Bang… the wheels hit the tarmac, as I am jolted from that place between sleeping and being awake. The legs cramp as the cabin lights blink on, a phosphorescent onslaught washes over the packed seats. 4am local time and I find myself just thankful to be on the ground again, 3 flights and 13 hours later. It has been 5 years since I lived in Lima and despite dreading the journey; it is good to be back. Now if I can just find a bed. Having slept 10 hours in the past 3 days, my feet carry me forward towards this prospect, allowing my head to remain floating in the fog.

I don’ t remember the 4th of July standing out in any particular fashion from other US holidays, except for having worked on the ambulance this day in Las Vegas NM. I don’t know if it is the excitement of fire works or an excuse for excessive drinking, but the night was drenched in the subconscious collective feeling of “do or die”, “now or never”. Mixed in the wrong fashion, these feelings can lead people to toss caution to the wind and in the world of EMS, it means restless nights and busy shifts.

There is a lot to be learned from working on the edge of the living and the dead and I continually find myself taking some basic truths to heart. Of these fundamental truths regarding life, I have found but 3 that have held up under the mathematical laws of probabilities and postulates. These “truths”, act as theorems within my life, unbreakable and forever consistent. In reminding myself of them continually, I hope that it leads to an appreciation of all things transient. So what are the 3 basic truths to life that I have come to know?

1.) The only thing guaranteed to you in life, is that eventually, you will die.

2.) The only thing constant in life, is that of change. and

3.) The only thing that you truly own in this life, is the very moment it finds you in.

Reading these can be somewhat depressing and slightly intense. I find myself often struggling with the second and accepting the fact of consistent change and I imagine eventually I will not be so excited about the first. Yet when considering all the random facts and laws of our cosmos, these are the only ones concerning life that remain solid as gravity… for rock is but a transient state of sand. They are therefore important to realize and I occasionally make an effort to accept their presence. This gives me pause in my actions from time to time and brings me frequently to that eventual question, “Is what I’m currently doing, what I want to do?” It is in this question that feedback for these fundamental truths in life comes from and ultimately the reason I share them with you today.

I am excited to see what the week is to bring. The continual prospect of locating clean, renewable energy is what drives me forward and I hope that this trip yields a real start on the prospect of wave energy at large. First things first though, a nap followed by a surf in the waters off Lima’s coast. I am sure it will kick my ass but I’m hoping for one good wave. Besides a few friends, I’m missed the local breaks, getting out of the city and looking back to see it all quietly hanging in the balance on the edge of the eroding city cliffs…

…nothing lasts forever.