Day 3: Leave No Trace

11/15/10 - Leave No Trace. "What a cool name?!?!" I thought to myself when I discovered their website. The third installment of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving covers our social responsibility to our environment. Love the world we are living in. Let's all be responsible and take care of our mother earth. Leave No Trace is a great organization aiming to educate us how to live and enjoy the outdoors with the least amount or no impact at all.

The website is well designed with abundant of educational articles and programs that we can all learn from. Hey kids! How about a Bigfoot Challenge?

We could all use outdoor activities at some point or another. Overnight trip in the Grand Canyon? We week long adventure in Yellowstone? Or how about a stroll along the beach watching the sunset with that someone? Did you ever wonder what kind of impact you left behind? Challenge yourself to be 'untraceable' and leave the beautiful world ... as is.

Day 2: Run for Something Better

11/14/10 - So, I was inspired by my sister who recently ran Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco with Team in Training in honer of her friend Heather. Additionally, somehow, I still do not know exactly how it happened, I agreed to my TNT runner friends to ..... eh ..... run a marathon in 2011.

Ok, enough about 'me'. The second 13 Days to Thanksgiving brought me to this wonderful organization, ING Run For Something Better. It's a known fact that obesity is a huge problem not only here in America but the whole world. Here in the US, 2007-2008 NHANES report stated that obesity affects 17% of our children and adolescents. It's important to encourage our kids to spend more time outdoor with sports that they can enjoy well into their adulthood.

Though I am a cyclist, I have to admit that nothing could be simpler than a sport of running. Plus, there are several studies similar to this one suggesting that we are 'born to run'. So, let's get our kids running (with joy)!

Day 1: Raise Hope For Congo

How would you feel if someone you love were raped ... and raped repeatedly?

11/13/10 - First day of my 13 Days to Thanksgiving series. I fully understand that this is a very heavy subject. But, that's what happening right now, today, in Congo. To some, it's unimaginable for some of you might have heard this before in past conflicts throughout the world. It's being used as a tool by the militias to destroy communities and control the uprising of people. You can read one of many news articles reporting about the crisis here.

Short of picking up firearms to go fight or staging a violence protest, there are peaceful avenue you 'can' do something about it. So, today, I would like to talk about Raise Hope For Congo project. Can you help and make a direct impact? Absolutely!!! It can be as simple as you taking a hard look at your 'cell phone'. Interested? Play the video below to learn more.

Then, we can help ending the war in Congo by committing to buy only conflict-free electronic products. That's it! You don't need to donate anything. No elaborate call-to-action plan. Just a few clicks to let electronic makers know what you stand for and you have already done your part to help!!!

13 Days to Thanksgiving

Thirteen days to Thanksgiving is a blog inspired by my casual research this past Friday night into different non-profit organizations out there (all the while I am watching SAW VI on Netflix). What I discovered is that there are so many worthy organizations out there fighting and supporting great causes in and around the world aside from those already well known ones. My goal is not to advocate for one particular organization or group. Mainly, it is to introduce thirteen different organizations / advocacy groups out there and touch briefly on what they do. This, by no mean suggest that they are the only worthy ones. I just thought that in days leading to the day we celebrate and express gratitude to God, family, friends and our loved ones, it would be nice to recognize how lucky we are compare to many others out there.

Ultimately, it's my desire and hope that one or more of these will touch and inspire your volunteerism. Dive deeper inside and find out what it is that you stand for. What's worth fighting for? What are the things that really matter in life ... for you? At the very least, I hope that this blog will help you gain the appreciation of your family, friends, loved ones and people who really care about you, a lot more.

Obviously, this will be a rolling blog with a daily update until Thanksgiving day. So, stay tuned and check back to see my updates.

• 11/13/10: Day 1 - Raise Hope For Congo
• 11/14/10: Day 2 - Run For Something Better
• 11/15/10: Day 3 - Leave No Trace
• 11/16/10: Day 4 - Vicktory
• 11/17/10: Day 5 - Power Up Gambia
• 11/18/10: Day 6 - Tariku
• 11/19/10: Day 7 - The Next Joe
• 11/20/10: Day 8 - Coffee Me Home
• 11/21/10: Day 9 - "When I get to heaven, will I feel full?"
• 11/22/10: Day 10 - The Art of Elysium
• 11/23/10: Day 11 - 80%
• 11/24/10: Day 12 - Operation Homefront
• 11/25/10: Day 13 - Passing on the Gift

What Do You See?

Every so often, I would take a picture that I really like but do not know how to explain. A thousand words lost within the colors, curvatures, lights and shadows. Emotions buried ocean floor deep under a paper thin leaf. A picture I stared at ... for hours but failed to categorize or file into any albums taken from the trip.

I took this picture at Zion National Park at one of the bus stops during our hike day. The place was busy. A young boy next to me jumping up and down on that rock under a loving and watchful eyes of his dad. My teammates were busy refueling and taking care of business. Under all the commotions, here I was standing there looking at this one yellow leaf on a giant red rock that caught my eyes.

