more normal than not

I rarely look beyond what something “is” to what it actually costs.

I don’t mean that I’m not aware of the price tags….I know what something “costs”….and, usually, I’m shopping at places where all the t-shirts are $1.25, anyway…so even then, I don’t really keep track of what the original “cost” was.

Why would it matter to me? I turn away when the sign says that t-shirts are $2.50.

“Cost”….that’s kind of a weird concept, anyway.

Things cost what people are willing to pay….and if the marketing is really good, we’re hoodwinked into paying more than something is worth, sometimes.

That’s the money side of cost.

That’s the easy side to pay attention to.

We pay attention to things as deeply as they affect us financially.

Why should we go any deeper than that?

This video is about changes in clothing….changes in design and changes in how clothing is produced…..and an awareness of what our choices “cost”.

It’s about an awareness of the damage that traditional clothing production does to the environment.

Watch for the section with the person talking about clothing being dyed in China….and why she stopped enjoying watermelon that she was buying locally there.

Research why Patagonia went to using organic cotton.

It was more than just a marketing concept.

How we produce the things we wear….or the things that eventually make their way to the $1.25 t-shirt rack….really has a damaging effect on the environment.

Check out the lady growing “fabric” with bacteria and yeast cells.

“Bio-engineered clothing”.

That’s pretty wild.

We can go beyond what we know now.

And, as far as the “what people are willing to pay” thought goes, I guess that maybe we’re willing to pay as much for what we understand….as for what we don’t have to know about.

A “blood diamond” is beautiful…who needs to know about what it cost to dig it out of the dirt?

Who needs to know about the damage that producing anything costs?

Knowing any of that stuff makes it hard to be a joyful consumer.

Thinking about “damage” is a real buzzkill.

Go to the mall and look around.

I’m amazed at the stuff that they can pile into a “small corner” of my world.

There is a lot of stuff vying for my attention at the mall.

Now, go to the thrift stores and look at the huge amount of stuff that’s at the other end of the consumption chain.

By the time clothing makes it way to the thrift stores, it’s usually lost its lustre for the original purchaser.

It’s something that’s a couple of steps from being in the landfill.

Look at the amazing volume of stuff that is being sold at the other end of the process.

That’s pretty bizarre that we’re surrounded by so much stuff.

I’m a sucker for books.

I worked in a retail book store.

I love books.

But, except for what the book “is”….what’s inside the book….the information it contains….a book is really kind of worthless….unless someone decides that it’s “collectible”….and then it’s worth what people are convinced they should pay.

Check out the book sections at the thrift stores.

And….like clothing….it’s the tail end of the process….one step from the landfill.

That’s pretty amazing.

We have a lot of stuff in this world….and we’re making more of all of it….every day.

Where are we going to put any of it?

Our closet is too small as it is.

 

If I was able to do anything like this, the last thing that I would want around me would be a newscaster like Lara Logan asking me questions like, “So….if you fail….you could die? There would be no saving you….it would be certain death, right? You would die, right?”

That would suck.

Of course, I can’t do anything like this.

I can’t even jump around at the top of the rock after finishing the death-defying feat.

I’m too afraid of heights.

My fear of heights is not a very well disguised trait, either.

I don’t even like to get up on my roof to clean the chimney.

I don’t enjoy that….but I do it anyway.

What a hero.

When I was working at camps….and “teaching climbing” (teaching a bunch of kids how to tie a bowline knot, really)….I climbed some…but there was a lot of discomfort to push back and through.

I wouldn’t “get high” for enjoyment, that’s for sure.

I can’t even watch my children run around at the top of the rock….it freaks me out.

I enjoy this guy….laid back and mellow….living in a good van.

It’s refreshing to see an athlete who carries himself with this kind of humility.

Maybe it would have to be in a sport like climbing….where the majority of America has no idea what these guys are doing…..or how they’re doing it.

What this guy is doing is HUGE.

And most people don’t even know who he is.

Maybe that’s what lets him sleep in his van….nobody knows enough to ask him for his autograph….nobody “bugs” him.

Awwww….I may be wrong, but he seems like a good character.

Good for you, Alex Honnald.

“Elective suffering”.

I like these guys….they remind me of a lot of my good friends.

