SLEEPING WITH THE WHALE                                   

When the whale speaks, the entire ocean intently listens

When he swims to the surface to take a breath.

If the sun is out, his head will glisten.

All in the sea will understand

Except you and me

Even if we 

Listen.

But in my dreams, I know it’s true

The whale loves me

And even you.

Why I Travel

I have been asked why I travel as much as I do. I try to be somewhere besides home 2 weeks a month or longer for months at a time. It is a reasonable question because it is more than most people would want to travel.

I have always traveled if I could and never thought about it. I don’t think of my traveling as vacations, but rather as field trips in the school of life. The world is my classroom, and I love to learn, so I travel. There is a Chinese proverb that is 8,000 years old, and I am paraphrasing, that it is better to take 10,000 steps to a new place than to read 10,000 pages about it. I believe that. No words can reveal the beauty of a mountain, or the odors that rise from a marsh, or the sound of a waterfall. These things should not just be learned about; they should be absorbed in your soul, and only then can they be part of you. 

When I was able, I went to places I had no words to describe—and slept on the ground, in a tent, or belayed down a Cliff to see what was under the water in the remote spot below. I can no longer do that—my body won’t take me to those places anymore, but I have to move on anyway I can to keep learning. 

 In an Amazon River village in the upper Ecuadorian jungle, with no roads leading to it, I was told by the shaman that the secret to long life was never to stop experiencing life. He said that when you do, you are through. You might as well. Feed the environment and do some good. Placing that advice into my world was not difficult because I already believed it. I just didn’t know it.

Now I am traveling to timeshares and on cruise ships. I can still do that with my Walker and find new things in life that I had passed by without appreciating. When the time comes that I must ride in a scooter or a power wheelchair, I will find things even closer to learn that I was unaware of, as I walk over them. An example is the bellflowers that grow in the lawns. They are so small that you have to get down on your belly with a magnifying glass to see them. They are stunning.

The First Tide Pool

This is neat

The water was all around my feet.

It comes in and goes out.

It climbs up my legs

Then goes away

It never stays.

 It is cold, making me scream

My limbs go numb and feel like pegs

But it is Ok, I know they are still my legs.

Adventure 552 ADD

We use the word adventure very loosely. It’s like many other words that can mean different things to different people and create a different image in the listener’s mind than you might have intended.

I believe that anything that pushes a person beyond their comfort level is an adventure. I love the phrase, “If you’re not walking on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.” The question then is, how do you know if you are on the edge or not?

If you become uncomfortable doing anything and question your ability to do it…, you are close to the edge. It might be sewing the hem on a dress or riding a bucking bronco. If you’re doubting your ability to do it, you’re on the edge. If you are successful, you have increased your world and feel proud of yourself. If you’re in trouble, that’s also beneficial; you’ve learned something.

I had a good friend who took many trips with me, who said, “Every time I take a trip with you, it’s a near-death experience.” I was having a good trip; he was having an adventure.

 We evaluate the things around us based on our own experience. It is essential to be aware that there is always someone better, so we won’t be shocked when they beat us. Walk on the edge as much as you can. Every time you do, you learn something that keeps you moving forward.

Learning something new is taking a step forward on an adventure. It doesn’t matter how inconsequential it is; it is a forward movement in your life, and that is the right direction. Be proud of it.

The only way for me to answer my own questions of what, why, and how was to become a marine biologist, so I did. Life as a scientist is, at its core, a life of wonder, because we never find the final answer to anything. Every new thing we learn or discover just creates more questions.

I didn’t realize that every time I learned something, I became dumber. Each new thing I learn creates many more questions I don’t know. I want to know everything about the latest development: how it works, where it came from, and so much I don’t understand about it. I am trying in life to get as dumb as possible.

The quest for knowledge never ends; it just expands. It has been an exciting and fulfilling life for me. I have come to realize that, like Sergeant Schultz of the old TV series Hogan’s Heroes, I “I know nothing,” but I have had an exciting and fun time trying to learn everything for over 91 years.

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