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.


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Day 32. Building Sheds in Springfield MO

Build Day with Habitat of Springfield.
Weather: 100 Degrees

West Volunteer Way was literally the name of he street we headed to this morning for our build site. Springfield Habitat is a smaller chapter but full of some inspiring people. They amazingly just built 6 homes in 66 days solely with volunteers this May due to a grant with deadlines they received. We were putting the final touches on the homes, building sheds. Hammers, nails, and an education on tornados, the heat barred down on us like the hundreds of steel nails we drove into the planks of wood. Games of how many hits to get the nail in were played, as well as how many bent, sideways, crocked nails we numbered. They treated us well though, with ice water, pizza, oranges, and cream soda, and even many mini shade breaks.

The last half of the day was spent exploring historic Springfield by bike, finding hot pink trash cans, hipsters in all the nooks and crannies, live music is the downtown square, more hipsters, an appreciation for good coffee and food, lots of bike lanes, vintage stores galore, and a town that seems to have pulled itself anew with a fun mix of old history and new spunk.

The night was topped off with a delivery from a natural foods store in town, excited about what we were doing, fed us real food which we probably wouldn't see again till California. Tomatoes that tasted like the vine was just outback and flavors that we must have forgotten existed. The riders licked their plates clean and jetted out to watch Batman fly across the movie screen.