My father´s birthday passed and I was so engrossed in the art of playing with Dominican kids that I forgot to call him from the island and wish him happy birthday. There are moments of extreme alegria (or happiness) in the Peace Corps experience and this past weekend was certainly one of them. Ask me to plan a youth camp that brings together 72 Dominincan teenagers from around the island, including those of Haitian decent, and I´d probably respond: ¨Who? What? Where? When? Why?¨ However, there are some things that are consistent in this world and one of them is that children will always want to play and learn together. Never have I felt so comfortable around Dominicans as I did in that room of 37 boys singing, sharing a sip of water, brushing our teeth, sleeping, waking up, and of course eating together. We were a brotherhood, 25 American Peace Corps Volunteers serving as fathers, mothers, counselors, and trustworthy friends to a captivated audience of vibrant youth. Perhaps the 3 day conference was more time than any of these kids had spent away from their homes and family, but I´m positive Arenayi will remember that first ever bike ride (without shoes and no breaks on the bike... the Dominican way) in the National Park Mirador Norte, and 16 year old Exeido will surely remember his fantastic presentation about the impact of humans on planet Earth´s natural environment.
I lay in my bed completely exhausted from this weekend of recreation and environemtal lessons from ¨Leave No Trace¨ to ¨Indigenous Taino Farming Methods.¨ I am here to reflect upon hom much I enjoyed this expereince. The swimming and singing the Boo-Ga-Loo were my favorites memories with those 15 years olds, followed by the talk about AIDS and self-esteem, the skits performed by animated volunteers, the pizza and home made tamarindo and wheat drink, and ohh yes, elbow tag. Sounds a lot like summer camp, yeah?!
Anyways, I realized nothing can be taken for granted when everthing is completely new to someone. The kids were filled with vigor and emotion about everything... maybe the kind of feeling you get when you ride your first roller coaster. These young dominicans certainly have a grand job in front of them to care for their environment, and clean that which has been contaminated, but they also have the spirit of firecrackers. Explosion of culture one might say. I´m glad to be back here with more of a feeling settled in than ever! This job is teaching and offering me so much. The kids are inspiring!
With the renewed heart of a kid, go out and play today.
Love,
Jared
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Color Brings Life
The breeze made for a refreshing week here in Ojo de Agua. It is tonight that I will celebrate 3 weeks in the country. My good friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Kevin, from small town Indiana, just came to visit me. My plate is full of project ideas as well as mounds of ¨habichuelas and arroz¨ (beans and rice). On Good Friday every kitchen and Dona in the Dominican Republic was busy stirring together their favorite sweet ingredients to ¨Habichuelas con Dulce.¨ Four mugs were delivered to my home within a couple of hours and my stomach was more than blessed. However, perhaps the most beautiful scene thus far in my return to Ojo de Agua was the faces of 500 plus Dominicans lit by candle light the night that we celebrated Jesus´s resurrection, or Easter Sunday. Their smooth skin gleaned inside the packed church, different shades of brown, light and dark (This is a country filled with mulattos, diverse in appearance but certainly all very much sharing the same loud and happy Dominican culture). Little girls sat on the laps of their fathers fresh in their new dresses and hair straighten and neatly pulled back. Grandpa and grandmas were tightly sandwiched alongside children and children in law, perhaps uncomfortable, but they didn´t have to stand along the walls. Everyone connected through the beautiful light of God, holding candles to celebrate the bright example Jesus gave the world. I felt part of something special, part of a spiritual moment.
And then the most classic of Latin American scenes… the congregation offered water as a blessing to Christ for having given his life to teach humanity the power of the healing Spirit. Together the 500 plus Dominicans and I raised water containers above our heads furnishing a shiny sea of plastic before the crucifix. One can only imagine the dozens of different brand names displayed on the sides of the recycled and reused plastic containers. Two liter Coke-Cola bottles, 20 oz. Dasani water bottles, Clorox, Cristol Corn Oil, and Apple Juice gallon jugs raised high above the church pews. Some even furnished old tupper-wear with water, while others had nicely pealed the plastic bands glued to the sides of the bottles allowing for a more cleaned up look at church. Everyone had water or perhaps a large framed painting of Mary, but for that moment we were again united, different colors, different brand names on out containers, and different amounts of water, but still united. It was a day to colorfully celebrate one of the most admired and humble persons to walk this earth. It was a Latin American day.
