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 Goodbye WindBack to The End of the PampasBy Daniel Lins - 2009-02-17
Here we are in El Chalten, Argentina.
It is Thursday and we arrived here 7 days ago. It seems like we can´t get out of a town in less than a week! We left once already, but had to return to repair Dan´s bike before entering the Carreterra Austral. That meant a bus trip for Dan to the last town, and 6 hours of building a new wheel for me. Now that it´s taken care of, we´re on our way! We´re headed to the long lake of Lago Desierto. Once we take the ferry crossing of Lago Desierto, we´ll ride into Chile and be out of the Pampas forever.
It seems funny, but sitting here in this communal free camp, filled with backpackers and rock climbers here to view El Chalten, on the outskirts of this frontier town reminiscent of the wild west, I LONG for the Pampas. The wild openness calls to me. Out there, with just the wind and the scrub brush, there is freedom. There is no scent of the odor of humanity, the rules of Man, or the commerce of tourist traps.
And, though it may seem absurd, I actually enjoy riding into the wind. Struggling against that indomitable force, with no hope that it will relent – struggling for each yard – sure lets you know you are alive. It is the raw struggle, pure and clean. Here in town it is a different kind of struggle: getting along with people, communicating, discovering resources, finding the best options. All of these have so many rabbit-trails… it gets messy in my head, like cobwebs and gum. But on the open Pampas, with the wind blowing in my hair and the dust in my eyes, life is simple.
The occasional gaucho will pass by on his paunchy horse and his sheepskin saddle, wearing a red felt hat, and with his sun-darkened face hiding behind an oversized black mustache. And he knows… He knows the freedom of the Pampas. 
Peanut GalleryFreedomanne.larrivee 2009-02-18 04:59:13 UTC
I love it Alonematthew.kistler 2009-02-18 14:58:27 UTC
Daniel, Very interesting, I love the pictures. It would be very nice if we could all avoid others wouldn’t it!? Each day we can prepare ourselves to be right with God and ourselves but as soon as we interact with others, things just go out the window. Remember that we are called to live in community and I pray the freedom of loneliness doesn’t drive you away from the hard work of community. For many years cowboys were seen as the epitome of manhood, but I believe that ideal of idependence and self-sufficiency doesn’t align with the trinity (community) God. Well saidits_nigro 2009-02-18 15:56:02 UTC
Shoot brother, you have a way with words! I can almost taste the salt and sweat. Great stuff. your thumb is on His pulse!cwjet 2009-03-21 01:08:50 UTC
daniel, you are dead right, the simplicity of the creator calls to us, beckons us and wants us to know more about HIM. We Christians confuse the issue of what it means to be Christian while all the time our Creator points us to the freedom and simplicity found in His creation Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. Are we listening to His speech? Are we learning as we meditate upon his creation? Saul, when converted went into the desert for a space of three years to learn from the Master. A complete man of god will gather the gems of simplicity as revelations in his heart from which no one can take from him. He moves through crowds and listens to the latest ‘Word from the Lord" but nothing can separate him from the simplicity and freedom that the Master taught him while he sat at His feet in the mountains. It is hard to find but well worth the suffering and trials leading to these precious ‘gems’ of God.. rock on and stay in Love |
