The one who loves you the most

Madeleine and I are in Mt. Shasta, doing a Yoga Teacher Training through the winter. We love it here :)

Some great lyrics by Singer/Songwriter Brett Dennen:

When the sky is falling from above you
And the wind is raging from the coast
And you want someone who truly loves you
I will be the one who loves you the most

When the masquerade and burlesqued balls
Become too ordinary to boast
You complain about the parade and curtain calls
I will be the one who loves you the most
Yeah, I will be the one who loves you the most

When the women with their stolen graces
Don't invite you to play host
To their daughters with fake faces
I will be the one who loves you the most

When all the debutantes desert you
And all the doorways are all closed
And the harlequins have hurt you
I will be the one who loves you the most
I will be the one who loves you the most

When your suitors sneering swank beside you
And leave you hollow like a ghost
And you just want somebody to confide to
I will be the one who loves you the most
I will be the one who loves you the most

See, when you forgive your imperfections
And you've auctioned all your clothes
And look to see your true reflection
You will be the one who loves you the most
You will be the one who loves you the most
You will be the one who loves you the most

Ports of Rhythm

Mountainous dreams and ports of rhythm,

four flying birds into the vastness above

As skipper set sail, its wings were well balanced,

It flew into the winds and grew like chives in a garden.

It savory and sweet, experience the rich color of a beet

Its waxy leaves took us long and far, especially for being towed behind a car.

From the great sequoias of old, to long windy roads.

From the feeling of sand, my toes the shovel, the earth the man.

I dug it up in Mt. Shasta, fell into this office jam.

Mi Amor, the love of the sun. The vibrancy of summer, this work life is no fun.

So here I started my own Tantric, solo band.

Webbed directly to the source, laughing at the illusion of course.

The fight to win, the trivial conditioning we're all in.

So play the rhythm, play to the beat.

I sit here in Portland, and I've got no sleep.

A lucky son--Boulder during an Arctic front

Glasswork: Chihuly

If Feels Like Time

To Update this blog:

Check out this week's Flag Live issue for my inside feature on our travels and other lovely content by the amazing contributors to this publication!

See it here:  Skipper Feature Story

Creature comforts

Life is such an amazing, perplexing riddle. We spend so much of our lives in a race against time, trying to plan for the future that always eludes us. If only we stop running from the past or to the future then we can step into the light and the ecstatic dance that is now. 

We just returned to California from a trip all over the country. We visited 5 states in 10 days. I got to check Illinois and Indiana off my map of the US! We spent time with both of our families which was a blessing. We also explored new things like the cobwebby bookends, record collectors paradise, and juice bar heavens. Then we went to Texas to reunite with my kin. There's something about drinking a Shiner Bock at sunset on a lakeshore with your family that just makes you feel like the happiest girl on earth. 

On our fast paced, jet thrusted travels we were exposed to all sorts of things. An airport and a subway station are a viruses dream. Germs get to travel at Godspeed around the globe. We picked up a little piece of God on the Chicago L and brought it back to Texas, now I'm in California still holding on to it in my cells. Pretty amazing if you really think about it. 

I also couldn't help but take notice of the excess that happens in our world. My partner and I seem to have made our own little country here in our tiny home, the democratic republic of skipper, and when we travel to the foreign lands of say, the Midwest, or the South, we can be subject to a bit of culture shock. 

I guess we've just gotten used to living so simply that waste seems to be a truly "bad" word. Like when I see disposable plates for instance... I realize the ease of not having to do dishes for a large group (or throw them in the dishwashing box)... But I just can't help but look at those little pieces of paper coated in a thin layer of plastic and wonder how many different things it could be used for. I picture a child in Africa bringing home fruit from a tree he has climbed over and over again all on the same little "disposable" plate. Or a woman in South America using that plate to dig adobe to build her family a one room home. 

Here in the Democratic republic of Skipper, I realize we have chosen a life that is much different from others in our surrounding county. We sleep soundly each night on a double bed in a 8x16 foot trailer. We shower outside with a three gallon solar shower, and still have extra water at times. We have one pot and one pan for cooking. 4 plates. One table. One hand pump sink. One closet. One half milky mirror on the wall. And we get by, not only that but we actually do still have excess! We are still trying all the time to simplify. So much abundance is a wonderful yet overwhelming thing at times. 

I challenge you, the reader to try to simplify your life a bit. See how good it feels to use one thing for its use. Be here now. Try to be mindful, you don't have to flush that gallon of fresh drinking water just because you peed on it! This world is crazy, and I'm probably a little crazier because I've found ways to deal with it that I think are working. We are all one global community. Share the love :) 

An old film photo from the begining of our trip northwest :)

Happy mushrooms in the moist Indiana forest. 

The McDermotts in shades of violet~

Children of the corn. Turning 24 in a new state. 

Our sweet flat in Wicker Park. 

