Beauty

My Friend Bill over at Zaadz posted a blog entry this morning with a pointer to some incredible photographs. I know you will be touched by them too!

Us

I’m alone. No I’m not. Yes I am And No, I’m not. You’re here with me. And yet I’m sitting here alone. I’m really not much without you. Sit here with me, will ya? It’s quiet. I’ll hold you, all of you, everyone of you.

Did you know?

This morning, while reading an online article at The New York Times website I doubled-clicked on a word (I was going to copy it and paste it into an online dictionary so I could get it's definition). Turns out, it looks like every word in that article, and I checked another one too, was hyperlinked to either an online dictionary, or for a person's name, to more information about that person. What a nice feature. I know you read The Times.

Bowl of Soup?

I saw on the internet (where according to my girl Cathy, I pretty much live!) that Elton John turned 60. I thought about my friend Maze for a few minutes. What a nice, ripe-like-a-perfect peach age I thought. But, back to Elton. I thought about his music, how it has been such a part of my soul and heart, body and mind. I went to see him in Mobile, Alabama in 1973 while I was at technical training for the Air Force in Biloxi Mississippi. I think he was getting ready to, or had just released Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I was way too young and baptist to get all I could have from that scene! One of my first albums (records) that I bought of Elton's was Tumbleweed Connection. I could go on about memories from several of the songs there, but I'll go with the Talking Old Soldiers for the moment. The first verse: Why hello, say can I buy you another glass of beer Well thanks a lot that's kind of you, it's nice to know you care These days there's so much going on No one seems to want to know I may be just an old soldier to some But I know how it feels to grow old The sadness and beauty of life come through in these words and the way Elton sings them. Getting older, caring, so much going on. There is such a timeless theme here for us all I reckon. On days like today, I just go through my routine, enjoying the walk, the school homework, the calls from my kids and wife. The beautiful spring weather. And then, a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. Next, maybe a little quiet, out on the patio, just wanting to know about those I love. And thankful for Elton, 60 years on!

This Damn War

I hardly (and I mean, never) watch TV anymore. This past Sunday nite, I wanted to sit in front of the tube and eat my dinner. I turned on PBS and they had on a concert, not my thing (well if it was Earth Wind & Fire it may have been!). I switched to CBS, remembering that the show 60 Minutes is on around dinner time. Sure enough it was. I caught most of this interview with a GI.

Now, this entire horrendous story aside, and all you can say about what “they” did, I became more enraged than ever at this war! Mostly though on Sunday evening, I was thinking about these YOUNG people who are over there in this pressure-cooker situation, where bad shit happens all the time. How much sacrifice they make. How much pain they suffer. And I keep getting the math wrong because it doesn't add up for me! It terrifies me that I still don't know what the fuck we're doing over there, and the answers I come up with are indeed terrifying. I won't go down the lane of how poorly I think of our president right now, how ashamed I am of what our country has done on his watch (which I do believe, is our watch).

What I want to say and do, is that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these kids we send over there should be welcomed home with as much respect as we can. They're young, that's why they go. When I was 20, I would have went and did what the old guys told me to do, didn't think much about the “bigger” picture. That's why we get um to go. I'm almost 52, I need a little connection of the damn DOTS before I can get up and make killing happen. They wouldn't have me now. Good thing. So, here's this guy, and his squad, something unbelievably horrifying happened, fighting in a war that WE sent him to, doing the best he can. He breaks, and it's complete tragedy. Now, he's here. I wanted to hug him and tell him that it's OK; it's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's all of our faults, every one of us who doesn't do something, anything we can, to stop this damn war.

Gardening

This week I tore down the two hand-made 4X8 garden boxes I made a couple of years ago. Between my piss-poor gardening skills, the Sonoran Desert climate, and a cat named Boo Boo, who is always on the lookout for some fresh dirt, I gave up! Here they are at about their best! My granddaughter Jordyn helped me with the decorating. I probably have over a thousand dollars worth of dirt, materials, and labor in that little garden. It's especially sad since I also took all the training to become a Master Gardner. I'm ashamed! We never, ever had anything really good to eat from it! I moved all the dirt into a new box for Boo Boo, should last her a while. So, I'm onto the next plan. I'm only into about $100 or so, but I'm gonna do the Garden Patch! And no, it's not for people who are trying to quit gardening!

I'm looking forward to not having to try! So far Cathy has not offered any resistance to my new scheme, though the good Lord knows she has every right!

And just in case that don't work out, we also joined a local co-op farm, where we'll get a bag full of fresh, local, organic vegetables every week.

Did It!

Pass Mountain or

The Tip of the IceBerg

Yesterday, my friend Yubus and I made it around Pass Mountain. Finally. The longest 7.1 mile hike in the history of hiking trails. It took us 4.5 hours. The flyer they provide at the park says count on between 4 and 5 hours, hmmmm, once again, read the directions. Anyway, we weren't watching the clock and kept thinking we were gonna be around this puppy soon, and we were wrong for a lot longer than we were right about that! As always, it feels so good to be done, having accomplished the goal. I was thinking that I can't wait to do this when I'm in shape for it!!! The back (east) side of the mountain is gorgeous and away from the city so to speak, full of Sonoran Desert in all its glory.

We got back to the car around 6PM and were able to have a couple of beers and snacks and watch the sun go down. Out there the desert teases you into thinking you can take all of it home with you in a photograph, but it's a tease. Like the picture of the mountain, it's just the tip of the iceberg really, there's so much more thankfully. It's still all out there, a bit of it came home in our soul, on our skin, and even less inside my camera. Even the blog posting starts to seem like a cheap shot at describing a day with your best friend, in the desert, the magnificent desert.