book.
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- bjladams
I'm putting together a book for my kids, for when they're older. perhaps to give to them on graduation of something... let me know what you think... (it's just the prologue)
-The following is the first part of a book that i'm currently putting together for my boys, Luke and Ezra.
To my sons:
One year has past since my hearing has disappeared altogether. It has not been an easy road- there have been very hard moments, but there have been times of laughter too. I have tried my best to live according to the things I know, and every day the list of what I am certain of grows smaller- soon there might not be anything on my list at all, then it will be blank and perfect for drawing on.
---
The following accounts are mostly true, if not completely - and can be somewhat verified by friends, enemies, animals, and other living and dead things.
My life so far has been good, in fact - perfect. I've had my fair share of excitement and tranquility, adventure and stillness. I have had the good fortune to witness some amazing things and hurl myself headlong into situations that most people only ever read about.
I have slept in palaces and laughed along side heads of nations in Latin America, and also spent long nights half asleep, huddled in the cold steep mountains of Laos. I've braved the darkness alone in the tundra and the jungles with nothing more then a machete, a fire and a good book.
I've wondered the Kalahari for weeks at a time, feet bleeding for lack of proper footwear and killing those animals (with my own knife) that would trade their lives to become my energy. I too, have stood before the tribesmen, rocks clenched in their hands, and faced death on more than one occasion. I've stared down the thick black barrel of a flintlock, heated by the african sun and held by the devil himself - and walked on.
I've come face to face, alone in the wild with the snake and the panther. I know the feeling of waking up in the plains to the vibrations of elephants tiptoeing thru my bivouac. I've fallen asleep staring at the campfire reflecting back at me in the eyes of the lion. I've run thru the darkness from the torches of the villagers and I have fallen into the waters amongst the crocodile. I've caught both sharks and minos, and eaten beast and bug. I've known pain and heartache, but also love and comfort.
I have seen, first hand, the unreasonable and unexplainable - deep in the jungles of India and below the African earth i have witnessed the powers and tricks of those that have sold their souls for momentary powers. I have seen the miracles, both physical and mental that defy any of the laws that men have placed on the world... and I've seen it done in the name of both good and evil.
I have flown a plane across the tropics, and have swam from a sinking ship. I have conquered mountains in the Rockies and raced the rising underground rivers deep in the heart of the Appalachians.
I have overridden laws in communist regimes to take literature and physical aid to the suffering.
I have answered the questions of the irate troops, and sat in the interrogation rooms of their military. I've crossed boarders by way of moonlit rivers for the sake of the unwanted children and have carried and cared for those young people with the mark of death all over them for days and weeks at a time.I've outlasted hurricanes and droughts, floods and tornadoes. I've paddled a number of the greatest waterways in the world, and sailed amongst the islands of the pacific. I've hiked thru some of the most beautiful mountains in Europe and have adored, with my own eyes, the snow-caped peaks of Alaska as they fall asleep into the sea.
I have gotten lost in the streets of Hochiminh and amongst the tunnels of Cu Chi. I have watch the sun set over Angkor Wat and have seen it rise over the Australian Desert. I've awed at the moon ellipse over the Okavango Delta, and watched the stars in all their glory sparkle around the Tahitian coast.
I'm 28 years old. I've traveled the world on trains, tanks, buses, motorcycles and within my own boots. Rarely have I had the money to fund such endeavors, but I have found that the necessity almost always follows the desire. I've had some amazing experiences and met some of the most incredible individuals ever fashioned. I expect as you grow older that you'll encounter you're own set of excitement, and I can only hope and pray that you'll want to share some of these with me.
I have tasted the sweetness of the Tree of Life, and encourage you to do the same. Your path will be different from mine, and from each other - but the risks will be just as imense and the lessons leerned will be just as valuable. You will be scared, you will be unsure, you will be tormented - not with the "what if" - but with the "what if i don't."
Ahead is a more detailed account of my adventures... I hope you enjoy them. I'm sure that some things will surprise you, and others will be less glorious then you'd like to fathom. I'll lead off with this:
After a small banquet following the construction of a dung hut amongst the wind-swept dunes of the desert, I was betrothed to the chiefs daughters. As the translator was late to the event, I wasn't made aware of the wedding till it's near end... (don't tell you mother)
___
CHAPTER 1
- HijoDMaite0
What a great start! I know I would of loved it if my father had written about all his life experiences and left them to me. They are going to love this and maybe one day feel a calling to follow in all your footsteps. Really cool and inspirational man. Thanks
- spookykat0
Fiction?