The colorful ideas and desire to invent always bring fresh perspective to each and every day here.
Go celebrate with something colorful and recycled today.
Peace,
Jared
And then the most classic of Latin American scenes… the congregation offered water as a blessing to Christ for having given his life to teach humanity the power of the healing Spirit. Together the 500 plus Dominicans and I raised water containers above our heads furnishing a shiny sea of plastic before the crucifix. One can only imagine the dozens of different brand names displayed on the sides of the recycled and reused plastic containers. Two liter Coke-Cola bottles, 20 oz. Dasani water bottles, Clorox, Cristol Corn Oil, and Apple Juice gallon jugs raised high above the church pews. Some even furnished old tupper-wear with water, while others had nicely pealed the plastic bands glued to the sides of the bottles allowing for a more cleaned up look at church. Everyone had water or perhaps a large framed painting of Mary, but for that moment we were again united, different colors, different brand names on out containers, and different amounts of water, but still united. It was a day to colorfully celebrate one of the most admired and humble persons to walk this earth. It was a Latin American day.
The colorful ideas and desire to invent always bring fresh perspective to each and every day here.
Go celebrate with something colorful and recycled today.
Peace,
Jared
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Brotha's Back
The humidity flushed over my new hair cut, the drums thumped loud, and the comforting sound of children singing greeted me as the airport doors slid open. People with signs and smiling faces jumped up and down as they saw their brother, or cousins, or parents arriving fresh off the plane. I scanned the energetic audience behind the large metal barricades and found Francisco, a Peace Corps driver, winking at me. I knew who he was and I knew I was returning home to the Dominincan Republic in good hands.
The atmosphere at the airport well descibres what this country is about. Celebration! Every moment is to be enjoyed together. Unity can certainly be found in family, and though my family is not here I feel as though the Dominicans have welcomed me a son. This morning I took off on a run in Santo Domingo's historic downtown... one of the oldest downtowns in the Americas dating back to when Christopher Columbus landed on the island (he call it Hispanola). On the streets I saw faces that I hadn't seen in 8 months, I saw the sun rising from the east over the blue Caribbean water, and I splashed my face into the sea "baptising" my own arrival to Peace Corps PART II. As my aunt used to recommend when traveling, "Get up early and see a city wake up and you'll get a good idea of where you are and who the people are." It was a beautiful experience and easy to get excited about waking up my first morning here. Now I've promised myself to keep it up for the remainder of my stay here in the DR. Jared's saying it right now for all you doubters... he's going to commit himself to the rural farmer motto: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise." I've got plenty of examples in my community of Ojo de Aguas, so why not do it.
So the brother is healthy, he's back, and he's going to love the heck out of playing with Dominincan kids again. If you have any fun games to recommend that aren't too complex and don't require many resources let me know, I'd be interested.
Brotha's Back!
Get up early and take some time alone.
Peace de Santo Domingo,
Jared
The atmosphere at the airport well descibres what this country is about. Celebration! Every moment is to be enjoyed together. Unity can certainly be found in family, and though my family is not here I feel as though the Dominicans have welcomed me a son. This morning I took off on a run in Santo Domingo's historic downtown... one of the oldest downtowns in the Americas dating back to when Christopher Columbus landed on the island (he call it Hispanola). On the streets I saw faces that I hadn't seen in 8 months, I saw the sun rising from the east over the blue Caribbean water, and I splashed my face into the sea "baptising" my own arrival to Peace Corps PART II. As my aunt used to recommend when traveling, "Get up early and see a city wake up and you'll get a good idea of where you are and who the people are." It was a beautiful experience and easy to get excited about waking up my first morning here. Now I've promised myself to keep it up for the remainder of my stay here in the DR. Jared's saying it right now for all you doubters... he's going to commit himself to the rural farmer motto: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise." I've got plenty of examples in my community of Ojo de Aguas, so why not do it.
So the brother is healthy, he's back, and he's going to love the heck out of playing with Dominincan kids again. If you have any fun games to recommend that aren't too complex and don't require many resources let me know, I'd be interested.
Brotha's Back!
Get up early and take some time alone.
