Omar Samad

So it was an early start to the journey into Algoquin park this time, I can’t believe they actually got away with making me wakeup at 06:00 for leaving at 07:00 .. but in reality I don’t think we actually left till closer to 08:00 after all the dilly dallying. Anyways it was fun just getting together and goofing around. Another thing that made me happy was that I actually had to work last Saturday 9hours, and I used that time to take the Friday off so I didnt even have to use a vacation day!

By this time we get there, and I was horrified to find that my kyak is a piece of shit one. No rudder and no skirt., I did however manage to find matching pants to go with my ArcTeryx shell, so boy was I glad to have had them, kept me absolutely dry in there and I didnt mind having no skirt by the end of it I was still a little grumpy about the rudder and the kyak itself was heavier and shittier. After the first portage I decided to have some fun and play this game I invented called lets try to find them.
So I had no map or compass, but I knew where the lake was that we were gonna camp on., I kinda drifted to the back of the pack and just sat there alone for a good 20min just enjoying the scene its actually what motivated me to play this game and I slowly started gathering clues and trying to find the right lake we were planning on camping on.
So one thing I didnt take into account is that the lake was HUGE.. like a good 400-500m if not more to the other side, and it was WINDY as hell making it hard to paddle, I stuck mainly to the shore line at this point which was great for gathering clues, asking nearby campers if they had happen to hvae seen 4 canoes go by with a noisy bunch of boys. I eventually came into a new opening of the lake and my friends had actually put out a big bright jacket at the campsite which i recognized right away. What a fun game that was I must say, I even had to get serious at a point wondering what I would do if I dont find them, but that perhaps will be another adventure

So it actually all worked out according to my plan by the time I got there everything was already setup, the tents the benches, chairs, and tarps, all I had to do was get my gear ready and build a bucket system. So while the sun was still out I decided to get in the water right after I had setup the bucket , but there was just one problem in the midst I failed to notice that my bag of inrgediants for the vegetable stew wasn’t in anyones canoe! I thought I saw Gem put it in their canoe, but it was wrong =/ oddly enough Nick actually forgot a bag of food aswell. This year I brought some luxuary items with me snorkel and fins !! My god it was just incredible, I had no idea what to expect while snorkeling there however it was a whole new world to me. There was under ground trees, logs plantlife, blobs of a jelly fish like material algae, plankton, these white plants that could move and there was air bubbles coming out of them.
It was just fantastic, I actually even swam to the other side of the lake, the combination of my flippers and my sharkskin top made me float well, and I felt i could swim for ever! which I almost did on the far side it was ever more mysterious than before, the rocks over there were rugged and raw and there was so many interesting plants here too, I saw the odd fish or two but the plants are what really interested me. I had the feeling of being close to a ghost ship or something like that, It even looked like there was an underwater cave, I did dive down a bit from time to time and took a closer look at things also practicing mask clearing techniques I was so happy to have had my mask for this kinda stuff and my own equipment. I actually had to rent gear down in Florida keys a couple weeks back that it pissed me off abit about the dive, I think the mask is the most important part of it, cuz if you can’t see properly and comfortably down there whats the point, and no water gets in So did actually see a massive snapping turtle just by the shore of our camp site, which was awesome! but kinda scary at the same time, I wasnt in the water when I saw it but I wouldn’t wanna get bit by it anyways saw some youtube videos and they actually dont let go , in every case they have to use a special tool or pliers to pry their mouth open.

I was in and out of the water all the time, drying off by the fire going to club OK, and all the time the fire was burning really good, we had massive logs cooking all weekend and made a huge difference through the night. I was only in the water for about 30min at night cuz the moon was not out at all, it was tucked away behind lots of clouds so wasn’t that fun, it was still pretty nice though, but would have loved to have seen the stars and the moon as I did last year I remember just floating on my back looking up at them last year thinking.. man would it have been nice to have my flippers with me! I had my sharkskin so that made swimming all that more enjoyable.

