Wednesday, June 30, 2010

good byes, adventures, and cup cakes.

It’s Wednesday, June 30, 2010. I didn’t think this day was ever going to come. In fact I thought tomorrow would make a better today, but my ride leaves at noon, and in my commitment to flow with the current of the world, I will go with it. I am headed up to High Sierra, a music festival with 5-6,000 participants, and a crew of some of my favorites.

I will be prancing around with homies, dancing to good tunes, and helping my friend Joe Peace spread his message to the world. Peace. Joe makes peace medallions and spreads the peace far and wide at festivals throughout the year. He suggests a donation of $3-10 for one of his necklaces. People gather from all directions of the festival, grateful for the perfect memory and message. For years Joe has been on my radar. I received my first medallion at a festival 3 years ago. I wore it every day and on my travels. I ran across people all around the country, who either wondered what it was or knew because they had interacted with it before. This message of peace is spreading far and wide and it comes in a million different languages. The benefit (and dream) of this message is that is folks from different cultures and languages recognize this medallion on an enemy speaking a different language, hopefully they can find a common ground in their mutual desire for peace. It’s a big dream, but the option of monitoring the showers vs. spreading the peace train, is an easy choice for me.

After High Sierra I am off to Oregon Country Fair. From there I will find a ride (fingers crossed) from Eugene to Seattle where I will meet Rachel for our 17 day bicycle tour around Vancouver, Vancouver Island, The Olympic Peninsula, and back to Seattle for Camp Ten Trees (Gay Camp!!!). I plan on being back in the bay by September 1st, but am very hopeful that I can do this without a plane ticket. I am tempted to ride, but it doesn’t look like I will have the time (I despise this excuse).

I was inspired to write this blog this morning because I was reflecting on what a delightful gathering I was apart of last night. My close friends have been getting together for dinner every Tuesday for the past year.5( at least) and last night was an array of new and old faces and long hugs. I couldn’t feel more grounded in my community in preparation of my departure. It also couldn’t be harder to leave such delightful faces. But that’s why I decided to go for 2 months at a time instead of 2 years. So to any of you reading this, and any one reading this, thank you for being such a wonderful, supportive, and open friend along this journey we call life.


Well I am to finish packing/cleaning. Smiles, hugs, and tasty food.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

bragging rights

Hello Friends,

Greetings to new and old friends, and a special warm hello to those I have not spoken to in far too long. I was featured today in a blog as queer female leader in the SF bicycle movement. I am beyond honored (and therefore bragging:). If you would like to read the article: http://www.sfbike.org/main/rose-johnson-pride-month-profile/

I am about to take off on a 2 month adventure, you can read all about it at apothocurious.blogspot.com. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue to search for truth, happiness, the way, and whatever that may mean.

I hope this finds you well!

Smiles,
Rose

Apothocurious

THE CSCA

Check out Apothocurious.com!

Apothocurious

Friday, June 18, 2010

Minstrel Cycles

As Apothocurious takes a Hummus Hiatus, it is only natural that this bicycle powered urban culinary adventure takes a nibble on a bicycle powered coastal adventure. This summer is serving up double doses of festivals, summer camps, and a self-propelled minstrel cycle.

While I was working hard in the kitchen, delivering hummus on bikes, and educating the youth on safe ways to do what we do, I found myself restlessly day dreaming about the simplicity of living off my bike. In the dream I am, for once, doing just one thing: ride my bike. Due to limited storage; I, for once, only carry the necessities. With the freedom achieved from low cost, self-propelled travel, I, for once, am open to the currents of the travel ferries!
The agenda looks something like this:

June has been full of Yosemite adventures, Ohio Weddings and Virginia homesteads.