Peace de Santo Domingo,
Jared
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Peace active in Olympics
Many of us saw the 2010 Olympic champions stand on those podiums and receive their medals: gold, silver, and bronze. The medals honored these athletes for their a level of commitment and determination that we all can admire. Certainly they make their parents, coaches, and country proud, but perhaps more importantly they make the world proud. There would be no Olympics without the thousands of competitors. There would be no Olympics if the competitors did not train and make sacrifices to be in the best shape of their life for these two weeks. And there would be no Olympics without the sportsmanship that transcends cultural and language differences. To see so many different nations represented on those podiums cheering each other on and listening to the many national anthems of the world was inspiring.
When I was young I had that dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. I thought maybe someday I would be sprinting like Jesse Owens around the track in Berlin or speed skating so fast like Dan Jansen that tears would stream from my eyes. Though my time has come and I am no where near those podiums, it makes me proud to see the young people of the world getting together to compete; to share the universal language of athletic competition. The vigor, defeat, victory, and pure emotion that sport demands. I think these athletes help us remember how very much we all share in common. Ice skaters in the small country of Slovakia trained for four years to compete against the hockey stars of Canada, and they lost. South Korean teenagers carried high hopes for their 19 year figure skating "Queen," Kim Yu-Na, and she set a world record score with her gold medal performance. And the country of Georgia remembered the courageous and fierce competitor in Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died hours before the Olympics started during a training run on the Skeleton slide.
So the world comes to relate to each other through these different stories. Perhaps at first when the games begin we are inclined to focus solely on the successes of our own country men (our "ambassadors"). However, as the competition progresses we begin to realize their would be no competitive spirit in the Olympics without all the different athletes from all over the world. It is here where the meaning of the Olympics expands beyond the gold, silver, and bronze. We realize that competiton forces everyone to best their own mark and thus produce a higher level of excellence. This excellence is the same energy that drives peace. My desire to succeed and your desire to succeed are mutual because we can not alone be pushed to greater levels of excellence... for we need our fellow competitors. In fact we need the best in the world.
So my personal dream to run along side the likes of Jesse Owens in an Olympic setting may not be fully realized, but my dream for peace is seen in events like the Olympics.
Find ways to make Peace active,
Jared
When I was young I had that dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. I thought maybe someday I would be sprinting like Jesse Owens around the track in Berlin or speed skating so fast like Dan Jansen that tears would stream from my eyes. Though my time has come and I am no where near those podiums, it makes me proud to see the young people of the world getting together to compete; to share the universal language of athletic competition. The vigor, defeat, victory, and pure emotion that sport demands. I think these athletes help us remember how very much we all share in common. Ice skaters in the small country of Slovakia trained for four years to compete against the hockey stars of Canada, and they lost. South Korean teenagers carried high hopes for their 19 year figure skating "Queen," Kim Yu-Na, and she set a world record score with her gold medal performance. And the country of Georgia remembered the courageous and fierce competitor in Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died hours before the Olympics started during a training run on the Skeleton slide.
So the world comes to relate to each other through these different stories. Perhaps at first when the games begin we are inclined to focus solely on the successes of our own country men (our "ambassadors"). However, as the competition progresses we begin to realize their would be no competitive spirit in the Olympics without all the different athletes from all over the world. It is here where the meaning of the Olympics expands beyond the gold, silver, and bronze. We realize that competiton forces everyone to best their own mark and thus produce a higher level of excellence. This excellence is the same energy that drives peace. My desire to succeed and your desire to succeed are mutual because we can not alone be pushed to greater levels of excellence... for we need our fellow competitors. In fact we need the best in the world.
So my personal dream to run along side the likes of Jesse Owens in an Olympic setting may not be fully realized, but my dream for peace is seen in events like the Olympics.
Find ways to make Peace active,
Jared
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Haiti on Our Minds
Last time I took a moment to write down some thoughts on this blog I was fresh off the job of jack hammering the plaster from a pool. It was then I was thinking about the work it might take to clean up a giant earthquake. How many days and volunteers it might take to make sense of the rubble and reconstruct civilization again. Here I am a month later and Haiti is in the middle of a relief and clean up effort I don't think any of us could ever imagine. Daily I pray for God to meet the needs of our Haitian brothers and sisters who are searching for a home, searching for their family, and desiring just one sip of fresh, clean water.