I stayed up saturday night till the sun rose, most of my friends had passed out by now and it was just me and the fire in the woods, it was just nostalgic for some time just nice to forget the world forget everything and just be.

OK, so Was just having a lil time to myself after rolling through 4 episodes of Battle Star Galactica tonite, season 4 !! man, i was in tears for lots of parts in it !!! heheh before i get side tracked, i just want to drop a note about what actually motivated me tonite to write about it.

So about actually 1 week ago, there was a very favourite Prog House, Trance dj that came to Toronto, and omg was so there, got dropped off by my sister, and omg was rocking out all fuckn night! it was just magical too btw, like i havent been moved like that for a while and to feel such a  beautifull orchestration of music and energy was just an experience of a life-time. BUT the single thing that made me smile looking back tonite was !!! ok when i was walking back to the coat check to get my jacket, someone put their arm on my shoulder and i turned around and the guy said to me ‘Man you are such a good dancer’ . I was really so happy to hear that! it honestly made my day, and I thanked him and then peaced out.

So I tried calling my buddie Gem, who lived only a few blocks away, was gonna crash pad over there, but he didnt pick up for some reason, and LUCKY ME! that i found some people going to Missisauga and some how managed to swing a free ride back home, so like i still had to wake up Aunty Helen, but she’s always kool ;0

Oh btw, it was Hernan Cattaneo.

OK so maybe things didnt go according to plan.. but I still did awesome personally in singles and awesome in doubles with my partner.

So in the first round I was matched up with a Racketlon veteran Hannes, a German, and he was solid player indeed, his specialty was tennis, and when we played I only needed 8 points to win the match, but i only got 6, losing the match by 2 points!! I was pretty bummed out about that but decided to not let it get the best of me, and look forward to the next day.

So we had our first mixed doubles match earlier in the day, and we won that pretty easily, and then shortly after that was my singles consolation match semi finals. (I had a bye), but this was a guy from Montreal and a really competitive guy, and really good at badminton. So he was pretty good at table tennis also, and I beat him 21-14, and then came badminton and just wow he was amazing, i was struggaling to get a racket on the ball, but i did manage to get one point! a cross court smash, that he wasnt even close to! I smashed him in squash, but made a couple mistakes, and going into tennis i needed to beat him by 2 points, which was very doable in my mind. So the whole match through it was pretty even, id be up by a couple points, or he would. Eventually landing up with a scoreline of 19-19, and just wow, my favourite part of the match where everything is on the line for these next couple points, im not sure what it was that stuck in my mind that made me feel completely at ease or what, but i was totally relaxed. He was serving and didnt deal with the pressure that well, with a double fault leaving a score of 19-20 for me, and then i guess feeling a little shaky with his serve he hit a serve that just floated over the net, I smiled and ran up and hit one of my favourite shots a down the line forehand, with the perfect amount of pace on the ball and all he could do was watch it go by Samad wins!! So turning around I realized that everyone in the club was watching this match, and being rained on with cheers and applauses as we walked off the court, the Umpire came up to me and said he was really glad I beat that guy, he was one of those guys that doesnt smile, and is too serious, just not fun! and for some reason the club crowd was loving me!! and a big high five from my partner Ally!!

I won the finals pretty easily, the thing that I liked about the finals was that I beat this table tennis coach in table tennis, and he was furious with himself., just furious!! lol and we actually had to play the guy I beat and his partner that Allison beat in mixed doubles, so we beat them pretty easily too to jump into the finals, eventually losing a heartbreaker by 2 points in the end, this time at 18-18 we couldnt pull it off ;( but another time most definatly.

I got talked into staying around for the Vancouver Island Squash tournament next weekend at the same club, so I re-arranged my flight to suit it, and am looking forward to it quite a bit.

im just thinking to myself, all my loved ones havent heard from me in a while and i thought i would say hello.

I started off saying hello to an old friend, she was very happy to see me and made me feel so cozy again. shortly after I could hear the rain coming down, so i decided to go for a walk, and getting about to the end of my street i thought to myself.. why am i walking lets ride!!

