Paramedics Ambulance.
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