So what do we do as a world? How can we lovingly attend to this small island nation? First thing that comes to mind is to keep these brothers and sisters in our thoughts and prayers. They need our positive thinking and to be included in our dinner table prayers. We can bring up discussions with each other about the social inequalities that remain ever present in our world. The 7.0 quake that hit the poorest nation in the western hemisphere had a much greater affect than the 6.9 earthquake that hit San Francisco two decades ago. Why is this? Haiti does not have the infrastructure nor the building codes nor the resources of that of a wealthy city like San Francisco. There are so many layers to poverty that I have yet to understand, but nothing makes you think about it more than when it presents itself on the front cover of every newspaper in the world.
Living near many Haitians in the Dominincan Republic has opened my eyes to the resilience of these people. They are a strong people because they know how to come together and share whatever they have. I believe poverty can be extinguished by human kinds efforts to share all that they have including Love. Food, bottled water, and medical supplies may be waiting to be distributed on the runway at the airport in Port au Prince, but the supply of Love is never waiting. Love is in infinite abundance if we choose it to be. Our direct loving interactions with people most closely around us can ripple across the world and better the human race.
So I urge everyone to start loving more and think about how they can tap into this infinite supply of love where ever they live on the globe. It can help the people in Haiti.
DIVINE LOVE ALWAYS HAS MET AND ALWAYS WILL MEET EVERY HUMAN NEED. - Mary Baker Eddy
I Love you all,
Jared
So what do we do as a world? How can we lovingly attend to this small island nation? First thing that comes to mind is to keep these brothers and sisters in our thoughts and prayers. They need our positive thinking and to be included in our dinner table prayers. We can bring up discussions with each other about the social inequalities that remain ever present in our world. The 7.0 quake that hit the poorest nation in the western hemisphere had a much greater affect than the 6.9 earthquake that hit San Francisco two decades ago. Why is this? Haiti does not have the infrastructure nor the building codes nor the resources of that of a wealthy city like San Francisco. There are so many layers to poverty that I have yet to understand, but nothing makes you think about it more than when it presents itself on the front cover of every newspaper in the world.
Living near many Haitians in the Dominincan Republic has opened my eyes to the resilience of these people. They are a strong people because they know how to come together and share whatever they have. I believe poverty can be extinguished by human kinds efforts to share all that they have including Love. Food, bottled water, and medical supplies may be waiting to be distributed on the runway at the airport in Port au Prince, but the supply of Love is never waiting. Love is in infinite abundance if we choose it to be. Our direct loving interactions with people most closely around us can ripple across the world and better the human race.
So I urge everyone to start loving more and think about how they can tap into this infinite supply of love where ever they live on the globe. It can help the people in Haiti.
DIVINE LOVE ALWAYS HAS MET AND ALWAYS WILL MEET EVERY HUMAN NEED. - Mary Baker Eddy
I Love you all,
Jared
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Jack Attack
As I was jack-hammering at Forest Hills swim club I started to think about the pile of plaster rubble that was growing higher and higher. Then I thought about the project of cleaning up an earthquake. Plaster is hard and the hours of trying to control the vibrating jackhammer led my mind on a wild moment of pulsating reflection. Where do you begin in an earthquake clean up? What tools are available? How long until electricity arrives again? Who’s responsible for what space? How long will all the clean up take? Each jab of the long steel shaft on the thick white plaster lining of the pool sent small shocks through my body. Shocks that remind me of the "physicalness" of physical labor and the real work that goes into everything I seem to take for granted, like a nice pool to swim in. I was mad at the jackhammer for quite a while, or rather maybe it was the impervious plaster, nonetheless I needed to allow my mind wander and allow the labor to just happen.
This job is no earthquake clean up. This job is learning a heck of a lot about patience. We’re removing the old plaster lining of a six-lane lap pool so it can be lined anew. I work with two cool guys who have found the Bible and the Christ like example of Jesus as an inspiration, leading them away from a past life of heavy drug addictions. Everyday I look forward to shoveling out plaster in the crisp cool morning and breaking for lunch on the pool deck where I listen to stories of the street life, unwanted drug dealers, soup kitchens, drive by shootings, and a desire to change. Neither the open relationship I’ve built with my co-workers, nor the on the job personal reflection time was written into the contract when I signed up for this temp job. And I am certainly grateful for these unseen opportunities. I think God may have led me wandering down an unmarked road as I await Peace Corps reinstatement, but certainly it is no road of waste or barren. Rather, I find myself stumbling across many treasures, sweet fruits, good Samaritans, and reflection time that challenges my sense of what is a good job for me.