July 1st I head north (in a car…) for High Seirra. I will be working with my friend Joe Peace who practices peace by making peace medallions and offering them to festival goers in exchange for suggested, or available, donations. I am also hoping to rally a crew of good people to enjoy the show together! If you are interested, I hope you will join in the festivities! From Quincy I will travel with Joe (again, in a car…warming up or something) to the Oregon Country Fair where I will help and practice peace too! I will hop out of the peace wagon in Eugene, OR, and make my, one way or another( hitch, train, bike?), to Vancouver where I will find Helmet on

July 17th-Vancouver! With only 20 days of bike touring freedom, my fellow minstrel and I will travel from Vancouver to Seattle via The Vancouver islands, The Olympic peninsula and, of course, the occasional, and necessary, ferry. In preparation, my partner in crime, Rachel Freed AKA Helmet, is currently riding the AIDs Life Cycle. I am, circumstantially, sitting on an airplane. On a proud side note, on a parental visit this past week; I was able to get both of my parents out on a short neighborhood bike ride. Woot Woot.

Helmet and I will enjoy the sites of the city lights before we head north, west, south, south, and then east into Seattle. We have a tentative route mapped thanks for Biking the Coast. Aside from the rough outline of a route, I think the only things on the agenda are: bikes, island visits, family adventures, farmers markets, tasty food, new friends, adventure, and music (hence the name of our team, the minstrel cycles)! I will try to keep you updated as we discover life on bikes!

August 6th-28th. I will spend the rest of the month in or near Seattle working at Camp Ten Trees. Camp Ten Trees, often references as Gay Camp, has two unique sessions. The first session caters to youth coming from alternative families, Queer parents, Poly families, and everything in the spectrum. The second week caters to youth who identify as queer. For this session they have girls town, boys town, and gender-landia. I will be working with the oldest group from Boys town. I am excited because I have never been a leader for a boys group before.

I am traveling without any of the technology that would allow me to update this blog. No camera, no computer, not even an Ipod or smart phone! However, I have a feeling this blog will get updated throughout the summer. So stay posted! Let me know if you would like to receive an e-mail blast when I post. Though I bet if you are tech savvy (unlike me) you can figure out how to make the computer do that for you!

Planes in the air

As I sit in my isle seat, zone 4, of the airplane that will take me clear across the country and then to the “middle,” I gaze at my desktop as I wait for word to open. My desktop is littered with an assortment of photos that have recently come into circulation. A diverse collection of memories from past adventures, silly college photos, and an array of bicycle shots that accompanied a recent blog feature I did on women who bike. Perhaps I will include some of these random photos with this next blog posting. The feelings that are stirred up through these visuals are unique beyond words.

I have begun my decent into the warm pool on a cool summer day. Instead of my usual behavior of jumping in and catching my breath later, this time I creep in. In my dedication to seasonal employment, keeping the school schedule alive, I find myself on the cusp of completion and reflection. What have I completed? I am so glad you asked. This year I started my own business, shared committed and communicative relationships, and worked with the YBike program to get kids riding bikes safely in the streets of San Francisco. I did really cool work this year. But I can’t ignore what happened last summer. I found freedom, self-reliance, and a spark for more. I find myself back here again. I am on the edge of adventure, departing from paradise to pursue such great unknown.

All spring I found myself restless from the unrelenting winter. I took on a lot of responsibility, risk, and stress this year. Stress, which I am morally against, took a nibble on my soul. If it’s not fun, why do it? Can you have responsibility and risk without it? I started asking big questions, but instead of answering them, I daydreamed. I daydreamed about the ways I want to live simply, on my bicycle, within nature, and in peace. I also dreamed of ways I can live within the densely populated environment and still hold onto my values of natural space, simplicity, and spontaneity. The goals of this summer adventure are based on that curiosity. I will fulfill my daydreams through action. A number of things could come from this. I may dissolve the illusion of daydreams by living them. I may change my city behavior based on what is learned and loved in this adventure. I may decide to continue more fully towards this daydream. Perhaps, and more likely, something completely out of the ordinary and unexpected will happen. The world may never know, but soon I will.