Adventure Awaits!

Photo credit: Jay, my son

Title: A long day

Tonight sleep evades me. It is not insomnia but the excitement of adventure that keeps me awake. By tomorrow at this time, if Daedalus is with me, (before that whole Icarus fiasco) then I will land on time and in tact in Los Angeles. 

I'll be going on a scientific expedition for a week at Santa Catalina Island. I'll be with real scientists, about two dozen students, and teachers from across the nation, collecting data and doing what real scientifically-minded folks do. 


It is always amazing to me to be honored with such experiences as I continue to realize how life is such a great adventure, and a scientific experiment on ourselves, really. I imbibe every moment and continue to realize how incredibly lucky I am. 

A few months ago, I was selected by JASONLearning to represent my school district, Austin ISD, as the sole teacher to attend this fellowships as an Argonaut.

To be quite honest, I bawled like a baby when I got the call to attend. I wanted this opportunity so badly, I could taste it.  Here it was in true form and here it will be in true form. It is the amalgamation of learning, teaching, growth, scientific study, and social interaction. All are experiences I love.

In the past four months, I have climbed the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, eaten goat with Maasai tribes, and was dubbed an honorary member on my quest to help Water To Thrive bring clean water to Africa. I spent a week at the Monterey Bay Aquarium doing science teacher research and kayaking among otters, driven my truck to Kansas City to visit family and took my dog to Santa Fe and Colorado to do research for a book at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. 

I don't write this stuff to brag, though you make think thus. I share this because I have hope that folks realize the opportunities we have in life. Don't sell yourself short. Understand your true potential in whatever vocation, life, you are in. 

We all have the ability to be and do in small and big ways. These opportunities, this gusto, was not my life a short time ago. However, it is now.

Potential. 
We all have it. 
Do. 
Don't just say.
Be Kinetic.

Adventure awaits for all of us. You just have to seize it. 

Carpe Vitae!

(Enriching music: Good Morning, Max Frost)