- Amicus0
Damn. I wish I'd had 1% of the adventures you seem to have had.
Not bad for a kiwi :)
- Hombre_Lobo0
some parts are a little are a little over dramatic for my tastes eg - "held by the devil himself - and walked on."
but that as a great read :)
really wish i could write that well, but wish more so i'd done half the stuff you have. Im 25 now and havent traveled all that much and i occasionally panic slightly about my wasted time and lack of adventures.So are you completely deaf adams? how did that happen? feel free to tell me to mind my own business :)
im a fan of your work so i hope this book is gonna be illustrated!
- 34 and this makes me feel like I haven't done anything.Amicus
- bjladams0
aye, thanks for the encouragement.
@hombre - story behind that line is that the guy who drew the gun on me introduced himself as "the devil"
i've still got 15 years or so to weed it down to a good yarn though. I hadnt thought about illustrating it...
And yes, completely deaf. dr's dont know why or how. the assume that it was either some sort of parasite picked up from traveling, or an auto-immune disease that my body killed off before they could find it... either way, it is what it is.- ahh cool @ the devil thing, very cool.
oh man thats mad about your hearing. its horrible that...Hombre_Lobo - there is no explanation. i hope your ok dude. Are you learning to sign?Hombre_Lobo
- i know one - from 12 years of driving. i'm learning, not as fast as the kids, but slowly :-)bjladams
- ahh cool @ the devil thing, very cool.
- detritus0
I once stepped in dog shit.
- Neither zenith nor nadir.detritus
- In Kalahari?ItalianStallion
- goldieboy0
Enjoyed reading that... Amazing adventures! You're kids are going to love reading this when they're older. I have some great shots of my dads adventures when he was younger traveling around the world, which he gave me when I was 18. I will keep them forever and, hopefully, pass them on to my kids one day!
Keep it up
- jfletcher0
I'd like to read the rest :)
- mydo0
graduation is too long to wait. these kind of story can be life shaping at 12, by 20, it's just dads stories which they've heard 1000 times.
but then if they're 12 when they read it for the first time, most of that stuff isn't going to mean anything. it's impressive to the internet, because all we do is sit in front of our computers, but to a kid, they have no reference as to if they have an adventurous dad. or if everyone's dad goes to places they haven't heard about too.
difficult to pick an age!
interesting though. i wonder if your kids will try and be more adventurous, or just be happy with the stories?
- i think you raise a very good point...Hombre_Lobo
- im not keeping these stories from them now, just compiling them into something that they'll appreciate when they're olderbjladams
- randommail0
are you this guy?
- GeorgesII0
Will you include a chapter on the rapture?
- jfletcher0
I actually feel inspired by this... I thought I'd done a good job at living, but need some more now! :D
- monospaced0
Are you going to talk about all the chicks you banged before their mother? Also, this is epic.
- scarabin0
"I have gotten lost ... amongst the tunnels of Cu Chi."
those coochie tunnels are treacherous
- shade0
can we pre-order?
- Miesfan0
I have read Tintin adventures which are most boring.
You do not have a Captain Haddock?
- bjladams0
thanks again - i'm looking forward to getting other chapters more refined and will post links (spam?) back to them for those interested.
I suppose too, that it would be unfair to omit a couple of my traveling companions, Joshua Callahan and Ben Hubbard - who I know look over this site from time to time.
- zenmasterfoo0
well done. passing down something to your children is what I've been pondering for quite some time now. I have a little girl who is not yet one, and a son due this September.
I agree with everyone else, I wish I could write like you. My thoughts often come out on paper as a tumble of shit. But in my mind they're unicorns vs. godzilla beautiful.
One day I'll figure out for myself how to do this. In the mean time you are inspiring. Thank you.
- gramme0
Man. Lost your hearing? That's terrible. I hope your doctors get to the bottom of it.
Amazing the things we constantly take for granted, until bereft of them.