Release...

6 years ago in the picture postcard island of Cabo Polonia I rented a cabin with an Englishmen, Welshman, and a Norwegian. We tweaked a week into a paradise of vice. Somewhere in between I purchased a hemp necklace from a brazilian hobo roamin' thru Uruguay; it soon was guarded as another limb of mine and is seen in pretty much every photo I took of me from that moment till...


Cabo Polonia Beach 2004

Another picture-perfect postcard island, Mantigue off of Camiguin with another Englishman and an American (south georgia): after a good hour snorkeling in cold water, I swim to shore, slab some PB&J on terrible sweet bread, and I feel the grip finally give way--the extremity exterminated, the branch busted, the limb lacerated; the bond broken...6 years L8r...my mouth dropping and releasing the bite of bread, the jam from my jowls.

Mantigue Island

3 Brother's Boat n' Me

I knew I'd spend a considerable amount of time on the island of Camiguin, but the 15 days I ended up there injected me with a tranquility and contentedness I haven't had in a great many days. Jasmine by the Sea was the perfect retreat; my sanctuary from all troublesome thought, from reality's rapacious rampage...I was suspended in solace.

Melinda Day-Nappin'

How every day ends at Jasmine's:
kids kickin' kurrent-- the
sun dripping gold upon a drawing tide

That's not to say I sat on my ass for the better part of a month, rather the itinerary was most satiating: a cross-island hike followed by a nice soaking in cold-springs, hiking thru a pathless ravine that lead me up to a ridge that would leave me 300 meters from the islands highest mountain with absolutely no way to bush-bash anymore, the ascent of Hibok-Hibok volcano--my 2 conspirators and I--in a blinding mist that was NOT picture perfect, a circumferential cycle around the island measuring 40+miles that impressed my bum more than I cared for, snorkeling previously mentioned, and a whopping 3 books buried in my memory with the soil of copious coffees consumed--life loved me lavishly and thoroughly.

Hibok-Hibok Volcano; the day we DIDN'T climb it

Summit of Hibok-Hibok; clear as canola

This pose didn't hold long at all

With a combo of ferries--of which the local kids gave us spectacular sendoff by doing flips off the top of our ferry fearlessly--and buses, we left the reputed problematic province of Mindanao for Leyte where we were stunned by a beautiful beast that will have to be accounted for later. Making hastely northward, we passed the island of Samar in a day and arrived back on the main island of Luzon, albeit in the southeastern region of Bicol, where the food is notoriously spicy--cooked in cocount soaked chilis--which was cohesive with the fire below the earth...the world's most perfect volcano, Mt. Mayon. This story and vista must also wait.

--->Reads: Avariciously flippin' pages, I came across my now favorite author, Salmon Rushdie. Many of you may know is most famous work, "Satanic Verses", but I read a fascinating novel about Kashmir and it's people set in LA and India/Pakistan both; "Shalimar the Clown". This left me speechlessly in awe of his ability to tell a story, but none-the-less, I picked up the classic and already read, "Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger and was reminded how dark and sad it can be as a lonely kid in the world. I needed some much lighter, funnier material so what more did I do than pick up a Canadian author Will Fergison and his satircal "Happiness" that pokes fun of the self-help book industry. The main theme here is what if someone wrote a book that actually worked...solving everyone's problems...it made me laugh out loud several times and was the perfect transition from the heavy pages that had crossed my eyes the months before.

--->Flics: Loads actually...only because I've been traveling with the odd couple Andy (English) and Julian (Valdosta, GA) which allowed us all a bit more luxury with less cost...one of my favorite findings. The most notable and liked was the relevant "An Inconenient Truth" by Al Gore which just won 2007's Academy Award for Documentary Feature (which I'm sure you all more aware than I was). The other films escape me at this delayed post ending.

I leave you all in great anticipation for the next post--surely you'll see it before you see this post due to your busy, hectic, ever-moving lives that preclude extra time for pleasure reading while at work...yeah right!