Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year's Eve 2010!!!!! Friday, Dec. 31, 2010

Hello everyone!!!

I want to thank you for continuing to tune in to my blog!  I will keep it going.......  Right now I am still recovering from being sick!  I got sick as soon as I got home and it is the stuff that I usually do battle with- bronchitis.  It takes a lot of energy to fight and I'm still just laying around resting and drinking lots of fluids. 

I think about my journey.  I've visited a number of people since I've been home- not a lot though, as I am not feeling that good right now.  I am finding something similar to what happened as I walked along the coast.  As I walked along I encountered what I call a "range of people".  What I mean is this- they ranged from those who didn't want to make eye contact with me, all the way to those who saw me while driving and pulled over to get out to ask me what I was doing.  I didn't approach people, the ones I talked to came to me.  Now as I return home, I see the same thing.  There are people who know that I just got back from what I just did, and they don't ask me a thing about it!  There are those few who do ask, and I am grateful for them.  I am sharing this because I find it interesting.  I had a great time on my trip meeting all those touring cyclists and asking them all about themselves and their travels.  In doing so, I felt like I had actually experienced it along with them.  I liked it.  It added tremendously to my experience.  One of the greatest things about my journey was meeting the people I did.  I feel that God sent the people across my path that were meant for me to meet.  All I can say is that I feel a profound sense of gratitude for this.  What an awesome blessing to make new friends every day!  Remember how I wrote about my continual experience of finding the importance of listening more that speaking?  Many of the people I met had things to teach me and I found that I learn better with my ears than with my mouth!  Thank you everyone................

Anyways, I will not be quiet forever!!!!!!!!  I will use my mouth!  Sorry.......  ;-)

I have been thinking about what I learned along the way.  I passed some of those things along to you in this blog, but not all of them.  Heck, I probably don't even really know what all I did learn!  There were those "repeating themes" though.  Those things that showed up over and over.  I will write about them soon- how about next year?  Someone told me that I am a procrastinator...  I figure I'll worry about that later....................!!!!

May you have a Happy New Year! 

Love,
God bless,
Craig

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!  AND HAPPY NEW YEAR (SOON)

Hey, I'm back in Humboldt County!  I flew in yesterday morning.  I volunteered to give up my seat in my connecting flight in San Francisco, so I received a large travel voucher, a night in the Hilton, and a free meal!!!  I  figured that all was worth delaying my arrival by a few hours! 

I have been visiting friends and family and today I did a little (late) Christmas shopping.   Yesterday my former supervisor invited me to join with all my old co-workers for a fresh crab lunch- that was good!  I've been recounting my walk to my friends and acquaintances, and doing so helps me to see what a blessing and tremendous learning experience it really was.  Now the goal will be to apply what I've learned............

I will continue to write, but I wanted to tell you all that I am back safe and sound.  Thank you for tuning in yesterday, today, and tomorrow...................

I will work on getting all my pictures organized and one of these days I will put them all in an album that you can look at.

Merry Christmas- "Happy Birthday Jesus"!!!!!
God bless,
Craig

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Last Day in SLO!!!!!! Comin' home! Wed, Dec 22, 2010

Hello everyone!

Today is my last day in San Luis Obispo.  It is also the 22nd.  If you will recall, I started this Walk on Sept 22- so it is exactly 3 months to the day!!!!!  Wow!  I do miss my family and friends...........  I'll be home for Christmas!!!!!!

I am going to fly home.  I looked into taking the bus, but when I found out that, in this modern age, I had to show up at the bus station at 2:40 am and pay the driver directly to board, I decided not to take the bus!  Hard to believe this is the case with a major bus line and after the advent of the internet!!  So anyways, airplane it is........

Staying here at Sunny Acres has been a very interesting experience.  I have learned much.  I have observed much.  I have learned a lot about myself while being here....... a lot to digest..........