Afraid that the boy would jump his way and stomp on this leaf in the process, I quickly took two pictures and walked away. Never mind those curious eyes that were beaming at me. Ignoring the wondering faces silently questioning what I saw and why I took pictures of 'a' leaf on 'a' rock.

Exactly .... What did I see?

After the trip, I came back, worked on hundreds of pictures, adjusted, uploaded and shared them. All ... except this one. I tried to work on it. I made a few changes only to revert back and leaving it alone. I can't even bring myself to put the digital watermark on it.

Yes, the story of how the picture was taken is told. But, I am still unsure about what 'I' am trying to convey when I pressed the shutter. So.....

"What do you see?"

5:30AM

Couldn't sleep ... first morning on my hiking trip to Zion National Park. So, there's nothing else to do but to get up and walked outside searching ... for something to inspire me. It's still dark outside. Lightly breeze of clean and fresh mountain air. Sitting on a wooden chair out on the back porch gazing up. It's a beautiful night ... sliver moon surrounded by bright stars.

Inspired, but unequipped to properly portray the beauty seen and imagined ... I decided to wait for the sunrise, hoping for another moment to inspire me again. Sitting there ... feeling the wind gently brushing by. Watching the sky slowly painted with lighter shades of blue. I saw, the Pampas Grass nearby dancing and singing with the wind.

Perfect, I thought to myself. I finally found the texture that I could use to properly relay the beautiful elements currently surrounding me.

Focusing on the liveliness of the Pampas Grass, with the glowing and out-of-focus moon in the background ...

With every second passing by, the sky slowly changes colors and getting brighter ... and lighter.

Waited for this perfect moment to capture the 'wind breeze'. Can you hear it? Just listen ... carefully ...

Closing out with the simplistic beauty in the 'stillness' ... Morning finally arrived. Time to get moving and starts my adventures for the day. First order, breakfast ... here I come!!!

Bossy

I still remember .... the day I picked you up. While your siblings were busy feeding from your mother, you were jumping around saying hi and wanting to play with me instead. You were the ugliest, smallest, skinniest one compared to your chubby and well fed siblings. You were energetic, independent and curious, that's why I picked you.

I still remember ... you were the size of my hand on that first day. You came home with me on a public, non air-conditioned bus. But, you couldn't careless and just snoozed off in my hands.

I still remember .... your first meal. As it was too late when we came home that night and we didn't have anything, we fed you a coffee flavored milk ... you drank it without complaining and .. had diarrhea the very next morning.

I still remember .... the first night in the apartment. You cried and refused to go to sleep until I gave in and went down to sleep next to you on the floor. You tucked in between my chest and my arms and went right to sleep as soon as I was there with you.

I still remember .... you stayed up with me in all odd hours while I was studying for my college exams and wouldn't go to sleep until I did.

I still remember .... you competed with me on weekends to see who could sleep in longer where you wouldn't wake up until I did so first.

I still remember .... that your favorite meal was a fried chicken when you would thoroughly eat all including the bones.

I still remember .... you, running down the steps to greet me when I came home. You were like a fur ball bouncing up and down where I could barely see your eyes.

I still remember .... that you are the only dog I know with a severe case of "Separation Anxiety" syndrome and how much you hated being alone.

I still remember .... the first day you set paws in America how curious you were with the sudden change of temperature from hot to cool and the changes in your surroundings. It's funny how you adjusted in no time and just ran with it.

I still remember .... the day you got hit by a car in Manhattan, how much I sheded my tears and what you looked like after a surgery to repair your broken leg.

I still remember .... how you didn't quite know how to play with other dogs at the so called "dog hill" in Central Park. You were always more comfortable among human than dogs...

I still remember .... how you had no fear hopping in and out of a Subway or strolling around any city sidewalks.

I still remember .... you, dreaming wildly in your sleep... the sounds you made and your reactions were so amusing.

I still remember .... the time you licked my face profusely trying to find out what's wrong with me when I was very sick and had to go to an emergency room.

I still remember .... how you always took control and commanded other dogs whether it's a 90 plus pounds Bernese Mountain Dog or a less-than-ten pounds Chihuahua every where we go befitting your given name "Bossy".

.........................

It didn't matter where we went together, Bangkok, Trang, Narita, Portland, Phrae, Harrisburg, Manhattan, Queens, New Jersey, Rehoboth or Lewisburg. You were always a confident and self-assured dog, as long as we had each other. You were always by my side. You never complained except when you were left alone. It's amazing how we understood each other by just looking in each other's eyes.

That's how I knew...on Sunday that you told me you were ready to go.....I knew you were as sad to say goodbye as much I was. Thank you for all the good years we had together. I miss you... I miss you... But at least I know that you left in peace. And now, I am sure you are in dogs' heaven running around commanding other dogs there. Go Bossy go...

I'll see you again soon.....and..

I will ... always remember

..........................................

12.19.1990 - 5.19.2008