White is such a crisp, clean color that always grabs my attention for some reason. I love the way that it plays with soft light.

It has snowed all night in Washington where I'm staying and from the looks of the sky it will continue to snow throughout the duration of the day.

*

There are times when I feel that everything would be a lot easier to do in life if there were no emotions involved. Imagine if you had to tell someone that you loved them without the fear of heartbreak, or if you could face your father that had been cheating on your mother for the past year without the fear of family abandonment and divorce. I mean, just speaking from my personal experience, if I never had to face negative emotions again I would become the most invincible person EVER! Fighting the forces of darkness with my sidekicks happiness and love! Although the thought of a wonderful spandex suit and abnormally large muscles does sway my opinion, being invincible would ultimately become my tragic flaw. Being emotional is what enables us to be loved by ourselves and by others.

When we are able to confront our fears of sadness, rejection, and hopelessness we open ourselves up to being graciously cared for and loved. Facing our emotions is what keeps us so emotional and being so emotional is what connects us to each other. Being emotionally connected to each other allows us to listen to each other’s stories, tell our own, and embrace our similarities and differences with open arms.

Isn’t that what we want anyways? To be cared for and loved in the purest sense of the words?

My story is long and full of heartache and despair and even though it hurts to recall and brings tears to my eyes, it’s a story that I’d love to share with you someday.

Love you always.

S.H.

Oh Phoenix, how you always grab at my heart.

You are full of memories that I often long to forget and memories that I’d love to embrace again. The people that inhabit you call me to be loved, to love, and to remember how fragile we all are. And although you don’t have great coffee, a thriving subculture, or a cool dive bar that doesn’t blow, you have genuine love and relationship.

That’s what keeps me coming home.

Goodbye for now Phoenix. I love you.

Adventure #1

One of my main goals this year is to document all of the cool, crazy, and amazing stories that happen to us on the road. Thus the name of the blog. Here's the first installment of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Shane.

Tonight we all went down to Seattle in order to take some pictures for This Providence's new record when all of a sudden a white truck hopped the curb and started heading down the sidewalk adjacent to the park we were at. I personally thought it was some kind of city maintenance vehicle coming to check up on the art installation that was there but it ended up being the drunkest person I've ever seen driving. He ran into these posts that were meant to separate the sidewalk from cars gone wild(which should totally be an unrated version of worlds scariest crashes, cops, or something of that nature). He proceeded to try and drive through the posts but to no avail.

These guys that were drinking in the park next to the spot that we were taking pictures ended up getting him out of his truck, much to his dismay. I(for some reason) ended up getting in his truck, getting it unstuck from the posts, and re-parking it legally so that we could get him in a taxi before he killed anyone or got a DUI. But as we started walking to where the taxis line up outside of the bar our paths seemed to differ. He went in the bar and I kept on walking straight. He wanted to buy me shots to celebrate hisour victory over alcohol. After clearly rejecting and negotiating, I made it clear to him that he needed to either give me his keys or get in a taxi. Out of the two amazingly awesome options he had, he chose neither and decided to walk further in to the bar.

By this time, I'm over being a good samaritan. I told the bartender about the story and began to make my way out of the bar when through the window I noticed that two police cars were now investigating the scene of the crime. With their culprit tied up in the bar with a taxi being called, they asked us all questions to which we offered little in reply. Sometimes, even though people make huge mistakes, you cover for them a little. We continued the photo shoot and began to make our way back to the van. We had to walk past the truck the police were investigating on the way to the van and when we did we found the guy sitting in the driver's seat talking to the police. 

You drive drunk, hit some retaining poles, have a dude get you out of trouble and on the way home, refuse his help, and ultimately get back in the car that you already wrecked. That, my friends is fate.

DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.

Sometimes the beauty of the humanity I(and collectively we) face on a daily basis is so shockingly vibrant and alive that it brings me to tears.

Happy, overwhelming, tears of togetherness.

I'm full of emotion, ideas, and stories.

I'm full of tears that haven't been cried for years. Smiles that need to be shared. Emotions that are screamingdying to be let out.

I feel that I've become a brick wall again. My hope for this year is to be as vulnerable as possible with people that are genuine in their love. To share and listen as other people share. To fall back in love with compassion, community, and God. 

We'll see what becomes of this. 

I love you.

S.H.