I ran back home to grab my bike, and booked it over to the creek. I drove in the main gate, one of the rare times i have but now that i have a membership it rocks!! i

Just as i was pulling up to a set of picnic tables just off to the side, opened up a rather large field that absolutely lit up completly by a sharp bolt of lightnign right in front of me!! i dropped my bike off and climbed up onto the table for a while, reaching for my bag i grabbed my water and just stood there for a minute just watching the night sky.

A strong gust of wind came along and gave me the signal to move on, and onwards I rode. what an incredible sensation it started to rain, only drops came but it was enough to let me feel it.

Next I came up to the shore line, an elder tree agreed to watch over my bike if i would return one day and tell him about how the world has been changing. He showed me his three children and just as it turns out they were watching the night sky also. I sat down beside the youngest of the 3 and we were so engrossed into watching the night sky shine bright with light, that it was the entire universe. I returned back to the elder and pulled out a snack, i packed a grape fruit earlier and omfg was it evar delicous, it was the most lucious juicy fruit that ive ever had in my life. i sat down on the ground emcompassed by the warmth of the elder i was rejuvinated from the cooler temperature, and I enjoyed that grapefruit so much, i worked my way down to about 1/2 of the fruit left, and i broke it in half. A little snack for someone i thought to myself as i dug a lil hole in the ground and put my peels away.

the sky was lit up with colours that will only ever exist in that moment of time. The wind returned to guide me as it again was time to ride on.

oh k btw, just figured out that computrer problem (xp) i found an old ide kicking around and slotted her in.

I was being engulfed by the forest as I carried on my journey and it was just amazing to feel the energy like that at that moment. I was completley in the heart of the woods now, and I took a stop to meditate here and absorb, resonate with the earth as much as i could.

it was pooring rain down so hard at this point, it was incredible i was just sitting there and not even getting that much wet, pure bliss.

The rain stopped and i knew it was time to go from here. I continued on, and shortly after i came to a clearing that was well light up by the sky. I needed to take a pit stop, and nows my chance i thought, i pulled up beside a tree and started to let it drizzle out. A sharp snap of a twig caught my attention and the sounds of little footsteps coming towards me made me feel a lil funny.

I was still firehosing away and was not ready to stop yet, but the footsteps were closer and closer, and finally i could see it what I was fearing .. the penetrating white lines of hair on black. A skunk, im not really too familiar with behaviour patterns for them but this one was coming closer and closer to me, I made out a shhhhhh’ing sound to try and scare him off, but he started to circle me in a 2m radius ok finally im done pissing!! yes, i grabbed my bag and hopped on my bike fast i couldnt get my pack around my shoulder and it swun back down towards my handle bars, fuck the strap is caught in the wheel as im frantically pedalling away, FUCK the skunk is charging at me as i look back,,k after a nightmare few seconds of trying to get my strap out of my wheel, as the skunk is barrelling down the path at me its only 1m away and i can see its eyes glowing. Finally my strap breaks free of the wheel, with one swift motion i swung my bag over my shoulder mounted my bike and rode off into the woods. before the skunk got me.

wow what a rush, obviously i was creeping in on his home and taking a piss at his tree he prolly wasnt too happy with the idea of someone moving in on his terrotory but whew, it made me laugh so hard after that i was tripping so hard about not getting sprayed by him.

I carried on my way. and for a good while i just biked, no direction or aims, just rode through the darkness as a king and his horse. the woods guided me to the exit and i made my way to the street, i was just crossing the street when i saw a pretty big frog down below, i immediately parked my bike to the side and watched him, i thought to myself id love to hold him, but then part of me thought that would scare him, i watched his throat bulge up and down as he sat there, and as i approached he stopped. BUt at this point i decided that he can feel the energy around him and know there is no dager from me, i grabbed for him, he slipped right through my hands the first couple of grabs but i got him this time,kneeling on the ground i opened up my hand and he jumped right out. My warrior instincts took over at this point and i grabbed him again , and this timei raised my hands up to my eye level, and then i released my grip on him. Excactly as i thought he wouldnt jump out becuase we’re too high, i told him i was sorry for disturbing his peace but i wanted to to touch him. he was responsless to me, and he made me laugh as i knew he wasnt going to budge., I lowered my hands to the ground and he stayed there for a sec, and then with one big leap he jumped into the bushes, off to share his encounter with me to his companions.

