Unwritten

Ki-lin
A mythical being of Chinese mythology, comparable
with the western unicorn. Ki-lin personifies
all that is good, pure, and peaceful. It lives
in paradise and only visits the world at the
birth of a wise philosopher. The Ki-Lin is
said to walk on earth and on water. It never
drinks or eats dirty food or water. The Chinese
unicorn never treads on smaller animals below
its feet nor does it ever harm another living
creature. The Ki-Lin is the emblem for
exquisite goodness, longevity, grandeur,
endless compassion and great wisdom. According
to Chinese mythology, at the birth of Confucius
a Ki-Lin appeared and Confucius died soon after
a Ki-Lin was killed, he believed that his
writings would not proceed from the omen of the
death of the Unicorn.

Which Chinese Mythological Being Are You?
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I have a yearning i haven’t felt in a while. Well more like a yearning i have not been able to quell. i thirst for it, i hunger for it… I fool myself into trying to find it, to seek where it really is not. I poke my head into the darkest of corners, and the brightest field to search.. and yet it is not there.

Love.

Where might it be? The love i feel from my friends, from my companions and family; its not enough. Sometimes i wish it was, and yet i all to well know that there is something missing. I know that i must continue without it, a bountiful soul seeking that which will take it to the next higher plane. A plane much higher than the firm ground i’m standing on now, a plane that i have fallen from before.

So the advice given, “stop looking and love will find you.” Its difficult at best. how does one so tuned into the innane ramblings of his heart, or the whispers of his mind just “tune them out” How can one go on and pretend that his life feels complete and smile knowing that there are still missing pieces.

I throw myself into my work; my sleep. I continue to work my mind, doing my best to avoid the topics and fill my heart with other joys.

But for certain months, i must rest. I cannot contain the pure emotion that continues to boil from my soul, seeking containers to fill and mix with. I must let my guard down for moments, letting the pain and sorrow wash over me, covering me with the darkness and sadness within.

This is one of those months.

“If I could find you now things would get better
We could leave this town and run forever
I know somewhere, somehow we’ll be together
Let your waves crash down on me and take me away”

So i had a nice action packed weekend! I spent my friday, mucking around with my computers, tweeking things here and there. In between restarts and some installs i was packing. Packing for what? why My White Water Adventure with Outdoor Adventures! Haha.

I woke up early Saturday morning, just in time to pack a few more things and greet Dave Tuey at my doorstep. After a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon, we took off towards The American River and Camp Lotus. Dave and I found the OA site and met up with the river guides. After once again determing that i had severly overpacked, Dave and I compressed our belongings into one pack which contained our lunch, along with a hip pouch that contained some snickers bars and my pocketknife and my keys. We then stashed the lunch with the rest of the rider’s gear and listened to the safety instructions.

We finally hit the water around 11am, it was a nice morning, the water was frickin’ freezin. We practiced out synchronized paddling (haha.. which we werent all that great at) then someone jumped in so we cound practice pulling someone back into the boat. I swear, the dude who jumped in had to be high on something.. he had this weird spaced out look in his eyes and a silly grin on his face the whole time. He looked so dazzled that when we brought him back in, our guide kept asking him if he was ok.. Hahaha.

We tore down the river and begun our 12 mile down southfork. It was great, according to our guide, the waterflows have been low this year, which leads to a much more exciting ride (since we’re closer to the rocks and this have more rapids). The morning time was peaceful, we went over quite a few Class 2 rapids and got the hang of rowing in sequence and listeing to the guide’s instructions. Before we knew it, it was lunch time and we pulled on shore.

Dave and I enjoyed a harty meal fit for our fighting elite over in Iraq. We cut open our M.R.E.s and dug in. I had a nice pouch of chicken something, while dave dined on his pouch of Turkey and Potatoes. Being as hungry as we were, we finished our food in no time flat, and felt powered up for another couple of hours out on the water.

The second half of the trip was way more exciting. After going over one more class 2 rapid, we hit the begining of our Class 3 stretch. Opening with Fowlers Rock.

which seems to trap many a rafter on its edge in what they call a “wrap”. After that we ran into anothe rapid, aptly named: “Satan’s Cesspool”

Which is basically a huge hole in the water that many people just fall into.. Haha (no the photos are not us). We then hit a bunch of other rapids, with names such as ‘Son of Satan’, Lower Haystacks, Bouncing Rock, and then.. Hospital Bar

Which was just another huge dip in the water… then we cruised over more rapids, with such dubious names such as Recovery Room, Rarely Seen, Bonus Rapids, and then.. my favorite rapid. “SURPRISE” :) which was my favorite because we decided to take it backwards.. haha.

We finally pulled into the takeout area around 4:30 I was beyoned exausted. My legs were tanned, up to the point of my shorts, haha.. My arms were darker, my face slightly singed.. and my mouth parted in a huge grin. It was awesome! i cant wait to do it again.

Luckily, Sunday was much more relaxing, and gave me some recovery time. I hit up Todai in Pleasanton to meet up with my Airsoft Team, ASP Tactical. It was great, seeing some faces i hadnt seen in ages; especially Keith and Charlene! haha. After a long lunch, I followed Keith and Charlene to Santana Row where we met up with Ernie, Mike, and Gina. after a long period of just shooting the breeze and listening to stories, Zung and his SO arrived, soon followed by Duc and Steve Lee. It was great just chilling and relaxing and people watching. We all had a blast, and we were all sad when it finally came time for us to part company and head home.

All in all it was another great weekend :)