Philippe Lazaro
OCTOBER 2016

A Trip to BC, part 1

A while ago, I came upon some super cheap flights to Vancouver. I love Vancouver. I immediately thought, I should go on a little father-son outing with Rhys, now that he’s big enough for that sort of thing to be enjoyable.

I also figured, we should go camping! There’s a plethora of good camping spots all around the Vancouver area. Plus Kai and Juniper aren’t at the best age for that sort of thing, so getting our fix during a father-son trip seemed just right.

Here’s how the adventure started. Rhys still tells me the Vancouver airport is his favorite, because of all the escalators.

Storytelling Takes Space

One of my biggest goals this year was to trim down the amount of activity I had going on in my life so I could have a little more space to take it all in.

Have I done it?

Sometimes it’s hard to notice. With three littles, it’s never gonna be slow paced, exactly. But I am finding myself with a few more moments where I can take a mental snapshot of how things are right now and I’ve been appreciating that a lot lately.

Rhys Turns Four

Rhys, my man. Getting to watch you grow up is seriously the best.

I am so lucky I’m your dad. When we were on our camping adventure in Canada, I kept thinking, this is a special kid. Handled such a big adventure so early in life like a pro. Traveled better than many adults.

I love your imaginative play, your go-with-the-flow nature, and your love of nature. Especially when things in nature erupt. And you’re such a natural at the big-brother thing. Kai & Juniper are lucky too.

My earliest memories that are clear come from year four. It’s a good one! Keep indulging your passions and I’ll be right there with you.

Time in the Sundarbans

Getting to see the Sundarbans mangrove forest close up. In real life. Bengal tiger territory!

I did not see a tiger… but that’s actually a good thing. The stories I heard of the tiger-and-human interactions were all pretty tragic. For both species.

I did see plenty of macaques, but those guys are jerks most of the time. Lots of white spotted deer, which are gorgeous. And then some crocodiles. I did not realize that a croc can live up to 70 years old until this visit, but that’s pretty cool.

Ethiopia's Party Drink

Ethiopia’s popular party drink, turbo, is… well… I don’t want to be rude. But it kinda sounded like a cup of chaos.

White wine, beer, sprite, fruit, and ice. It kind of feels like you took the spirit of a ten year old at a soda fountain and threw it behind a bar.

But you know what?

It works. Like… turbo wasn’t bad at all. Sangria-like in an odd way.

Would you drink this?

A Day in Addis Ababa

Man, people have mixed feelings on Addis Ababa.

As one of Africa’s biggest cities it’s a hub of diversity and activity. But it can also be a bit crowded and chaotic and a fair amount of people suggest spending most of your time in Ethiopia outside the capital.

I had one full day in Addis Ababa to see for myself. Here’s how I spent it:

🇪🇹 Meandering the Shola Marketplace
🇪🇹 Visiting the Ethiopian National Museum
🇪🇹 Big ol’ Injera lunch
🇪🇹 Coffee, beer, and fried fish
🇪🇹 Checking out the church of St. Maryam and the park on Mount Entoto

Warm Heart of Addis Ababa

“You don’t need to spend that much time in Addis Ababa.”

“It’s too chaotic and crowded of a city.”

“People will be much nicer elsewhere.”

It’s true that going outside capital cities and major metros is usually a good move if you want to develop a more intimate experience with a country. It’s true that there’s a correlation between city life and being busy, which is often a precursor to less friendliness.

That said, I spent a day in Addis Ababa while passing through and it absolutely had a warm heart.

🇪🇹 Spent the morning exploring Shola Market, checking out the vendor’s crafts, and learning a ton about spices and grains.
🇪🇹 Went to the National Museum and got a deep dive into Ethiopia’s history. Two centuries of immersion in less than two hours. I also got to see Lucy, as in, the human ancestor! I probably forgot the part of 6th grade that mentioned she was found in Ethiopia, and she’s still there.
🇪🇹 A little walk up Mount Entoto for some incredible views over the whole city.
🇪🇹 Spent some time at Maryam Church for the first of many encounters with Ethiopian religious life
🇪🇹 A bit of a turbo food tour, including a proper injera spread, shiro, a fantastic fried tilapia, and a beer & beef pit stop.
🇪🇹 Some rich insight into how Ethiopia’s history sets the stage for its current struggles from our guide Bule.

We Don't Need Another Wake-up Call

Do we need a loud and clear wake up call to start actually worrying about climate change?

This might sound surprising, but I don’t think we do.

We don’t need a natural disaster of epic proportions to move the needle. We’ve had plenty. We’ll keep having plenty, year after year.

And people are worried, especially young people. But the goal isn’t to create worry. It’s to reduce emissions and protect the planet. As far as worry goes, I think it’s accomplished what it can accomplish. In some cases, it’s even backfired, making some people give up doing anything about climate change because ‘we’re already screwed.’

I think what we need more of are stories about solutions, and case studies of people adopting those solutions in their community.

An opinion like ‘it’s too late, why even try,’ just doesn’t cut it after you’ve spoken with a farmer in Thailand who’s convinced his whole community to stop monocropping and to plant hundreds of trees per person.

BC with Rhys

How to have an awesome weekend in British Columbia:

1) Have an incredible kid

2) Spend three years and eleven months raising him to be a great adventurer.

3) Take him on an epic father-son camping trip to Alice Lake.