Some wonder how the recent college graduate has found himself at the bottom of a drained pool hammering away at nasty plaster with x-drug attics... and I respond... there’s something to learn from everyone and every moment. This temporary job has certainly humbled me and introduced me to people who are Good men despite their past struggles.
And you can certainly say Dad’s seasoned turkey burgers and squash soup tonight tasted twice as good after the long days work, and I know tonight’s sleep will be nothing less than solid.
So I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and may the spirit of Christ bless you all. Sing many songs, drink hot chocolate like it’s going out of style, and write a few personal letters to the people you love.
Drug addicts will always have many interesting stories. Be curious and have them tell you a fun story. It'll open you up.
In the Spirit of Christ,
Jared
Snow fell upon Mt. Diablo this week... a rare occurrence for the mild Bay Area climate, and nearly an impossibility in the tropical Dominican Republic.
This job is no earthquake clean up. This job is learning a heck of a lot about patience. We’re removing the old plaster lining of a six-lane lap pool so it can be lined anew. I work with two cool guys who have found the Bible and the Christ like example of Jesus as an inspiration, leading them away from a past life of heavy drug addictions. Everyday I look forward to shoveling out plaster in the crisp cool morning and breaking for lunch on the pool deck where I listen to stories of the street life, unwanted drug dealers, soup kitchens, drive by shootings, and a desire to change. Neither the open relationship I’ve built with my co-workers, nor the on the job personal reflection time was written into the contract when I signed up for this temp job. And I am certainly grateful for these unseen opportunities. I think God may have led me wandering down an unmarked road as I await Peace Corps reinstatement, but certainly it is no road of waste or barren. Rather, I find myself stumbling across many treasures, sweet fruits, good Samaritans, and reflection time that challenges my sense of what is a good job for me.
Some wonder how the recent college graduate has found himself at the bottom of a drained pool hammering away at nasty plaster with x-drug attics... and I respond... there’s something to learn from everyone and every moment. This temporary job has certainly humbled me and introduced me to people who are Good men despite their past struggles.
And you can certainly say Dad’s seasoned turkey burgers and squash soup tonight tasted twice as good after the long days work, and I know tonight’s sleep will be nothing less than solid.
So I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and may the spirit of Christ bless you all. Sing many songs, drink hot chocolate like it’s going out of style, and write a few personal letters to the people you love.
Drug addicts will always have many interesting stories. Be curious and have them tell you a fun story. It'll open you up.
In the Spirit of Christ,
Jared
Snow fell upon Mt. Diablo this week... a rare occurrence for the mild Bay Area climate, and nearly an impossibility in the tropical Dominican Republic.
Monday, October 26, 2009
What you do with free time?
My time in Pleasant Hill has been extended. Home is where my heart is. I'm anxious to return to the streets of the Dominican Republic and to the sound of kids playing baseball and roosters crowing and my Dona announcing "La Comida esta lista!" or "lunch is ready." In my mind I was there just yesterday, but it's been several months now and I'm still keeping that patience as I wait for Washington to give me medical clearance for return. Meanwhile, home has found my legs churning miles along old running routes with the College Park High cross country team. I love to run and so I thought why not share some time helping to coach and run with high schoolers. However, I've realized youth sports are made way too competitive in America compared with that of Latin American countries. Instead of kids on the street playing catch with their neighbor with any form of weathered ball or hard round fruit they can find, parents have taken over the scheduling and creativity of good old child's play. Now there are rules, there are rule enforcers, there are specified venues where play is appropriate, and perhaps most difficult of all there is a price to pay if you want to play. Some parents say the streets are not safe so they prefer to take their child to those caged in sporting arenas. I'll tell you, the streets aren't safe because no one's out there. No one's playing with the kid across the street in suburbia, and in urban Oakland guns, drugs, and cars seem be instilling fear, and owning the young black boys free time before he can "make it safe to first base." An honest sandlot game of baseball, soccer , or even basketball are rarely just walked upon. I guess I just wish I could sometimes run out in the middle of a rain storm and know that the kids are enjoying a wet game of b-ball down at the local court. Kids get creative and learn how to have fun and work things out as a group when they engage in "child's play." From a coaches perspective I have discovered that athletes in my home town as well as anywhere in the world perform best when they are having fun. So I've chosen to enter practice with a smile on my face and the rest just falls into place.