Did I tell you about the friend I made here named Paul?  I think I did.  He is an ordained minister and he came and left Sunny Acres about the same times as I.  We have had some very enlightening talks about our faith.  The last two Sundays we have gone to two different churches together.  The first Sunday it was me, Dan DeVaul, and Paul going to church together- what an interesting bunch!!!!!  Anyways, remember my friend Erik Poor, who I met up the coast a while back- he's the one I stayed with in SLO when I first got here?  It turns out that he and Paul know each other from about 8 years back!  Paul hired Erik as a bouncer years ago.  Also, when Paul learned that I had worked for the California Conservation Corps over 10 years ago he asked me if I knew an Anthony J.  I remembered Anthony and we both blurted out Anthony's nickname, "BB," at the same time!  But guess what?  BB is Paul's cousin!!!  Small world! 

Please keep the Coders and the children in your prayers.  They have moved to a new house in San Pedro Sula.  Please pray also for Will Blackwell, who is going to live in Honduras soon.  Please pray for Sunny Acres and all the people here too. 

I will write more later.............


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
God Bless,
Craig

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Rocks in your shoes........ Tues, Dec 21, 2010

Hello everybody!

Have you ever been walking along and noticed that you had a rock in your shoe?  What did you do?  Last night I was talking with my friend Paul and somehow we got on to that topic.  I recounted to him how when I was on the walk that sometimes I would get a rock in my shoe.  I remembered that I would go ahead and keep on walking, shaking my foot a little to move that little irritant to the side so that I could take a few more steps!  You ever notice that that little rock will just keep moving around with each step?  You'd think that it would get trapped in that tight spot between the bottom of your foot and the insole of the shoe, right?  But not so!  I remember that it would rattle around until it got right under my heel, then ouch!!!!  Time to stop and take off the shoe finally- time to make the decision to do something about it.  Paul heard this and said, "Why does it have to hurt before you stop and make a change?"  True, huh?  Think about it........................

Hey, guess what?  I have booked a flight home on Wednesday night!  I'll be home late.  The Walk continues...........................

I'll be home for Christmas..................

Thank you for tuning in again!  Come back again, but if you don't, then may you and yours have a Merry Christmas.  Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season..........


Love,
God Bless,
Craig

Friday, December 17, 2010

Howdy from Sunny Acres!! Friday, December 17, 2010

Hello everyone!

How are you doing?  Shopping done?  I'm still here in San Luis Obispo at Sunny Acres- except it isn't sunny right now!  It is raining and they expect 3 to 5 inches of rain in the next week!  Wow!  That's a lot even by northern California standards! 

I am helping the owner and founder, Dan DeVaul, with some things around here.  He is applying for a building permit to build a new 14-bedroom home here on the ranch.  It is an old, 72 acre farm that has been in his family for a long time.  Dan reminds me of some people I know up north. 

I thank you for tuning in.  I haven't written much because I have been busy, but also because I am not quite ready to write about everything I have experienced, seen, thought, and/or learned.  I hope to share these thoughts with you all sometime soon.  I have "opened up" in my writing, but not completely.  Remember when I wrote about continuing to see the importance of listening more than talking?  Well, that continues............  Right now it feels like writing is a form of talking- know what I mean? 

I hope that you are all getting ready to enjoy Christmas.  I don't think that a lot of us completely understand how blessed we are when we really believe in Jesus Christ and put our whole faith in Him.  It is difficult to appreciate this blessing until you are in a place where you know He isn't- then you really miss Him.  The Rock is necessary.  Our weakness is where His strength shines...............

Please keep Sunny Acres in your prayers.  Please continue to keep the Coder kids in your prayers too.  I hope that what I did helped them.  Please also pray for Bob and Joyce Coder, and also for Will Blackwell, the young man who is going down to live in Honduras to help them out.  Thank you.


God bless us,
Craig

Saturday, December 11, 2010

I'm still in SLO! Saturday, December 11. 2010.......