Regarding number 2, you don’t need to do much to ~make~ him an adventurer. He comes that way upon delivery! Just keep that fire going!

Such a good time in British Columbia but my main takeaway was: Dang! I got a really awesome kid. He took to travel and camping more easily than most adults. My man became an expert on bear safety, the green line of the Vancouver rail, and noodle parties.

He’s a stellar big brother and I love our big wild family, but getting to toss in some special one-on-one adventures is really sweet.

Deanna's 34!

The best person I know is having a birthday today.

It feels like we’ve been through everything together, and I suppose that’s cause we really have. Tiny humans. Meaningful work. Loads of adventures.

There’s an endless amount of things I love and appreciate about Deanna but these days I get to see her emotional intellect on full display around the clock, whether it’s with kids or at work or with me. It instantly makes wherever she is a safer place where people can shine.

Most Fascinating Country

Ethiopia just might be the most fascinating country I’ve been to.

Of course one of the big reasons behind this has to be its history of having never been colonized. While there’s plenty of influence from interactions with the Arab peninsula, India beyond that, and Italy, Ethiopia’s traditions, language, and beliefs seem to have local roots that go back centuries without ambiguity.

This sense of culture and belonging is pervasive. It’s in everything, from the coffee to the churches to the communities. And I absolutely loved it. Ethiopia, I’m a big fan.

5,000 Photos

When I started my photo-a-day project, I had so many rules around it. Stuff like…

🌠 Only one selfie a year! Matter fact, let’s make my birthday selfie day.
🎇 I must personally be the one to click the shutter.
🌃 All shots should be landscape shots with the same 3:4 ratio.
🌅 It’s not a beauty contest. The photo that best tells the story of the day always beats the aesthetic one.

I’ve abandoned a lot of the rules, and I’ve probably forgotten even more. I’ve done this for thirteen years, so technology has changed. The norms around photography have changed. The platforms for sharing has changed.

But the one rule that’s stayed the same… perhaps the only rule… is that last one.

2023 Reads, pt. 2

Not as bad as I used to be about buying books and letting them sit on the shelf forever, but still pretty bad at it.

Recently:
Khabaar
It’s What I Do
Fresh Banana Leaves
The Creative Act
Life in Five Senses
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Only one fiction book and it looks like I’ve been in a memoir-ish mood lately. Lynsey Addario’s stories of how she became one of the world’s most prolific war photojournalists was fascinating. I related to so many of the tensions of how to depict something horrific in a way that was still dignifying to the human in the photo while doing their situation justice.

Rick Rubin’s book is probably going to live on my nightstand for a good long while. It’s a book I can just pop open, read a couple pages from, and spend the rest of the day chewing on that particular insight. This is a must-read for creatives… which means everybody, according to both me and the book.

Curiosity is a Healthy Relationship with the Unknown

“I used to think hope meant being in a difficult moment like that and saying, but things will get better! Just wait and see! I know it! And I no longer think that. Maybe that’s optimism, but I’ve learned that this is different than hope. I think a lot of time hope is more like hanging on.”

A year ago, I got to take the stage at @creativemornings_sd , and I had the time of my life. Such a friendly crowd, and some of the most fun I’ve had on a stage!

What I loved about this talk is that I felt like I was passing the mic between different versions of myself. The storyteller. The film school misfit. The wannabe humanitarian. The new dad. I got to dive into climate science and share quotes from Brene Brown and Oscar Romero. The theme was depth… so I guess it fit! It also helped me see how all these fragments come together… which is an important thing to discover as a dad to littles.

I hope you’ve had a chance to watch this talk, but if not, now is a great time. It’s up!

Ethiopia!

The whole time I was in Ethiopia, I was like… how am I even here? This place contains multitudes!

History runs deep. Senses come alive. Nature amazes again and again.

I’m so thankful I had a chance to get to know this country through a variety of perspectives. To dance along with the ekista, to sip that smoky coffee, and eat endless injera. To plant trees. To roadtrip through some stunning rocky edges in order to reach that great open space. I appreciated getting a deeper look at the country’s challenges. Poverty. Climate. Patriarchy. Unrest. While all those things are disheartening, they also helped me further appreciate the resolve of the community spirit working to overcome.

Ethiopian Good

Hello from what might be the most fascinating country I’ve ever been to: Ethiopia 🇪🇹

Where do I even begin to describe everything I’ve encountered here? A rich, uncolonized history shaped by devotion, diversity, and sensations.

There really isn’t a way to put it all into words, because so much of the Ethiopian experience is received in smells. Tastes. Hugs. The air on your skin. But, I’ll have to do my best, because it was simply too rich to keep to myself.

Tiger Attacks

I visited the Sundarbans Forest in Bangaldesh, which is one of the places where you’re most likely to see a Bengal tiger. While I didn’t have any encounters with the very endangered species, almost all of the locals I met had stories. That would be cool, if their stories weren’t so sad. Most frequently, they were about losing loved ones to tiger attacks.

The Sundarbans is a threatened area. As sea level rise eats away at the mangrove forest, the tiger habitat shrinks each year. This puts human communities and the wildlife in the forest in closer proximity, which is bad for both. In addition to disease being more likely to jump from species to species, attacks like these also become more common.

There are so many strategic ways to do reforestation. Restoring spaces that have been natural buffers for human and animal communities is definitely one of them.