Intro

Welcome to a story, or stories I should say. A compilation of adventure tales. An ongoing itch to see, smell, and touch the world, or at least the deserted roads and rarely trampled mountains of America. Characters within the descriptive paragraphs of these stories carve out the coming and going companions in life; vital life people and pieces that parallel a universe for moments, days, years. And then spear off, leaving granules of magnificent memories of magical places. They leave a lasting trace, a gained sense of courage to stand tall on oxygen deprived mountains and shout absurdities like: I love you Ralph! Ralph is a teenage reindeer stuffed of the finest synthetic polyester fiber poof; he says made in Indonesia but really tells me he is from the North Pole. Delivered through a chimney one December night 20 years ago, we instantly became cuddle buddies upon that morning's sunrise. He is the instigator. The inspiration. And the imagination. He breathes creativity. Laughter. His is a dear companion. And yes, at 4lbs he tags along atop a pack or strapped to a rack. In delirium of 107 degree heat, the small possession of material belongings gain a persona. Innate objects become friends of the road and trails. And as for the humans who accompany, their presence reads priceless. Without O'Reilly, a 29 year old New Hampshirian with superior taste buds, the mathematical six foot four inch tall German, or handful of organic peanut butter and 99 cent jam eating munchkins, there would be a lot less excitement. The encounters we make with our specie, encapsulating the world with their awkward ways and over consumerist love, somehow we have managed to become overly adored creatures. Their generous hearts restore a faith that goodness prevails in the upheaval of a sometimes lost humanity. As for myself, I'm just the navigator, paddling up the stream of life munching on Clif Bars, with an iPhone documenting the frailties and goodies underneath all the simplified complexities in the world we reside. So again, I welcome you to get lost and dream a little through this typed text and your imagination. My name is Kristen Gentilucci. I live in Berkeley California and I love dogs.


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Day 20. Oh Oh Ohio

Build day continued with Columbus Ohio Habitat For Humanity.

Columbus you are quite the town I imagined. Suburban streets lined with track housing, deeper into your heart lie rows of abandoned boarded houses, shackled with stories of poverty and crime, yet hitting the center the hipsters migrate on bikes, in converse, at vintage stores, and hip upcoming cafes.

Dave, our habitat coordinator, aged yet young, intelligent, and friendly at heart, the kind you always imagined your high school history teacher to be, shooting out bits of life wisdom at you, donates his time 6 full days a week to oversee this house be puzzled together.

Installing insulation is kind of like a teddy bear factory. Incasing the wooden frame silhouette of the house in a light fabric "netting" we then insert a large hose between the two into the casing, turn it on, and vroom, poof, side of the house is stuffed full of fluff. Not quite huggable, but toasty warm and comfy in the frigid winter months.

Dinner. So my partner in crime, co-leader Morganizer and I decided we would try to get free dinner for everyone tonight and spent our afternoon roaming up and down 5th ave stopping at franchises in hopes of some donations. We stopped by Five Guys burgers and fries.

"is your manager there?"
"I know this is totally out of the blue but we are looking for a food donation for 33 riders, young adults working with Habitat and biking across America."
"yeah sure bring them in"
Morgan and I burst out laughing.
"you see there are 33 of us," thinking he didn't understand the quantity of us and the never ending pill of food we can eat.
"yeah yeah bring them in" he said again, "I love Habitat, sounds like some good work you are doing."

Beaming with joy and excitement we decided to keep it a secret and surprise the riders today. I returned to them all napping at the host trying to hold the words that would ring like music to their ear deep inside. It was hard not to just burst out with glee. Their eyes exploded as we pulled up. Hug thanks to manager Tom from Five Guys Burgers and Fries.