Outdoor Activites

Get me out of the city and let me loose to do some gardening and work on our farm, then let's go camping and hiking, or canoeing, kayaking or sailing!  There is a this strange irony that we labor, in whatever our work is, in order to obtain the material goods that we have come to be convinced by a collection of ideological forces that we need, when in reality all that is needed is some food to eat, some clothes on our backs and companionship.  All those things for which we work are not needs, but rather desires inculcated by others who have lead us to believe that we in choosing for ourselves how we will live we are expressing our freedom, when in reality we are slaves to their pervasive consumerism.  I am reminded of Jesus who, in speaking both to men toiling in their fields and women travailing over their looms, said:

No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?  Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?  Why are you anxious about clothes?  Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry and say, "What are we to eat?" or "What are we to drink?" or "What are we to wear?" All these things the pagans seek.  Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.  Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Several important things emerge out of this teaching: the beauty of nature is extolled as the handiwork of God, a God who provides what is needed.  We do not need to fuss and be anxious about publications, promotions, or whatever currency of prestige is used in our work, but rather need to turn to the better things of life, namely, a recognition of the beauty of nature and labor for the kingdom of God, rather than those needs we perceive to be our own that are in truth in place to distract us from genuine freedom.  I experience great peace and great awareness of the beauty of God's creation when I am outside of my cubicle, condo, or whatever other fancy verbage created to describe the iron cage in which we too often find ourselves.  Therefore, I try as hard as I can to make time to take in the beauty of creation and stand in awe of God.  I also have as my ultimate goal to transform my life into a simple life, in which I can stand in relation to God needing none of the trappings of our so-called modern, yet ever more alienating, society.

Gardening and Farming  |  Camping and Hiking  |  Kayaking and Sailing

Gardening and Farming

New Chelsea: Our Farm

Camping and Hiking

Camping has been a hobby of mine since my family first starting going to the Colorado River and Lake Powell.  However, I really began to develop my hiking and backpacking skills when I joined Cub Scouts.  I was in Cub Scouts from second grade until I became a Boy Scout.  I remained in Boy Scouts until I finished high school, having earned my Eagle Scout in my sophomore year.  While I was a Boy Scout with Troop 649, we went on many hikes, and camped in many places.  We completed a nine-day trip along some of the John Muir Trail in Sierra Mountains of California, climbed Mount San Jacinto in southern California several times, had a marvelous sixteen-day wilderness experience at Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of north-east New Mexico, and many other memorable hikes.  Around San Diego, I have hiked in the Anza-Borrego Desert, Palm Canyon, Garnet Peak, Palomar Mountain and many other smaller hikes.  While I was in Denmark, I was part of De studerendes vandreklub (Students Hiking Club), with whom I made many wonderful treks in Skåne (southern Sweden), as well as numerous hikes in Denmark, including on the small Danish island of Samsø.  We also made a thrilling seven-day cross-country ski trek in the Setesdal Valley of central Norway.  While in England, Michelle and I also made a wonderful one-day trek in the Lake District.  While on our honeymoon, Michelle and I did some short although wonderful hikes on Rarotonga, Aitutaki, and Atiu. While this by no mean is a comprehensive account of the places I have hiked and camped, they are the highlights that come to mind.

Kayaking and Sailing

As I mentioned, my family started going to the Colorado River and Lake Powell often, where we water skied and explored the unique landscape.  While I was in Boy Scout Troop 649, I began to get involved in the annual Colorado River Canoe trip.  We started at Palo Verde and spent three days paddling fifty miles to Squaw Lake, near Yuma, Arizona.  This is a trip my father and I partook in about six times—and each time was a wonderful, relaxing, and challenging experience.  I was also lucky enough to make a canoeing trip with my father from the bottom of Hoover Dam (Lake Mead) through Black Canyon, a journey of about the same length as the lower Colorado, but upstream and much more demanding.  Kayaking is something that I discovered only after having started as an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego.  I participated in a fourteen-day Wilderness Orientation program with other students, kayaking along the coast of Baja California, Mexico around Punta Banda and Todos Santos (south of Ensenada).  Michelle and I also were fortunate enough to go kayaking several times on Rarotonga while on our honeymoon there.  While at Notre Dame, Michelle and I discovered that there are many wonderful places to paddle in the Midwest.  We paddled along the St. Joseph River, which flows through South Bend, several times.  South Bend is also home to the East Race, a challenging whitewater kayaking course.  On two occasions, Michelle and I paddled on the much smaller Galien River in southwest Michigan, including one trip as far downriver as the port of Benton Harbor.  Now that we have been back in San Diego we have tried to take advantage of the numerous excellent places to paddle, mostly in Mission Bay.  Most recently, we purchased our own kayak which has been a lot of fun to paddle around.

I have also become enamored with sailing since I started sailing at Camp Cherry Valley Boy Scout Camp on Santa Catalina Island.  After learning to sail using a Trac 16 at Cherry Valley, I continued to sail a Sabot with Gordon Zittel, a friend and high-school German teacher of mine who is now sailing around the South Pacific with his wife, Miriam Zittel, my former second-grade teacher, in their ship Anwagomi.  Mission Bay was a great place to continue my sailing lessons and although I never raced, I became quite decent under Mr. Zittel's tutelage.  Incidentally, it was because of the Zittel's South Pacific sailing that I first learned of the Cook Islands, where Michelle and I honeymooned.  Most of my sailing has been in Mission Bay, through the San Diego Youth Aquatic Center.  I also sailed a replica Viking ship in Roskilde Fjord, at the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark.  For some time before we purchased our condominium in San Diego, Michelle and I contemplated buying a boat and living aboard it at Shelter Island.  Alas, Michelle was not too keen on the idea, having never sailed, so we live a much more conventional life, with showers in our own place and a home that does not undulate with the ocean.  It is still a goal of mine, once Michelle and I have retired, to follow in the footsteps of the Zittels and sail off in our own boat.  I have some interest in boat construction and although I have not ever built my own, I know of several people who have, using plans from Glen-L, a group from whom I have purchased a set of plans for a canoe.