I eventually returned to my home, and started to trouble shoot my dads vpn problem, time is running out and i gave my word that i would fix it. Im happy to report that the xp install is about 90^ done now, and the xplite seed worked like a charm, on that spare ide drive that i found kicking. and its like 7:00 now everything working perfect dad is actually eating breaky and lookin foward to a stable VPN.

Love to Live

zen

There are many ways to explain what zen is and before I experienced it I had a pretty sound explanation, now I know it means nothing.
I just returned from the Anataji Monestary which was a 4km hike into the mountains of Hamasaka, what an amazing place, I just wish I had more time to spend with the monks there. I was there for 2.5 days, but every moment added to the experience of a lifetime. Lucky to find one of the rare Zen temples that accept foriegners the head monk here was actually a foriegner.

The stairs.. after reaching the top of the mountain, which was one of the most beautifull hikes in my life, I came to a giant stairway of stone, that led upwards even more so. I couldnt get over the spectacular beauty of the place, I met this Japanese girl on the bus and she also was on her way to stay a few days. We were greeted by some friendly faces in the kitchen area when we first arrived. Got the tour and setup our quarters for the time being. There was 8 people in total, and interestingly enough many of them spoke english, however it didnt really matter much as there was no talking unnecessarily during the whole duration of when i was there.

03:45 was the wake up call for morning saZen (silent sitting). There was a monk running up and down the hall waving a bell, and it was almost like part of my dream waking up ina black room hearing this sound and footsteps, especially in such a foriegn place. saZen started at 04:00 we silently filed into the hall and then we took our place for meditation. I was uncomfortablefor the last part of the hour some tightness in my hips were controlling my thoughts, and I was consumed. there was a 15min walking meditation which was like the slowest walk you could ever imagine, a half a step every 4-5s .. after this, and then we followed that by another 45minutes of saZen which was much better. “STOP IT” yelled the docho-san which scared me so much, and pretty sure evryone else, it was like a slap in the face to wakeup, he was yelling at this one guy that was yawning during the walking meditation steps and i remember that clearly cuz i was looking right at him while he was yawning.lol

Initially I was still in awe, and never felt my seat of power during each of these sittings, and we broke up for breakfast. Now also when we conduct ourselves in the Monestary there is no talking at all, unless its a relative question. and most of the time we could easily follow suit to what others do as that is the way of Zen, to be aware of the surroundings .. to be aware of everything. Meals was like a race, there was a strict code of ettiquette that must be followed, from placing the chopsticks over the miso soup bowl, to the positioning of all the bowls in front of you. and it was imperative that everything must be followed. and how u sat. the chants done before and after every meal, and especialy when there was no snacking in between, and from the hard work inbetween the aura that was created while we waited and chanted reminded myself of how fortunate we are to have this food to eat, this water to drink. The monks that live here grow everything themselves, they have no money for personal possessions, or anything else, they just exist to swim in the wonderfull bliss that life is, right in the heart of the earth away from the maddening cities and tucked away from destructive power of humans .. for now. It was a magical place.

