Apropos of Nothing: An Intro

Once a friend from Südtirol, a region of northern Italy where most people live in little mountain valleys and speak a barely intelligible dialect of German, told me in her middle school they had a mandatory class called Circus where they would dress up like clowns and learn to ride unicycles, juggle, and spin plates. I was baffled why this would be mandatory, and she couldn’t explain; I eventually chalked it up to some odd legacy of local peasant culture, not unlike the Power & Transportation class I took in high school that served as an informal club for rednecks with lifted trucks to discuss mudding. Never having taken a circus class nor learned to juggle, I can only guess at the course progression, but I would venture it begins with students throwing and catching one or two balls, then a third, then a fourth, then either a fifth or a few bowling pins, then either torches or chainsaws—at that point butting up against (I think) the limits of what parents would condone their middle schoolers be entrusted with.

Lately, I have developed an interest myself in learning to juggle, taking on three new jobs, moving house, and making inroads toward becoming a trail guide in Guatemala, before doing godknowswhat in New Zealand for a spell. I imagine if I had gone to middle school in Südtirol, the Circus class instructor would have discouraged my learning method: that is, throwing a bunch of things up in the air, including now a blog, and seeing what happens. But I am short on time and high on confidence, which has fortunately never spelled disaster for anyone. It helps that I have been writing this story for twelve years without publishing—on paper, on computers, through cameras, on the backs of my eyelids. Herein will lie multitudes, but the first entries will be episodic recaps of my travels as best I can remember them with accompanying photos. As compelling as it has been to live and record these stories for myself, I look forward to having company as I try to keep them and everything else aloft. You might want a helmet.