Comm-Unity

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Historic Kennecott Copper Mining Town, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska (July 2021)

I’ll never forget that day. I was at the gym early, getting in my workout before heading to the lab. My graduate school schedule was quite demanding so I often had to exercise in the early morning or late at night. As I was finishing up the last few sets of biceps curls, carefully watching my form in the mirror, the song on the radio ended. Then a news flash announced that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. “What?!? That’s weird,” I thought. No other information was given. I finished the rest of my workout and hurried over to the lab. As usual, I had a busy day of work ahead of me.

Per my usual routine, I made some oatmeal and a protein powder drink to fuel up after my workout in the communal kitchen at work. As I hurriedly chomped down my breakfast one of my buddies came into the kitchen and informed me that there might be a terrorist attack in New York. That plane crash wasn’t just an accident after all. So we walked over to the lecture room to join a small group who had been watching the news on the big projection screen. Soon after I sat down I watched in disbelief as a second commercial airliner flew like a missile into the other tower of the World Trade Center. That was the morning of September 11, 2001. My life changed forever from that moment.

Fast forward almost three years to the date. I finally graduated and was preparing to ship off to officer school. Following the attack on the World Trade Center I had decided that I would do my part, as an American, to help in any way that I could. And I remember everyone in the country feeling the same way. There was a collective sense of patriotism and duty that I had never seen in my life.

As fate would have it, I later met some Navy recruiters at a job fair who informed me of the huge demand for biochemists in combating the War on Terror. That was it. My mind was made up on the spot. So I joined the Navy immediately after earning my doctoral degree in biochemistry in 2004.

I completed one tour in the Navy and then left to eventually pursue my own business as a guide, illustrator and photographer. Every year on Veteran’s Day I think back to my days in the Navy and I’m reminded of just how thankful I am to have had that experience. There are so many positive benefits to gain from a career in the military. But the one that shines most brightly in my mind is the sense of Unity.

Finding a true sense of unity, community and family like that which exists in the military is difficult at best. Ask any veteran or service member and they will tell you. In fact, I found that the biggest struggle that I had after leaving the military was finding a similar sense of collective unity. Then I went to Alaska to start guiding a few years later and I found that true community again. I’ve been guiding there for twelve years and I can honestly say that it’s the only place that really feels like home to me. Sure I love the beauty of the mountains, glaciers and wildlife but it’s the people that keep me coming back. The community of the little remote bush town of McCarthy is like a family to me. That’s what I look forward to the most every year. Seeing my family again.

So here I am again on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2021, fondly thinking back on my Navy days. And more than any other year I am also remembering the collective sense of family and unity that we all felt as fellow Americans on September 11, 2001. All politics aside, I have never felt such a sense of divisiveness in our great nation as I do now. A big wedge seems to have split the country down the middle and I’m deeply saddened by all of the fighting and finger-pointing. I long for the same feeling of caring and pride that we Americans displayed following September 11, 2001 in putting our differences aside to come together as a nation, as a family during difficult times. We are now faced with the difficult-est of times as we continue to battle the COVID pandemic and growing mistrust of government, the media, science and most troubling, each other.

So on this Veteran’s Day I have simple ask. Yes, please remember show your appreciation for Veterans by thanking them for their service. They all deserve our gratitude. But also take the time to appreciate and thank your neighbors. Regardless of politics, religion, skin color, gender, sexual preference, immigration status, level of education, how much money a person has, iPhone or Android, etc., etc., etc., we’re all Americans, we’re a family. It’s time to put our differences aside and Unite as a nation of United States again. We need each other.

Burn the Past

Today is the last day of 2019. Tomorrow is the start of a brand new year.

2019 was a BIG year for me. I actually accomplished a lot both professionally and personally. I have made huge strides in building my freelance business. I ticked off a lot of things on my To Do list for the year. And I am proud of everything that I have accomplished.

