CHAPTER FOUR
Bottom Of the World
It was a 5-hour flight to Toronto for the first leg of the trip with a 3 hour lay over. The announcement came late in the evening that the plane to Santiago, Chile was ready for boarding. Total flight time was 12 continuous hours. They had looked on a plastic globe when planning the flight.
The old schoolroom globe showed a total of 95 degrees difference on the earth’s axis to the south. The large plane was modern and comfortable, but the flight was exhausting. Their main focus was to disembark and head straight for the hotel in the downtown core of Santiago, to catch up on some much-needed sleep. They shut their tired eyes awaiting the new adventure that lay ahead.
The modern city of Santiago was a traveler’s paradise. Easy navigation of the grid style layout made it ideal to explore different directions each day. Book stores and cafes lined the financial district.
Large avenues and side streets clustered with buildings different in every aspect from home, awaited their tired feet. Every attraction was explored before setting foot for the next site or destination. The main Plaza was a mix of modern glass and steel with older buildings from the previous centuries tucked in-between looking very similar to European capitals.
They ran through all the tourist sites, local hang outs and found a coffee shop with a twist.
Not only was coffee served with small pastries, but the extremely attractive women made extra tip money by engaging the men in conversation while innocently flashing a leg or sexy body part. There were a number of these coffee shops dotted around the center of the city, which allowed men to flirt on their lunch hours. It was considered a part of the lighter side of life in Chile, a country where feminism had not yet arrived.
TJ and Athena sat down at a table just inside the door of one such café and ordered two cups filled with steaming hot, dark roasted Arabian coffee. The woman serving the cups looked at Athena with a don’t judge me smile and gave a quick peek of her long legs as she walked away from the table. Athena never felt jealous or annoyed by the attention, and the girls played with his imagination. They wore light linen cloths almost see through in appearance. TJ enjoyed the charming display and left a small tip on the table. They left behind a handful of Latino men to work their friendly words on the women.
The right destination choice had been made because the low cost of transportation in Chile and all parts of South America, which were beyond comparison to the expensive Canadian transport system. A few dollars to go between towns and a few extra to go longer distances to the south by comfortable travel coach. They made it as far south as the island of Chiloe in North Patagonia. This far to the south things started to look very similar to the Canadian north around the lakes district. The temperatures were cool and comfortable, and the towns were interesting to explore.
The last town to the south was called Castro and had seals and otters earning food from the amused tourists. One could take a tour boat from the dock to visit the Ice bergs floating in the cold waters. Sea food was fresh and inexpensive. Buildings were made of wood cut from local forests and mills. Churches were colorful and open for tourists to explore.
They had made it as far south as was easily accessible by public transport. The highway continued south, but they decided to head back toward Santiago and to the north where the amazing Atacama Desert lay.
After paying for the bus tickets, they left the city behind with many stops in small towns before entering the great desert. Southern Chile was a lake and forest paradise for tourists to explore and leave with pleasant memories of sea food cuisine and fresh air. To the north of the capital was the temperate lowlands, ideal for wine and fruit agriculture, and further on, beyond that point was the changing landscape from green to clay colored red. It was a slow change but became more intense as the miles passed by. After a full day of travel on a comfortable travel coach, they saw a dramatic changing landscape out the bus window.
The first impression through the bus window, was a lunar landscape. Small, jagged hills and canyons cut below the bigger hills on the horizon reflected the sunlight. The view had gotten rocky with tumble weeds and rocks jutting out of the endless sun scorched distance. There was less rainfall here then in parts of the great Sahara Desert in Africa. This massive desert was created by the Humboldt Ocean current. It was always on the western side, deep down in the waters and no more than 50 miles off, hidden and submerged in the distance. Because two water temperatures met close to the shoreline, it had a direct effect on the climate. The water currents kept the rain fall to the far eastern side of Chile.
Hour after hour and mile after mile they continued north stopping in small towns without much charm or distinction. The time was passed by conversations and memories the two travelers shared between them. Thoughts shared of their childhood dreams and early ambitions.
It was the barren landscape which drove them to an inner reflection and self introspection. TJ started to reflect on the many inner changes since they had begun to travel. A multitude of changes had been made which reflected in his thoughts and emotions. His view of the world and its inhabitants were different. Distrust of society and former friends had turned into frank exchanges with many passersby on the road. A true openness of mind and spirit had come from mile after mile of traveling to the North. In simple terms he realized his faith in humanity was restored.
Out the large bus window, far in the distance, he saw a sparse view of an unpainted cement block house still partly unfinished. A tin roof gave a small area of shade in the endless back drop of the fiery red sun. A man was outside sitting on a wooden chair that had obviously been crafted by hand. He could see many hundreds of yards in the distance, as he watched the bus making its way down the road. How could a man, surrounded by so little, except piles of rock and dirt make a go of his life in the desert? Then TJ had the thought of the two sharing something in common. He and the man shared a faith in the now, the here and now we all trust will bring us safely to the next second and minute of our lives. With faith in the great wheel of life, a man’s fortune can be changed or helped in many a situation. A thought struck him. One man with sorrow sees the glass empty, yet the other man looks for a bottling factory to refill his glass.
Faith finds opportunity and faith shows the way forward.
The noise from the bus engine interrupted his thoughts. Adjusting his leg position and passing a smile to Athena’s beautiful expression of content, his mind drifted back to the many other gifts of extended travel. The second change had been Grit, the Old-Fashioned Grit, described as someone having the get up and go in tough conditions. Many a man has planned out the fine details and hopes carried through life like little seeds in a pocket, searching for fertile ground to plant those seeds and dreams they represent. Days in and days out in search of places to drop those seeds.
Like the mythical Kokopelli, depicted in petroglyphs found by anthropologists on rock formations, spreading seeds on the baren desert floor.
Those seeds need more than a desert floor to blossom into realities. The seeds need ground prepared and looked after with care and positive actions. Small efforts on the dirt to weed out thoughts which are contrary to the fragile seedlings. Protecting those seedlings from pests or in this case the pessimism others bring into our lives. Having been told many a times to give up on those dreams, as it was too hard of work in the barren environment. At many points in the past TJ had been advised the ground had been too barren to plant his seeds. But now the seeds had sprouted with the possibilities which lay ahead. He was in charge of his life and the direction it was taking him. He felt the endless stream of realities he could plant, and follow, until a new and bigger dream came to his fertile mind. He was manifesting his desires in the now. Athena was sharing this experience, which she had chosen and planted before they met. Contentment filled his heart at the thought of never following someone else’s dreams or wants. Never having to bow down to an employer or lovers demands to put his seeds in their garden. This is the true meaning of grit.
Athena asked, “what are you thinking about?” TJ smiled and replied, “Planting bigger gardens.”