This past weekend I joined the Varsity Boys squad for a 3 mile race in LA. They're a goofy group of 16 and 17 year olds who love to "slug bug" punch each others' 125 pound frames every time they see a Volkswagen Beetle on the road. They also asked for more all you can eat bread sticks after their three course dinner at the Olive Garden had sufficiently filled their stomachs. The thing is I remember living out those teenage days not too long so... I put up with it... and sometimes find myself shamefully joining it. I just want to be a kid... not ready to grow up and own a house and welcome debt.
The other side of sports (and the reason they will always be an exciting part of my every day) is that they bring such a competitive nature out of individuals that allow us all to perform at a higher level and thus challenge ourselves to perform our very best. It's so interesting to observe how this group of 8 goofy teenagers can focus in silence during their 40 minute warm up prior to their race, when during after school practice we coaches have to pry them away from fort building out by the eucalyptus trees so as to begin practice. It a balance of intensity and straight up fun loving attitudes.
In other activity on the Oubre front, my sisters are full of spirit, singing and dancing in the kitchen to oldies while I attempt to sing along and finish washing the dishes... the same dishes I swear I washed three hours ago. Sunday is always a day to go hear Mom read at Church and then retire to the family room with Dad to watch the improved San Francisco 49ers play fundamental football under coach Mike Singletary. I sometimes imagine if I were to go back 50 years ago and meet my grandpa from Louisiana during the volital decade of the 1950s in the South, he would be a lot like Coach Singletary on the football sidelines... no nonsense, intensely spiritual, and a "everybody listens when I talk" kind of guy.
So I'm excited my brother comes back to the Bay Area this Friday for a brief visit and then Saturday I'm off to trick-o-treat with my sister during one of the best Holidays of the year. I'm thinking maybe I'll dress as some scary green leafy creature because my dad and I have been generating plenty of green yard compost as of late or shall I straighten my hair and bring back Michael Jackson. Funny fact, the day I started feeling not so well in the DR was the the day Jackson died. That's coincidence or maybe that's saying something about my deep connection to the "King of Pop."
Have a grateful day, be silly, and get dressed up and get out on the streets for Halloween.
Peace,
Jared
Running buddies of the alma mater and me at Mt. Sac Race in LA
Celebrating win as a team
This past weekend I joined the Varsity Boys squad for a 3 mile race in LA. They're a goofy group of 16 and 17 year olds who love to "slug bug" punch each others' 125 pound frames every time they see a Volkswagen Beetle on the road. They also asked for more all you can eat bread sticks after their three course dinner at the Olive Garden had sufficiently filled their stomachs. The thing is I remember living out those teenage days not too long so... I put up with it... and sometimes find myself shamefully joining it. I just want to be a kid... not ready to grow up and own a house and welcome debt.
The other side of sports (and the reason they will always be an exciting part of my every day) is that they bring such a competitive nature out of individuals that allow us all to perform at a higher level and thus challenge ourselves to perform our very best. It's so interesting to observe how this group of 8 goofy teenagers can focus in silence during their 40 minute warm up prior to their race, when during after school practice we coaches have to pry them away from fort building out by the eucalyptus trees so as to begin practice. It a balance of intensity and straight up fun loving attitudes.
In other activity on the Oubre front, my sisters are full of spirit, singing and dancing in the kitchen to oldies while I attempt to sing along and finish washing the dishes... the same dishes I swear I washed three hours ago. Sunday is always a day to go hear Mom read at Church and then retire to the family room with Dad to watch the improved San Francisco 49ers play fundamental football under coach Mike Singletary. I sometimes imagine if I were to go back 50 years ago and meet my grandpa from Louisiana during the volital decade of the 1950s in the South, he would be a lot like Coach Singletary on the football sidelines... no nonsense, intensely spiritual, and a "everybody listens when I talk" kind of guy.
So I'm excited my brother comes back to the Bay Area this Friday for a brief visit and then Saturday I'm off to trick-o-treat with my sister during one of the best Holidays of the year. I'm thinking maybe I'll dress as some scary green leafy creature because my dad and I have been generating plenty of green yard compost as of late or shall I straighten my hair and bring back Michael Jackson. Funny fact, the day I started feeling not so well in the DR was the the day Jackson died. That's coincidence or maybe that's saying something about my deep connection to the "King of Pop."
Have a grateful day, be silly, and get dressed up and get out on the streets for Halloween.
Peace,
Jared
Running buddies of the alma mater and me at Mt. Sac Race in LA
Celebrating win as a team
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