However, the list of things that I didn’t accomplish is much greater than the things that I did successfully complete. I won’t go into detail because I want to keep this short and to-the-point. All I want to say about my so-called failures for 2019 is “So What?”. So I didn’t successfully achieve everything that I set out to do this year. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do that. But I do know that I worked my butt off. I worked really hard. I think that I intentionally write a To Do list for the year that I know that I can never complete. This pushes me to work hard, then work harder and then work even harder. So I know that the handful of successes that I did have this past year probably would have never had a chance to happen without the support of all of my failures. Failure is integral to success!

So my advice to all of you is to BURN THE PAST. Forget about the things you didn’t do in 2019 and celebrate the wins that you did have. 2020 is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over. How awesome is that!!! Reassess your goals for the coming year and forget about the last year. I know am.

2019 has been a great year. It has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, successes and failures. I am proud of everything that I have accomplished and frustrated (but motivated!) by the things that I have not. So here is to my New Year. 2020. I am already hitting the ground sprinting. 2019, it’s been great knowing you. But your only a memory and it’s time to go. I have a lot of work to do.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Past

The modern Christmas holiday owes many of its customs to ancient pagan celebrations during the winter solstice.

December 25th—Christmas Day— is the religious and secular holiday celebrated around the world. Although Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, many others simply celebrate the spirit of giving and spending time with their loved ones. But religious or not, it’s that magical time of year when people around the world become more festive, exchange gifts, decorate their homes with blinking, colored lights, bring a fir tree into their homes, drink lots of brandy-infused eggnog at holiday parties and generally spread cheery greetings as they excitedly await a visit from Santa and his reindeer-driven sleigh on the eve of Christmas morning.

How did this most popular and beloved holiday come to be anyway?

I won’t go into too much detail because a little research on the interweb will provide one with ample resources full of historical facts and figures about the origins of the modern version of the Christmas holiday.

But here are some fun stocking-stuffer facts that I’ll bet many of you didn’t know:

• Early European peoples celebrated during the winter soltice as the coming longer days and more sunlight symbolized light and rebirth in the darkest days of winter. These early celebrations were practiced long before Christianity recognized December 25 as the birthday of Christ.

• The Norse, or Scandinavian peoples, celebrated Yule from December 21 through January. German peoples honored the pagan god Odin. The Romans observed Saturnalia, a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture.

• Most wine and beer was finally fermented and ready to drink by December, making that a perfect time of year to celebrate!

• Early “Christmas” celebrations were actually quite raucous and rowdy, not unlike a Mardi Gras party. In fact, for an entire month starting a week before the winter solstice, the social order in Rome was flipped on its head. During Saturnalia the slaves would trade places with their masters and the peasants would essentially rule the city.

• Nobody really knows the true date of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn’t even mention it. So why is Christmas celebrated on December 25? Pope Julius I declared that to be the day in the fourth century A.D.

• Many of the traditions that we associate with the modern day Christmas holiday were adopted from the original pagan celebrations during the winter solstice, such as decorating a tree and giving gifts. By holding Christmas during the month of December there was a much stronger chance of assimilating the pagan peoples and convincing them to adopt the Christian religion.

• Many of the pilgrims, the earliest American settlers from England, actually refused to celebrate Christmas and even outlawed it. The raucous festival-like atmosphere of the earlier version of the holiday violated their Puritan belief system.

• Christmas wasn’t declared an official federal holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

• Religious reasons aside, Christmas evolved in American culture into the family-oriented holiday rooted in peace and nostalgia that we know it today.

So as you can see, Christmas used to be very different than the holiday that we observe and celebrate today. But whatever your reasons for celebrating during this Holiday season I think we can all at least agree that there is a change in the air, a different feeling of joy and nostalgia that is felt throughout the world during the later days of December. You might refer to it as the “Christmas Spirit” or “Holiday Spirit”. It’s a time to celebrate the good things that we have, appreciate the people that we love and care about and joyously prepare to greet a brand new year full of new opportunities.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Some Resources:

https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas

https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-christmas.htm