The Desert Rat Life

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Life in the desert. Color is vivid, life a standout against the backdrop of rock and sand, wind and expansive openness. I've been reading Desert Solitare, Ed Abbey's book about living in Arches National Monument in the late 60's. A season in the wilderness. For me it is a season in the city; lattes, burritos, wi fi, and mountain bikes, juxtaposed with the harsh environment here and the reality of living out of a vehicle and a bike shop.

It's a fun life, although challenging to make the personal space necessary to write a good blog entry, or dig deeply into old Ed's book, as the wind is often blowing, and I'm often finding myself heading out to camp just as the sun tips over the horizon.

The pics I'm posting today are a mix of traveling here with Ben through Death Valley and the inexplicable Racetrack, where the rocks move about helter skelter on their own, and a couple of the desert life here. Red flowers against the harsh dry rock, and a beautiful desert camp with the good folks of Magpie Adventures as we rode the White Rim in Canyonlands National Park.

I'm off to meet up with Hanka, Bowman, and Troy, for what is sure to be a great ride out exploring the endless sandstone near Gold Bar Rim.

Cheers from the Love Muffin Cafe. 'Till next time.

Eug

Wade customizing the uni with awesome gusset

Gusset going on legs (thanks Wade!)

New style pivoting dropout (probably 20 hours of work here for both)

More pics.

Natty's Uni

Viewed from bottom to top, here are a few pics of Natty's lil 19" uni during construction at Wade's Vulture Cycles shop in Bend in early March. I just received the rim, and will be and I will be building the wheel very soon. It's fun to be building again!

Moab 2009

I left Oakridge on March 2, headed for Bend, OR to spend some time with friends and to build a new 19" unicycle for Natty, on my way to Moab, Utah for the spring. Nearly a month has passed since I pulled out of town in my old red Toyota, and many adventures have been had.

Today I'm recovering from a nasty stomach flu that hit me yesterday on my way back to Moab from a couple of days of riding in the Fruita area. I'm headed in to work at the Poison Spider Bike Shop in just a few minutes, so I'm going to have to spare the narrative for now. Instead I'm posting a few pics from along the way: Mac building a new frame in Vultures Shop, Mark McD shredding near Bishop, me on the rock near bishop. Enjoy.

Finding the Line

My dad, Skip Cathcart, aka Jack Mirfak, died the day after my last blog post. A month and a half later I sit in a little brewpub in Oakridge, Oregon listening to a singer sing "... down the road."

His life changed me. His death changed me. Yet here I am, still me, still following my thread.

Nearly a year has passed since I wrote of my thread from a distant place, in this life. In that time I'm not clear that I've really figured out where my thread leads, no I'm following my thread. But, I've had some clarity about what my thread is made of: friends, honesty, bikes, photography, exploration, curiosity.

It seems that more questions arise, and few questions are answered as this life moves ever onward. My dad once said, "the bigger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of mystery." I think it is someone else's quote, but relevant to us all.

I've been in the usual routine again since Dad died. Go to work, go home, think of stuff to do, think of places to go, think of people to see. But do any of these things get us any farther down the line? Do they answer any of the questions that go unspoken?

Where am I?
How did I get here?
What does it mean when I say the word I?
Is there a purpose to my life?
Is there any way for me to answer these questions?

These are questions my dad asked, and kept asking, until he moved on. Maybe he found some answers to these questions where he went, maybe he is still asking them where he is now.

I'm grateful for my life every day, and for each and every friend I have.

I'm moving on towards another adventure this spring; a trip to Moab to work at the Poison Spider Bike Shop. I'll be there from mid March until late May. I'm looking forward to all of the newness of adventure, to the smells and sights of the Southwest, and to all to the unknowns out there.

See you on the road.

Ad Astra..

Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly,
Man got to ask himself,
Why? Why? Why?

Tiger got to rest,
Bird got to land,
Man got to tell himself he understand.

A few pictures representative of what I'm thinking about and feeling today.

Top to bottom:

We Can Handle It boxcar-my dad's favorite.
Tracks ahead- the road goes ever onward.
Friends and music-make life worth living.
Turns ahead-maybe this was a premonition.

My dad and I are at the hospital. He became too weak to care for himself at home a few days ago. We felt we had no options left but to call for an ambulance and head into town to find medical assistance. The doctors found cancer in his lungs, his liver, his spleen, his lymph nodes, his adrenal glands. He has melanoma. It is untreatable at this stage.

The question of time comes to mind. How much of it does he have? That's what people usually ask in these circumstances. But none of us know. Not for him, not for ourselves. We don't know if we'll live to see 90, or die on the way to work tomorrow. Seems to me the question of importance isn't how much time we have, but rather, what can we do with our time here?

That question of course can't be answered unless a person first considers what they believe the purpose of life to be. I can't say that I'm too sure there is one purpose that is right for me.

I believe that the world contains everything from heaven to hell. I believe those concepts aren't vague and abstract ideas to be realized after we die, but instead realities here on Earth, and by inhabiting the Earth as sentient beings capable of free thinking and action we have the ability to influence our surroundings. I for one enjoy the heavenly aspects of this Earth and have yet to find a higher calling than to try to further the beautiful, the loving, the compassionate, the free and the awesomeness that I find here.

I hope my dad's last days of this life are filled with love, compassion, and the knowledge that he has helped to bring about positive change in this world by being a caring, honest, and compassionate person who values beauty and freedom, love and truth.

Think about my dad-Jack Mirfak, and send him thoughts of love and strength, positivity and courage.

And while there aren't too many signs on the road of life telling you just what the curves in the road are going to look like, you can know that there will be many, and you will be more prepared to handle them if you keep yourself strong and healthy, and avoid the traps of addiction. My dad and I want you to know; it is worth the sacrifice now to avoid the agony later.

Peace