Blood blisters, Led Zeppelin and Astrophysics oh my!

Life goes on. The song remains the same. The internet is being really stupid right now even though i am the only one here. I don't know why. Anyway the weather has gotten surprisingly colder in the past few days. It has been really cold at night especially of course with no heating in the staff quarters and the front door doesn't really close right. but there is a little wood stove that we have been making fires in that heats the place up nicely. And one thing we are not short on is dry wood. A short trip down into the creek will yield several hours worth of heating. I spent this morning cleaning out probably 10 kilos of ash from inside the thing and gathering enough firewood to last at least a few days. 

In the meantime, the paintings have gone on well; I have now stretched and primed many canvases for the artists. I’m still working on getting a post up with examples of Kathleen’s paintings. I think that Kathleen and the others are really becoming more comfortable about working around me. Not that they were ever very uncomfortable I think but they are being more friendly and talkative lately which is cool. I’ll definitely miss working with them after I leave.

Speaking of which I don’t know if I mentioned this before but now it is looking like I will be staying at Delmore until the middle of June rather than July. I think I would rather see more of Australia and have a bit less money than make more money sticking around Delmore and not get to see as much of Australia. After all this is an adventure I’m on. I’m still not sure where or how I will get out of Alice Springs to. The plan as of right now is to find some other backpackers who want to split renting a car and then drive either north to Darwin and see Kakadu National Park or drive south to Adelaide and Melbourne and then up the coast. Whichever way I go, Cairns and Port Somethingorother just north of it are my ultimate destination. I could really go right now for a fresh caught fish dinner and a corona on the beach. Maybe if I have enough money I will go for a trip to New Zealand, we’ll see I guess.

One thing I’m definitely learning on this trip is that you always have more options available to you than are immediately apparent. We live a lot of our lives with our heads buried in the sand of our own circumstances and only every so often the covers are pulled off and you remember that life was not always that way and that you are actually free to do whatever you like. Crazy philosophizing I know, but I’m having one of those moments and I figure that this blog can’t be all crazy bugs and SPAM sandwiches all the time. But because of it, I now have some LONG TERM top secret …..should that be TOP SECRET long term? I don’t know but I have projects in the works, which I never thought I would be capable of. The important thing is that I actually have specific goals now for my life, whereas before I was very vague and open to what life might bring. That is a fine attitude if it’s what you’ve got, but now I know what I want. As it relates to my experience here at Delmore, this realization that I now have was there before but it seemed like something that other people do, or have or are just given, and I didn’t give it much more thought than that. But this trip has given me the time to find what I want, through not having access to it. I think I was walking down a road before that I thought was right or at least would eventually get me there, but now I have taken a step back and realized that it’s easier if I just take a helicopter to where I want to go. I know all of this is vague right now but you all will find out eventually I’m sure.

They say that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, and sometimes I believe them. Before I left on this trip it seemed like everyday was a bit shorter than the one before. It certainly didn’t feel like it had been an entire year and a half since my graduation from college. Much less since October 14^th 2008. But it turns out that a plane ticket to the other side of the planet makes a great stick to shove in your spokes. Life really seems like it is divided into chapters, each one a complete story unto itself. The only difference between life and a book is that you are writing it as you are reading it, and if a chapter is going on to long, you are at full liberty to start a new one whenever you feel like it. No matter how entrenched you think your future is. . . . . I want a sandwich. . . . . And thus we hit the core of my soul. I'm glad that it's only two paragraphs deep.

But seriously, if anyone has read this far, congratulations, you will doubtless receive some prize from me at some point in the future for your dedication. Also I do recommend that everyone should get out and have adventures. It is a great way to slow down the universe. Now, about that sandwich….