This winter I was able to spend a lot of time with my family members. I left L.A. and went down to Georgia where due to a lousy environment, my brother was frustrated and depressed, so my brother and I embarked on an adventure that took us to New Orleans and New England and eventually ended back in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz is where I reside.
My brother and I had many adventures this winter, we chased girls and drank in pubs, we hiked and we visited our grandparents and relatives. We have our explosions when my brother and I are in close quarters we do everything to extremes, we're competitive so we play hard and we fight hard, but I can assure you our bond is a tight one! Every time I jump off of my path in life to hang with Timmy, we seems to connect and both come out of the experience better people. We learn from each other and my favorite adventure with Tim this summer was our HIKE to the top of Santa Cruz!!
While my brother was in Santa Cruz we rented a little apartment on the top of Mt. Hermon. For those of you who do not know, Santa Cruz is a very liberal place. Probably one of the most liberal America has to offer. Nestled off in the corner of Santa Cruz County is a mountain called Mt, Hermon which was Incorporated by Christians in 1906 and is home to a giant center where people hold retreats and revivals and conventions. Mt. Hermon is also home to some of the most beautiful Giant Redwoods and a State Park where I like to hike and just get in touch with nature. One morning my brother and I woke up and I told him we were going for a hike and off we went.
We set off on our adventure down the steep mountain and into a bit of a valley which is Felton. We walked through the city of Felton which consists of a few tiny restaurants and shops, past the LOG CABIN bar and headed into the State Park. I told Tim of encounters with coyotes and stumbling upon naked people in the San Lorenzo and we laughed. Tim had no idea where we were going, but he followed along enjoying his first look at the Redwood Forest and we were both excited, faces lit up as we began our walk to the mountain feeling like little boys again with the painful memories of a tumultuous Thanksgiving in our family (AGAIN) and finally coming to grips with the reality of our divorces again, we felt good.
We decided to walk the river path. The paths are marked and there are maybe 5 really big trails in the park, there are paths that were really old roads and there are footpaths and horse trails. I walk the horse trail which merges on and off of the river trail which gives you access to many private swimming holes and fallen trees over the river to rest on and catch some sun. I don't recommend swimming in the San Lorenzo as all of our mountain towns flush into the river and the area is riddled with cases of surfers and swimmers with Staph infection due to the pollution.
We walked up the trail and told stories and remembered hikes of our youth. We talked about food and about girls and about living in the moment. My brother and I are always learning about ourselves and as men we are always striving to be men of honor, always learning from our mistakes. We both meticulously break down our experiences and learn from them and we share what we learn with each other and on this hike we both learned to accept the other and respect the other, taking pictures of each other next to the beastly Redwoods and pushing ourselves up the steep dirt path occasionally dodging a pony or horse.
I guess we hiked about 2 miles or so on a beaten path before we hit the actual trail that we were supposed to take. We were already winded so we hit a little bit of Mary Jane took a seat and conserved our water, there are no fountains until you reach the top of the mountain. While we sat on a fallen log I looked at Tim and I said "no matter how bad we fight or how much we don't get along Tim, we still have this" Tim looked over at me and smiled "We're making memories dogg" I then recalled a quote I used to have on an old Journal "Bring only memories, leave only footprints" and I embraced the moment. We both realized that no one could take away these experiences and of all of the people in our family, together we had more of these true bonding experiences with each other than we did with every other family member combined. If we didn't have the family that we thought we should, we still had each other.
"Get up, ya pussy", I hit Tim on the head and we hit the tracks. We were now hiking on an old mining road called "Powder Mill Rd." (I think) and up to the actual path up to the viewing area which was our goal. As we hit the steep CLIMBING part of the trail we both expressed how much fun we were having with each other. We were best friends and we were boys again. This part of our climb was about 3/4 of a mile up and I noted how the terrain changes so drastically in California. While we had been in a dark shady forest on the side of the mountain, we were now in a sandy, desertlike environment with small shrubbery and prickly thorns. I told Tim he could probably even found a sharks tooth. We were both amazed at the idea that at one time way up on this mountain, these Giant Redwoods survived by growing their tops over the surface of deep water and into sunshiny skies.
We finally reached the our goal. the top of the Mountain has a giant viewing platform with a water fountain and some benches. After filling our water bottles we climbed the stairs up to the wooden deck and we felt like we hiked away from everything and everyone intelligent. It felt like we were the only people on the planet as we looked one way into the valleys and woods of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the other way to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Monterey Bay. I can honestly say that the both of us felt on top of the world. We loaded up the glass with the Cruz's finest and we talked encouraged each other. Each telling the other he could take over the world, as we enjoyed each others company and breathed the thin mountain air we peered over the tress and out to the beautiful Pacific Ocean. "How lucky we are!!" I exclaimed.
Right now was perfect.
I learned a lot on that day about myself. While I may not handle every situation well, even though there are steep hills and rocky cliffs, I continue to strive towards my goals in life and have really learned to make the most of every moment. While I may not have too many experiences and adventures with everyone in my family, I learned to be grateful for my brother and our closeness and I am impressed with the man that Tim has become, he is an honorable man, a man who works hard and does not let anyone get in the way of his dreams, I like to think that I taught him that, but I didn't. We have learned these things together, in our own ways and I am proud to be a Tilly. No matter what life has thrown our way, we have always managed to overcome and have really taught each other a lot about living in the moment and not becoming victims of the past.
That spring walk with my brother is one of my single favorite memories of my life. How lucky am I to be having these wonderful memories right now! The best ones of my life!
Later my brother and I got into a fight, we went our separate ways and the little mountain cottage is now gone. Tim is chasing after his dreams in Florida and I am preparing to embark on another journey to Hawaii. As our paths continue with distance between us, I don't think we have ever been closer as we remain headstrong with the same basic goals in completely different environments. I respect that Tim's path is not mine and I encourage him to be everything that he wants to be, everything that he is. While we may have big fights, we both realise that there is a lot more good in our relationship than bad and we continue to cultivate that which is family. While we may not have much of a family in the traditional sense, I am still blessed to have the best family in the world around me during the BEST moments. The ones that last forever!!
~1 love
tilly
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