10 Thoughts from Movember 2011

I first learned about Movember at the end of November 2010. I decided right then that I would join the cause by growing a mustache for the sake of men's health issues in 2011. Here are my top thoughts on the experience.


1. I need to wear glasses when shaving. I've done it half blind for years but am now aware that glasses make a real difference in the morning.

2. On the rare occasion when the fledgling mustache looked good it was a great conversation starter about Movember.

3. When the mustache looked bad people worked at averting their eyes and masking their horror. This killed all conversations about anything, much less Movember.

4. Doing something, even if it doesn't seem like much, really helps the mourning process. I lost a friend to prostate cancer not too long ago. Growing the Mo really helped.

5. Though much of the hair on my head is gray, there are only a few grays in my mustache. I might still have a few good years left.

6. Not too many people that I know were aware of Movember. I felt like an agent for a secret cause.

7. Never in my life have I heard the term "you look like . . ." so often. The accuracy what followed was suspect at best and ranged from "Higgins from the show Magnum PI" to "Luigi" of Mario Brothers fame. Perhaps others need to wear glasses more often, too.

8. My daughter was my biggest critic. She's come to accept the fuzz under my nose but is looking forward to December 1 when the mustache goes away and her regular dad comes back.

9. The mustache wasn't as itchy as the last time I grew one (which was way back in grad school). Some things do get better with age.

10. Though I wasn't around any other guys that were participating, I actually felt a part of a global community. Articles in the Baltimore Sun about teachers in a local school, posts on Facebook from friends around the globe, and updates from Movember in different countries brought an unexpected sense of connectedness.

Thanks Movember. I'm glad I did this and hope the Mo Bros across the globe are glad, too. Now let's knock out these men's cancers so we can grow our Mos in celebration.

Colorado

Year of First Visit – 2007
Point of Entry – Denver International Airport

For quite some time I had been in every state that bordered Colorado but had not managed to cross this state's border. Conveniently, Southwest started flying into Denver not long before my family planned a trip that included Rocky Mountain National Park.



We flew into DIA in the morning and were on the trails in the park that afternoon. At the Bear Lake Trail parking lot, the elevation sign indicated that we were over 10K feet. The last time I’d been at that elevation was earlier that day when the flight attendant came on to say that we could now use our portable electronic devices.

Thought I’ve traversed many mountain trails, Colorado’s trails are the highest that I've climbed. It may be the closest to the top of the world that I’ll ever get.



My ankle twisted as I was coming down one of those trails. For the first time in my life I actually fell correctly instead of trying to break my fall. The reason was that my camera was in my pocket and as I started to go down I tried to protect it and the photos it contained. In doing so I didn’t even get a scrape, though the height and severity of the fall should have required the EMS team come to carry me the rest of the way down the trail and to and Estes Park emergency room to have a bone set.



After traveling through several other states on that trip we ended up returning to Colorado before coming home. After another quick hike in RMNP we headed to Boulder to tour the Celestial Seasonings factory. Three words: The Mint Room.

Once I got some Colorado in me it became a bit like a magnet. All of a sudden my flights to the West Coast or the desert seemed to need to stop at DIA either to or from my destination.



And inside me I feel the pull to the mountains --- to get closer to the sky with my feet still on the ground.

Calfornia

Year of First Visit – 2006
Point of Entry – Sacramento International Airport



I always experience extremes in California. The stunning sheer cliffs and spectacular waterfalls of Yosemite, the giant trees of Sequoia, the towering heights of Muir Woods and the Redwoods parks, the dry depths of Death Valley ---- one more extreme place after another. From Big Sur through the Mojave, California is the place where I find my most extreme memories.



After being there a while, I lose all sense of proportion. Giant trees seem normal. Being below sea level seems obvious.



It’s no wonder, then, that the man-made things of California are equally audacious. Hearst Castle, LA’s freeways, the Golden Gate Bridge, the fresh water canals, the miles upon miles of farms with every possible food imaginable, and, for that matter, the mega-blockbuster movie, body sculpting, the self-proclaimed “Happiest Place on Earth,” and shocking levels of pollution. After a while, those audacious extremes seem normal, too.



It doesn’t take much time there to see that California is a land of big dreams and big plans. I always come home from there believing that anything is possible. There, the nature and the people seem to try to prove it every day.



Once in a while, a hearty dose of California does my soul a world of good. I can’t wait to see what shockingly disproportional thing I’ll experience there next time I go. I wonder, how will I ever fit memories this big in my suitcase to bring them home?

Arkansas

Year of First Visit – 2006
Point of Entry – US-63 near Hardy

As I pulled into Arkansas, “Tradio” was on my FM dial. As people called in to broadcast audio classified ads, they reminded me of listening to the daily “Trade Mart” on my family's radio when I was growing up. It felt like a throwback to my childhood and Arkansas made me feel welcomed and at home.

My only trip to Arkansas so far was to visit an ill friend. I’d been meaning to visit her when she was well for nearly a decade. Her sickness caused me to rent a car and make the trip. We weren’t sure how much time she had left.



Time stands still for no one. This merging of the radio “throwback” experience at the state line with the urgent need to prioritize my travels while there was still time wrapped the trip in a call to check my values and priorities.

Arkansas, thank you for calling me back home.

P.S. My friend survived and, though not completely healed, is doing well. It would be good to go back to Arkansas to visit, her and the state, again.

Arizona

Year of First Visit – 1995
Point of Entry – I-10 near Wilcox

When I got back from my first road trip out west, I found myself listing things that I saw for the first time like an elementary school student. “I saw a canyon and a mesa and a desert and a dry river bed and a cattle ranch and a cactus and . . . and . . . and . . . and . . . and . . ..”



And I saw almost all of them for the first time somewhere in the state of Arizona.

Not too far into the state I saw boulders the size of houses right along I-10. From that point the amazement with the state only grew. My white knuckled ride on US-93 from Phoenix to Kingman brought baptism by fire to my mountain driving experience. The pink desolation as we continued along 93 past Kingman was an isolation I’d never experienced before. And who can forget the oddness that is Colorado City?



My favorite road in this country is Arizona’s short portion of I-15. Passing through the Virgin River Gorge strikes awe in me each and every time I go that way.

Not all my Arizona memories are at 75 miles per hour, though. Experiencing stillness on the rim of the Grand Canyon, the magic of Antelope Canyon, the refreshment that only comes from swimming under the desert sky, and the deafening silence that comes from being alone amid sand dunes counterbalance the high-speed sites and provides balance in experiencing Arizona.



There’s much of Arizona I haven’t experienced that I very much want to. Of course, just like my unintentionally ordering the same dish at Marble Canyon Lodge at meals 11 years apart (Navajo Taco Salad), I’m eager to re-experience the Arizona I remember, too.