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for continuing to tune in.  I am still in San Luis Obispo!  Why?  I can't say for sure exactly.... I am following the leading of the spirit.  If you read my last blog, you would know that I am staying at Sunny Acres right now.  It is an amazing place founded and run by an amazing man named Dan DeVaul.  I suggested in my last blog that you may wish to Google Dan and also Sunny Acres.  There is some very interesting history here- as well as some very interesting current history!!  Dan is in his 60's and he was raised on this farm where he still lives.  It is a beautiful place with a view that rivals the beauty of any view, anywhere.  Dan no longer lives in his farmhouse- it is occupied by the people who live on his ranch.  He lives in a loft that was built some years ago in his barn above the antique cars and shop below.  He spends his day running this place, which is a combination homeless shelter and drug/alcohol recovery center.  It is a program, sort of.  Dan believes in hard work- every day here is a work day.  I have been doing some plumbing as well as going out with Dan to several wineries to pick up loads of donated used wine barrels.  Dan sells them and uses the money to help fund Sunny Acres. 

Faith without works is dead.  I can say that I've ever met anyone like Dan before.  He gives thoroughly.  His dream is to have this ranch be able to house many needy people, and to be as self-sustaining as possible.  If you do decide to Google Dan and his ranch, you will learn about the controversy that surrounds this place.  Dan has quite a history of "dealing" with the county!  Dan is willing to go to jail before he will allow his people to be put back out on the streets.

I will write more about all this later.  Right now I am sitting at Erik's kitchen table typing this.  I have not had the chance to do it earlier, so please excuse me. 

I would like to share one last thing.  I think I have told you the story of how I met Erik and his family weeks ago up on the coast at Anchor Bay.  Do you remember how I wrote that on the day I met Erik and his family I had the thought earlier in the day that I would like to meet a family and sit down and eat and talk with all of them?  Remember that?  Then it happened!  I met Erik and his family and sat down and ate and talked with them!  Now the rest of the story..........  For the last few weeks of my journey I had another random thought that would pop into my mind occasionally.  It wasn't consciously contrived- it just sort of popped into my mind from time to time.  Want to know what it was?  I thought, "I'd like to meet and be taken in by an old rancher!"  I even remember having the thought on my last day of walking, "I guess I didn't get to meet that old rancher."  Then I met Dan that day last week- but at that point I had not remembered my earlier thoughts.  Dan offered me the opportunity to stay there and volunteer.  I accepted and returned to Erik's house to pack and to say goodbye and leave.  As I was telling Erik and his roommates about Dan it hit me!!!!!  It did happen!  It just happened!  I did just meet and get taken in by that old rancher!! 

Good bye for now.  I sincerely appreciate you continuing to check here and to check up on me.  I think you can see that the story is not over yet- there are more chapters still.........  If you will keep tuning in, I will keep writing........  I am just as interested in the story as you are!!! 

Sincerely,
God bless,
Craig

Monday, December 6, 2010

It's not over yet! Hello from SLO. Monday, Dec 6, 2010

Hello all!

I've been staying with my friend Erik and his roommates in San Luis Obispo this last week.  I have been helping Erik with some of his projects and have been spending as much time as I can with my daughter Kate.  She is very busy right now with work and with studying for and taking finals.  Yesterday I borrowed Erik's bike and stopped by a Christmas tree lot at the edge of town.  I bought a small tree there and a man named Jess helped me strap it to my back!  I carried that thing for about 2 miles, then got off and put it on the bike and pushed it!  I got to Kate's place and called and told her I had a surprise for her and her roommates.  They were pretty excited- they had wanted a tree this year!  We put lights on it and decorated it with some ornaments that we went out and bought.  Now they can have the Christmas party that they had wanted to have! 

