Hi. (that was hard?)

I could have kicked myself yesterday. I left on my bike around 4:30 in the afternoon to catch the end of a beautiful day down at Clifton Beach. I tend to gravitate toward this part of the area because it's just far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Palm Cove touirist action. I always feel perfectly removed. I can see the tourism walking the beach but there aren't apartments and restaurants staring me down. So my favorite part of day approaches, 5:30ish. Don't ask me why, I could list a few reasons but none will be able to explain the feeling. It's just before the sun starts its decent into evening. The whitewash foam of the sea turns a bright white, almost blue. There isnt any pink in the sky yet and it only lasts for about thirty minutes but it's magic. It feels fresh and no matter whats going on in those few moments of my day, mark my words I will smile. See right there, I grinned just thinking about it.
It was about this time that I saw a man in the distance. As he approached I noticed he was a true backpacker, around 30 give or take. Boots, boardshorts and an enormous monstrosity of a backpack. As he approached I gave a half ass smile, one of those that just gets you away with not being rude. But as he passed me I couldn't help but completely stare. It wasnt that he was some rediculously attractively guy, but he looked like he had a story. As I contemplated where the hell this kid was going he totally turned around, oops he caught me, awkward! Oops, aw shit I did it again. He must have turned around five times after he passed me sprawled out in the sand. I was so curious, but by now he was too far down the beach for me to say anything. Geese, missed opportunity number five-thousand. I just wanted to know where the hell he was going, and/or coming from. Is one bag all he's had with him, how long has he been gone? Do you speak english?
Oh well, so long Mr.Backpacker I'll never meet, Im sure you had an amazing story. Wish I had the balls to splurt out a hello. I will next time. . . . Imagine if you talked to everyone you sat next to at the bus stop or were waiting in line behind etc. etc. Some would probably really suck and not want to say much but there would always be those few, the one's you could share some common ground with, maybe even a new friend. It's never too late to start saying hi, two letters thats all. It takes longer to blink.

A Starting Point

So this is pretty random but it had such an "aha!" effect on me that I wanted to write about it. I was in church yesterday, not for mass or anything, just reflecting and hangin' out with the G-man, being alone and quiet with my thoughts. But after a little praying I started reading my book and I came across a chapter that hit me. It read as follows:
"I guess it all comes down to deciding how long you want to be happy. If you just want moments of happiness, I suspect pleasure and possessions can satisfy. If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap. If you want to be happy for a whole day, go shopping. If you want to be happy for a weekend, go fishing. If you want to be happy for a month, TAKE A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA. If you want to be happy for a year, inherit a fortune. But if you want to be happy for a lifetime, find a way to make a difference in other people's lives.Let your life speak"
Weird that he picked Australia to be happy in, I mean I totally get it though.Just because Im across the friggin world doesnt mean I can't help out this community. So with that Im meeting with a youth volunteer group tomorrow to hopefully start helping out in any way I can! This should be a good way to meet people too. Be the change you want to see in the world, right?

Camping under a rising moon

I tend to gravitate towards nature and the good old outdoors, which is probably why this past weekend was so incredible. Friday we loaded up the ute, latched on the boat and headed for Lake Tinaroo, a little over an hours drive inland. Mango and avocado fields lined the roads as we past through the rainforest atmosphere into the wide open counry. Upon arrival Daniel allready had the whole camp set up and ready for enjoyment. What's there to do when everything's allready done?. . .crack some coldies and light up the camp fire! And that we did, all weekend long. I woke up with the sun for coffee and early morning ski sessions, and literally played on the water from sunrise to sunset. Evenings were a sight to see, sitting around the fire drinking, listening to acoustic tunes and stories. The Aboriginal superstitions and travel tales were my favorite topics. I need to read up on my astronomy though, because there were stars upon stars upon stars most of which I couldn't identify. It's funny how you can feel so small and yet so liberated in the same moment. Saturday night we saw satellites in orbit, sailing through the sky and then slowly disappearing.I made myself stay up to watch the moon rise, even though I was exhausted from a full day of wakeboarding, I wasn't about to miss out on it. I'm beyond blessed to have such good people in my life! I like to wonder off alone sometimes, because this is when I can really evaluate the amazing place im in. This all becomes real again, its easy to get caught up in wonderful situations but this gives me time to take a step back and truely appreciate everything that surrounds me.
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware", oh so true.