Exploring the bean in millennium park!

Cool sculpture in Chicago

Floating above the other skyscrapers on the top of the Sears tower!

¡Salud! Houston family!

The beautiful view of canyon lake, always a pleasure. (We had a great time playing charades, a family tradition)

Me Matt and Jordan. 

Gruene Texas. 

Jen, joycie and Kyle at my Moms property in Blanco, tx.  

Our neighbor carol was very kind to water our garden while we were gone :) now our lettuce is ready to eat! 

Greetings, Greetings

Hello Ya'll, you all, youz alls, a few of you, and the rest. Hello.

Helloooo out there!!!

This page feels like a big empty room. I like big empty rooms. We live in a big empty room. We're living in a barn. It's red. Its name is...we haven't named it. I'd rather not. What if we didn't name anything? What if none of us had names!? Some people search this concept, but ultimately sharing a name with your parents is pretty cool. What if we chose our name after a while? Or chose it at any point? Well, we can. I'm not ashamed of my name, but I also realize that it's me. That's okay, because for as long as I'm here, I'll be myself.

So on to the next topic: Dolphins.

I feel this needs to be sincerely discussed. The free bin in Mount Shasta is a pretty good representation of what people are up to. It's more of a 'Hey I really want you to read this book about communication with dolphins so when I run into you everywhere I go because this town is small enough where you see the same people every day but they're all really cool so it's okay' bin. And thats okay. It sits outside a thrift store, and I've pretty much outfitted my self with clothes and books and other odds and ends from this bin. Most recently was a history of 20th century Jazz. I had a dream that I was listening to Bob Dylan on the radio and looked over to my father and said "what the hell does this mean." He looked over at me and said, "I don't know—you're the poet."

Dreams don't have to be seen as real, or unreal, anymore. He proceeded to tell me that he didn't like Bob Dylan or John Prine very much anymore (these were his two favorite artists, hands down), but instead he was in to Duke Ellington. I don't recall hearing much of Duke screeching from his turntable, housed in an asymmetrical wooden cabinet. It was usually folksy type stuff, lots of Beatles, Hendrix, a fair amount of Zappa and Beefheart, Marley, oh yea, and his all time favorite—Joni Mitchell.

So this Ellington thing was new to me, and I went about me day saying to myself—yea right. He was this and that and that's who he was. That's because I don't know his likes and interests as Scott McDermott anymore. I don't know what his body and his name associate with, so I figure it's easier to just assume that it's those things he once did.

I used to associate with eating McDonald's and collecting happy-meal Beany Babies, playing video games day-in and day-out, blowing up aliens with sticky grenades and flying Banshees over virtual realities. That must be how our politicians feel. Things change. We change. We grow beyond what we can see, and what we can put a name on. I'm only Kyle because I'm alive and as long as I'm living that's what people can see. They can't see the depths of my soul, but neither can I.

So I challenge you, the reader ... to like Duke Ellington. To accept something that you normally would pass by. To check out that concert that your so-so on. To write down the band that your friend suggested you listen to. To take a walk when you think about it, rather than talking yourself out of it. I'll leave you with this:

"Let yesterday's high be today's low."

And just to wrap up the dreamscape into something cohesive, the same day I had that dream, I found the book about 20th century Jazz, and sure enough, I open it up, and there's Duke Ellington.

Hurah!

KMCD

 A few film images from our travels taken by Madeleine~ www.madeleinehanlon.com

Blackberry days are back!

Hello hello!

Life is good in Northern California! 

Although there have been fires all aroun us, Mt. Shasta has been very lucky and has been missed by the destructive paths. I don't think we were ready to evacuate due to wildfires again.... And as I write this it has just started raining outside, which we desperately need!

This past weekend Donna, Kyle's mom, came out to visit us. It was so nice getting the chance to show her around our new home! We went to Redding and saw an incredible show by the reggae legend Jimmy cliff, we went to Castle lake and soaked up the sun and good vibrations, we drank spring water from the Mountains, picked blackberries in Dunsmuir, and Kyle and she just went up for an evening in Ashland, Oregon before she heads back to Arizona. Love really does make a family. 

We also got a quick visit from our friend Ashley from Flagstaff! She was passing through on her way south and we got to spend the day with her which was a true joy :)

Here are a few photos of the good times that have been rolling through our lives and echoing elation~ 

 

Kyle and Donna on Sundail bridge!

Kyle in a sculpture. 

The infinite adventure!

Here are some photographs from our recent escapades in Northern California.

We've been having so much fun adjusting to our new life here that we haven't had much time to post on the blog, our apologies!

Pluto's Cave! 7/23/14

Paige and Karlie's visit! Our first out of town friends to see our new home in Mt. Shasta!

Kyle & Madz meadow explorin' Independence day~

Lenticular clouds over Mt. Shasta!