The story doesn't end there......... When I walked into SLO last week I noticed the Christmas tree lot that I just bought a tree from.  I took a few pictures of it, in fact.  It looked like an interesting place- it is an old farm and it looks like it.  It also has a produce stand and all the other assorted old equipment associated with farms laying around.  It kind of felt like home back in Humboldt County, where I am from.  As I left Erik's house yesterday to buy a tree, Scott, one of the roommates, told me about the place where I was going to buy a Christmas tree.  It is actually a farm called Sunny Acres, and it is run by a man named Dan DeVaul.  It is a working farm that Dan opened several years ago to take in homeless people and people who are recovering from drug and alcohol problems.  I Googled Dan and his farm and found that it is steeped in much local controversy!  He and his farm have gained national attention.  On the way home from my daughter's place today I stopped in Sunny Acres and met Dan.  He is a no-nonsense kind of guy and he reminds me of people I know.  He smiles a lot and we got to talking a bit.  He had heard about me- he saw me on the news.  We talked a bit and he said, "Are you interested in volunteering?"  I thought about it for a bit, then said, "Sure, how long?"  He said, "Until we get tired of each other."  I said, "How about a week?"  He said sure, whatever you want to do.  He made a call and told me to meet with Ken, and Ken would set me up with some work clothes and a place to stay.  I will room with Ken in one of the sheds that they have as shelters for the people staying there.  You never know where you may end up!  I'm going to do it to see where it leads.  I'll probably use my carpentry skills to help out around the place.  Stay tuned and I will fill you in as I can.  Check out Dan's website at www.sunnyacresca.com  and see what all goes on there- it's interesting!  Google Dan DeVaul and read about some of his experiences- I did.  Now I will get to see it all for myself. 

I want to take this time to thank Erik Poor and his roommates for their gracious hospitality.  Erik and his friend Dan both shared their faith with me- both are believers and are good men.  I have had a great time bunking here with Erik and his friends.  Erik loves his neighborhood and I can tell that his neighbors love him too.  Erik sees his neighbors as his family, and treats them as such.  If only we all were to do the same- the world would be a much better place.  I am so fortunate to have made friends with Erik and his family along the way, and to have had the opportunity offered to end up here where I did!  Now I am off to something else that is interesting.........we will see...................

Sincerely,
God bless,
Stay tuned,
Craig

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Hey there from San Luis Obispo. Thursday, Dec 2, 2010

Hello all,

I am still in San Luis Obispo.  I am staying with a friend, Erik Poor, who I met up in Anchor Bay many weeks ago.  He has graciously offered me a place to stay while I am in SLO.  My daughter, Kate, goes to college here, and is busy with work and school.  I am sticking around so that I can spend some time with her around her busy schedule.  Tonight we are going downtown to check out the Farmer's Market, which I hear is pretty good!  I have been helping Erik work on a house across the street to earn my keep while I am staying here.

I miss walking.  I miss meeting the people.  There is something wonderful about walking along like I did.  I don't necessarily mean wonderful like "awesome" or "beautiful", but more like the root of the word itself- "wonder."  "Full of wonder."  That is exactly how I feel.  I miss the people I met.  There was something so real, so visceral about each and every meeting.  I don't know so much if it was me, the Walk, or the persons themselves that gave me this feeling.  Maybe it was a combination of all of them.  But the best way to describe it is to say that it has all caused me to wonder.  The Walk was a story that wrote itself.  It was real.  Now if I continue to write, it will be my own thoughts and feelings......but what I think was most attractive about my blog writing as I went along was that it simply was a narrative about what I had experienced.  I threw in my interpretations here and there about what I thought some things meant, and the lessons that one could derive from the experience, but overall it was me passing on to you what I had experienced.  I believe that what I have experienced is exactly what God wanted me to experience.  I wish that everyone could experience it- it was real, more real than day-to-day life.  Yes, it was fun, but it was much, much more than that.  I saw the best side of everyone I came in contact with- I mean everyone, and also immediately.  I was privileged, as I have said, to hear many people's stories right from the beginning of our meeting.  So how is The Walk different from the day-to-day ordinary walk that I have done every day of my life?  I wonder.  I could say what I think right now, but what do you think?

craiggmesman@gmail.com

God bless,
Craig