About…

Name: Eric Matthew Leifer

Born: May 13th, 1986 in Anaheim, CA.

Email: eric (at) canyonchronicles.com

Current Location : Flagstaff, Arizona

We live in a world that is controlled (in my humble opinion) by but a few things; power, violence and money.  In reality the latter is the meaning of existence to much of the human race and in most cases is the direct cause of the former two.  It runs just about everything and influences almost all aspects of our daily lives in one form or another.  Look around you and try to identify something that cannot be related back to money.  Hell even this website, an insignificant and incredibly minute corner of the intangible and often hypothetical world that we call the internet, still costs $4.95 per month plus and annual renewal fee.  The size of our bank account determines the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the places we go and the very way we live our lives.  Even time is often measured in terms of money.  It is everywhere and it is everything.  Well, almost at least.

The irony is that outside of society and the grasp of our modern world, this idea of monetary wealth is completely and utterly useless.  Step away from it for a moment and this fact will quickly manifest itself.  You could have ten million dollars cash in the middle of nowhere and it would amount to nothing more than poor kindling to start a fire or maybe something soft to wipe your ass with.  Your fat bank account sure looks nice on paper but it certainly will not save your life.  Far removed from the creature comforts of civilization, the atms and the wal-marts, money is inherently useless.  This is where priorities are established and individuals are made, character is built, lessons are learned.

So tonight I tip my drink to those of you who are doing what they love.  To friends and enemies alike, to the old and young, the enlightened and naïve, the heroes and the helpless, the down and out nobodies and the high and mighty sons of bitches that think they control this wild world we coexist in.  To those who have been through hell and back, when there is no end in sight and all hope has been lost, no light at the end of the fucking tunnel, no victory dances or a checkered flag nor a rescue party coming to save your sorry ass.  To those of who are humble enough to know when they are wrong, admit and grow from it.  And most of all to those of you who are entirely broke but could not be any happier.  Often we lose sight of what really is important in life.  What that is, exactly, is entirely up to you.

Here is to good people and even better times, to cheap whiskey and flowing things.  Here is one for the heat and sun to come, to the spring and summer and well beyond that.  To rivers and canyons, peaks and chasms.  And finally to making money simply to buy more time away from it all.  Tonight, my friends, we drink to this and nothing more.  I honestly cannot think of anything better.