Me and Rainbow Bike, Monica and Johnathon. Necklaces and a camera.

I just survived another homecoming weekend here in Athens. The streets were flooded with people, some of whom I recognized as old college pals. Friday night I was up at the Union playing a show with Silo Circuit. I saw Monica Chillious. She and I both recieved a Templeton Scholarship, a four year scholarship named in honor of John Newton Templeton the 1828 graduate of OU. Templeton was a freed slave. The scholarship covered all of my college expenses (except beer!), and I'm very grateful to have recieved an education with little obligation in student loans. (If you want to see my official Templeton pic that was taken at the scholarship orientation the summer before I started college, click here.)

I had another unexpected meeting. Johnathan and I took a year of African Ensemble (drumming and dance) together. I first heard his voice through the walls of the co-op. I said, "I know that voice." Turns out that he was roomies with Nick who lives here now. John and I spent a lot of time together. We went to an organ concert, played music all evening, ventured to the bar for a game of darts and played ultimate frisbee yesterday. John's sincerity is palpable. He oozes positive energy, and he has a way with words especially at partings, though when he said goodbye to me, Clare and Zdinak he found no words to say. Instead he shed a tear. I love you John! Thanks for visiting! It was a surprise to meet you, and a pleasant one for sure. You're always welcome!

While John, Nick, Wes and I were up at the Ridges playing ultimate frisbee, I stole away to do some gathering. Dogbane is coming into harvest time. That's the plant I use to make cordage. In breaks of our game, I taught the boys how to wrap cordage. They were eager to learn, which pleased me so much. When I got back to the co-op, another cordage party started up. This time Clare got in on the action. I've been waiting patiently for the dogbane to dry out sufficiently to harvest it. When I was back home in August, I went to the beach and picked up some shells, bones, feathers and drift wood to make a necklace. My Mom also gave me some of her shells that she collected on our vacation to Key West. Well, yesterday I wove up a bit of cord, drilled out some of my Mom's shells and made up a fine necklace.

Today I'm working on my bike trying to replace the front fork. I'm talking about my old bike now. I call it "Rainbow Bike" because it's red with a green and yellow stripe. It was given to me by my Uncle Dave, who got it from a friend for free. It got me around the town all my senior year of college, and it got me back and forth from work all last year, that is until I fell down a hill one day and bent the fork. Well, a co-worker, Kelsey, gave me a new fork, and it's been sitting in Kate's trunk until today when she dropped it off. I'll have to get a picture of Rainbow Bike up for you all to see because it's an important thing in my life. And, I should get a pic of that necklace. In fact, I need to buy another disposable camera to take pics before my trip. (Hey, here's a picture of me without a beard at a festival in Oberlin, OH:




Peace and love, and health and happiness to you!