We were all assigned work, and I was paired up with the girls, Tomoyo-san, and Shinako-san. I dont know why but .. it always seems im paired up with girls naturally.. lucky me!!
our task for the morning was to chop firewood for the kitchen, which was small. So we made our way to the barn where the wood was, and we began. At first I was struggling with it using a strange technique I didnt have the flow. The monk came up to me grabbed the axe, and put a new piece of wood up, and showed me. Nara ho di neigh (I understand) I said to myself, and he made his way to continue on with what he had to do. I instantly found the hand of zen, as I watched myself do the rest, and it became a meditation as we silently worked on chopping and placing the wood up on the shelf, we had a tea break, and a lunch break, the lunch break was informal, and we were allowed to eat in the kitchen and not the dining room, however being such a beautifull day I decided to eat outside suprisingly I was the only one who wanted to eat outside which was fine by me, and what a fantastic idea as per usual, I lost the track of time, just being amazed at how beautifull it was up there, there was a distant sound of water coming from the nearby moutain stream. So back into the hall for instructions, this time we were set to harvest buckwheat and Atzuki (sweet beans). Which was so fun, under the blazing sun I went inside to get one of those Trinangle hats and it felt so kool!! like those hats are so good for keeping the sun off, and made me feel like jubei .. kibagami jubei. hehe and again while we worked in silence I found the mind of zen as the work became timeless and a pleasure to be of service.

15:00 officially done work, and time for showering, now this time, waking up so early in the day, kinda played off with my bodys schedule and I didnt have time to take a proper shit, so I wasnt feeling that good about it now, and decided to get it out, I did some yoga thats designed to get it all out and things started moving!! and shortly after took a nice hot shower, and wow just feeling amazing now!! We soon after ate. And this was an intesne meal, I mean, after working all day, we built up somewhat of a hunger for this, and when it came time to chant before we ate, to thank the universe for allowing us to eat, really resonated with me and I could feel the aura around me amoung everyone, the paitence we endured, and then finally .. Ikadakimass !! (Something like lets begin this meal together) after the meal and at the evening tea ceremony I announced that it was a honour to be welcomed into their house and to learn their way of life, and it was my final night here.

An hour and a half later, we began the evening saZen and this is where it got interesting to me, part of the way of zen in saZen is that you sit with your eyes open, and it was different to me, and finally it sat with me .. im not sure about when it was time wise, but I remember just looking at the wall and in my peripheral vision I could swear the lights were dimming and returning to normal, .. I didnt move a CM to check, but I could still see this.. wierd, and then also what was even more interesting I started to hallucinate .. yes thats right, i could see a pair of pants in the wall in front of me .. and there was a pattern of leaves that were around the crotch area.. and they were waving slightly .. like regardless ive felt this sensation before through meditation and it was amazing to be reminded of it once again, I had to close my eyes now to be sure of it, but I did, and wow.. it was there. those colourfull shapes and patterns you see when you take magic mushrooms.. (from what i hear anyways) wow, it still amazes me thinking about it, and I couldnt stop smiling now, this was it.. my seat of power is what I call it also I had tears streaming down my face, my awareness was back at one with every part of my being, I could see everything so clear, and bearing witness to all the love that exists in my life, the people around me, the connection I have with people, the energy in this room, that poor little boy and his family that I sponsor, the faces of time that paved the footsteps in my life. Shortly after .. the sound of the meditation bell rang, and it was time to leave the hall and prepare for bed. wow was it really over??! Honestly it didnt feel like it had been an hour, and I was left with this feeling .. I couldnt stop smiling, and I went into the kitchen for a cup of sencha and then I was outside under the stars..

wow, it was truly incredible out here, just as amazing as it ever had been in my life. we were on a 4km high mountain, so i wrapped myself up in a blanket or 2, and layed there with my tea. Then there it was!! it wasnt the biggest one ive ever seen, that was actually in Australia when me and Karryn were laying there looking at them, im still sad that she didnt see it at the same time, but this night, hehe was ahlg 3/4 that size and that is pretty big so prolly like 6 or 7 dots of stars connected to make a line, thats how big, pretty big eh?!!? after my tea I retired to my room. and stayed for my final night.

The mysteries of Zen revealed themselves to me during my time there. faces of the nameless monks that vibrated throughout the universe as I stepped into their path.. it was a very profound reason that I was here with them, it all was meant to be. I remember on my journey up I was worried abit that I had taken a wrong bus, and I did actually so I was behind schedule by 45min .. but I remember saying to myself that if it was meant to be it will be. and truly it was. The time there didnt give me a chance to think about anything. the time gave me the chance to remember that nothing really matters .. everything that really exists is a preception of