Funhogs.

We live down the mountain from a camp I worked at for 6 summers….and from our porch, I can see the counselors returning for another year….driving their Subarus and Toyota trucks….roof racks loaded with kayaks and mountain bikes….vehicles stuffed with climbing and camping gear.

I was part of that tribe.

I know a funhog when I see one.

That’s what I say to Jenny as they drive by….

“Funhogs. Look at those funhogs.”

I keep any wistful inflection to myself.

These guys are Super Funhogs.

There was something that I don’t hear voiced a lot that the guys in this video said that I really appreciated.

They commented on what a privilege it is to be able to engage in this “elective suffering”….to plan and carry out a demanding trip like this….to choose something hard as a diversion.

You don’t hear that attitude really often.

It was a decent way of looking at the situation.

I appreciated how they could tie the trip to their social activism, too…helping bring solar electricity to the Navaho.

Good guys.

Now…I’m gearing up a little so that my family has a chance to be “responsible funhogs”….doing some biking….trying to get back into camping….getting some boats to put out into the water….get our feet wet.

That’s a good thing for a parent to do….and something that I kind of dropped the ball on a little, in the past….to instill a solid love of adventure in your children.

It is a good thing to never reach the end of what demands our attention and curiosity.

I’m not sure how to keep the “mystery of it all” coming for these kids.

Maybe that’s not my job….maybe that’s something they figure out for themselves?

Maybe I’m too hard on myself….our life has been a constant adventure.

What’s the saying about adventure coming by chance and poor preparation?

If that’s true….about the poor preparation….I’ve done a lot to help cement my family’s adventurous experience.

Be sure and check out the section of the movie a couple of minutes in when Alex Honnold is free-soloing Half Dome.

Funhog.

Funhog to the extreme….the most extreme.

The most terrifying extreme.

My palms were sweating.

Like I said before….I’m blessed to have friends like these guys.

Funhogs are….fun to hang out with.

 

 

“Oh, no. He’s telling that story again.”

“Mom….he’s telling that story again.”

Well, of course I am.

That’s the beauty of a story like that….it hangs around forever.

That’s a good thing.

When my daughter was born….20 years ago today….the doctor held her up after a long delivery….a delivery that completely wore me out (I’m kidding….Jenny did all the hard stuff)….anyway….the doctor held her up and asked, “OK, Daddy….what did you get?”

I couldn’t tell.

There wasn’t any pink bows.

The umbilical cord was in the way.

The umbilical cord was obscuring the identifying features.

I tentatively said, “Ummmmm…..a boy?”

That’s when the doctor cut me a break and moved the cord….and I knew the answer….

“A GIRL!!! WE HAVE A GIRL!!”

I am a rocket scientist.

I won’t go into great detail about how I figured it out.

Jenny would have helped me if I couldn’t have gotten the answer right….anyway, I only had two options, probably….I would have gotten it right sooner or later.

20 years ago today.

Man….

My little girl is turning into a LADY.

That’s crazy to think what time does.

I guess that she’ll always be my little girl, though…time doesn’t change everything.

No matter how much of a lady she becomes, she’ll always be my little girl.

And, I’m the only one who can really say that.

Anyway….big day for my daughter today.

Big day for my daughter….big day for me, too.

20 years.

That’s a good chunk of good time!

Thanks for that, Zoë!!

“benedictus” 2Cellos

Dean Potter died the other day.

I suppose that some people would look at the type of activities he did and think that he had a death wish.

Watch that first video…he didn’t have a death wish.

Maybe what he had was a “life wish”….and death hung around in the background while he was doing some heavy living.

I guess that death is hanging around in the background for all of us, though.

Nothing too morbid about that, really.

It’s just the way things roll.

Lately, I feel like I cheated something when I can get out of the grocery store without some kind of meltdown.

And….that’s just me.

Forget the meltdowns that the babies might have.

I guess that we all have our ways of pushing limits.

No one would want to watch a video of me trying to calm the kids down in Walmart, though.

Dean Potter was a great athlete….out in the world….having fun …and pushing limits.

I don’t think I’ve heard yet what really happened on that base jumping trip.

I don’t know if anybody knows what happened yet.

Man….this dude “ate life”, didn’t he?