Twisting and turning up a mountain road, you climb steadily through a sea of towering pines and evergreens. Above the tree canopies, the clouds take on a soft, underbelly glow of a dawning new day. In a quite literal race against time, you take each bend in the mountain road as quickly as you can, [...]
Do you ever surprise yourself sometimes? Like when you look back on a decision you made and after it's all said and done, you can’t help but wonder, “Did I really just do that?” It’s typically the kind of decision you make on a whim with zero expectations, except for to take whatever comes next [...]
The sun beams down from a cloudy blue sky in the lush-green Ecuadorian mountains. You’re in an outdoor market with simple wooden carts lined along either side of the road. It seems with every step another small, elderly woman greets you with a gentle, “Buenos días ,” and a sun-kissed smile. Under the canopy of [...]
Something profound about the Night Incites An innermost part of the Self. For in darkness, does lie Solace. A hidden blanket to Embrace All that one has, After day Fades. Yet bold belief always persists, As fiery as it is Fierce, That holds darkness will soon abate As every dawn will Break. * * * [...]
"Used to Be"I learned all good things must come to an end, That the bill will always come due. I learned what it means to have your heart broken... But also how to merge one from two. I learned to say goodbye through a heartfelt smile, Despite the tears that already know That this goodbye--won't be just a mile; It’s a distance that will always [...]
I lean back on the steel screen fencing of the market, watching as vehicles cruise past on the road. Throngs of people bustle throughout the cloud of barbeque smoke billowing from a grill over the street. Some of them are running errands, others waiting on a bus or chatting with a friend, leaving the rest [...]
Dear Reader, There's that old idea that if you put a letter in a bottle and cast it out to sea, it will cross the entirety of the ocean to its recipient on the other side. As the Christmas season is fast approaching, messages are being sent from all across the world. Trees are being [...]
While the strike continued on and off over the past few weeks, I did what I could to be productive with the time away from school. However, as what often happens when you focus on a task for too long, it’s easy to become a little restless and go a bit ‘stir-crazy,’ if you will. [...]
It’s like that time you were a kid; that hot summer day in the middle of July. School was out so you had time to kill. You’re at the top of the steepest hill in the neighborhood, straddling the bike that came as a birthday gift two summers ago. The road seems as long as [...]
Pacing back and forth from the classroom to the gate of the school, I peek once more to see if anyone else is coming up the road. A few children chase each other around the carpark beside me. “You guys coming in for Story Night?” I ask curiously. “Yes!” one of the boys exclaimed. “We’re [...]