Thank You, Lord!

Just touched upon this.
Feel OK. Could be better.
Let the indignation go.
I am quite thirsty; an empty!

Do Something?

Having an awfully odd day. First the Jews, now this...

https://www.apnews.com/f8e93a80080f424c899859e0037d7fca/The-Latest:-Official-says-NY-attacker-shouted-'Allahu-akbar'


Again, I expressed myself towards a Facebook post...

There is no Allah and Mohammed concocted a means to mystify the ignorant, inducing homicide as the method toward dominating those who reject Muslim tyranny and hold fast to Jesus Christ and his gospel of liberation from command and control by men craving power, wealth and submission to their obsessive wills. I deferred and yes, I feel handicapped. Too solitary. Could use a friend. But who wants to be friends with such an opinionated prig? Good luck there, old coot. Baseball soon.

Oh, scratch that. Stay home. Read.
Don Quixote well underweigh. Funny.

Why waste time and treasure with inebriates?

Learned lesson. They're poisoned by evil.

OK; did so. Fell asleep. Woke up fit to be tied.
Halloween, eh? Not in least bit interested.
And am quite sure I'll never drink that poison,
which means no transactions with purveyors.

Ha... may put kibosh on society. With proles?
Gee, can't say I'm missing much there.
They bore me silly. The games leave me cold.
Too bad musicians exploited as enticement.

Sacrifice?

Though I'm fixin' to go watch the Series game, I'm of mixed feelings.
They're so unprofessional. They really alienate purists, I must say. 

It's simply a sort of tradition that's lost all significance, really. Strangers.

Only a game, too cliche to say that commercial crassness dominates. 

Hold the Fort

Are we going to let these usurping miscreants get away with it? I think not. 

They can't read, nor calculate, nor ration. They wish to rule our lives? I think not.

Are we going to stand by as hedonists and perverts intimidate. I think not.

They'll never accept the rule of reason for they hate its legatees. I know so.

Morning Toilet

Free as a bird yet captive of this time and space. Should walk more. Get back on diet.
Consider the birds of the air. Nary a care in the world but not careless. Moderation.

Spare Me

It's Tuesday and I get to feel discriminated against.
Made a mistake. I miscast someone not at all fitting the part.
No use for the tired old blues; I'm much more Motown. LOL
It's more than appearances that are deceiving. I found out.

Very Old School

Not that you would have but did you notice that the opinions scribbled in today's NY Times were all scribbled by Jews stoning POTUS? I did. This is no coincidence, but of a pattern which includes the allegation that another Jew is responsible for the slanderous 'dossier' fabricated to assassinate the Donald and the attitudes exhibited by Harvey Weinstein, namely craven obsession with domination and exploitation because they feel entitled to it and will 'ruin' you if they are not satisfied.

They are sadists. They hate Christians. 

Jesus was crucified at the instigation of scribes and Pharisees. 

Please do not heed their cursing.

Pray for the President and the Nation. I thought long and hard before making this post. I think my perception is valid. I believe I won't suffer retribution however... whatsoever being of a nature to arise being of a nature to cease, and feel righteous in liberating my fellow Americans from these alien predators as far as I can - for our country.

Well now, got that out of your system?

Made the above statement of a mind to post on Facebook after looking at the Times as mentioned. Believe me, it's the truth. But how it's perceived... aye, there's the rub. I deferred and deleted before doing so before going to bed. I did pray about it. After a good sleep, was inclined to do so again. It would be a provocation. As a schizophrenic person, I do not need the aspersions nor the stress which could result. Prayed over it again. I do feel relieved to post it here and come what may. I'm also going to cancel my subscription. Again. LOL It's not the political commentary but the arts and science usually draws me back. Will have to find alternatives.

Salvation is of the Jews but the Law will not save you.
Abraham believed God and The Lord counted him as righteous.
What exactly is a New Testament Christian? Regenerated? Matthew 3:9.
The People must put these vicious people out of our holy lives. Please God.

Comfort Soak

In tub; humming this. 60s tune.

Deeply imprinted, I suppose.

In the amphibian brain... LOL.

My cardio workout. What stress?

Back to Reality

Best we can do for a body of water (good for the soul, they say) are faux ponds. So I go to one nearby and visit with the ducks. Sorry to say they ignore me. But I'm used to it.

Vista Ultima

The last shot from my virtual vacation. Lucky find! Unprocessed scan. 25 years ago.

Near San Diego, I believe. Discovered a bunch of scanned images I'd forgotten about.

Need to do some housekeeping with the files; jumble between originals and tweaked.

Then hundreds more on hosting services which I should secure and back up. Yikes.

I remember this day. Overcast morning, waiting for the mist to burn off. Lovely.

Hiked all about along the cliffs. Don't know what seabirds those are in background.

Original shot taken with SLR. Not too good, the reflective distance somewhat washed.

Was able to bring birds out somewhat in processing. Lots of light variation. Not bad.

Relatively Calm

Have just had my surfing session amidst the corruption and perversion we endure. It's difficult, after reading something, not to react on Facebook. LOL Isn't that what it's all about? Treated as if we're Pavlov's dogs, like livestock corralled and funneled into the commercial slaughterhouse. Manipulated. Whipsawed. What's a bodhisattva to do? 

Oh, that's hilarious. (Such nice boys!) But, truly, I do remember it. Yup. Wunnerful. And they're wireless! You think Welk had financial interest? 

Turn Around

I do believe this is at the same place as 

previous daydream, near Santa Barbara.

Sun setting presently, nothing on the agenda. Pretty much stuck in middle of nowhere.

Keep 'em Flyin'

Oh, my... I've done it again. Got myself wrapped up in another battle. An account of the 1942 engagement in the Coral Sea. Pretty much familiar. Well, everybody knows about the Lady Lex and breaking Jap naval codes, right? Breezing through.

Downloaded it along with Cervantes and George Eliot. Middlemarch. Loved Silas Marner years ago. Should keep me occupied.

One of the things about these war histories is the very small credit given the logistical and maintenance people. All the capability rested on technology and supply. Most of the narrative focuses on command and the pilots. Nothing from the hanger deck, flight line or staff. An incredible synergy of effort - the rationale problematic.

Nothing vicarious; just getting briefed.

Impossible Vista

I need so much to get away. Smell the ocean. The local monotony is become excruciating and surfing the Internet one celebrity or political  pissant after another. It really is terribly boring.

Frankly, the most exiting thing in my life was going to visit milady. Then I found out she doesn't exist. Should I have my head examined? Haven't seen my shrink in a while. That might be a good idea. Getting away would be better. Alas, a frugal life has its limitations.

I surmise the former contemplation of a love life was escapist in itself. Silly. I do laugh to think of her (my psychiatrist) asking me, "How does it make you feel?"

I feel like a schmuck. She (the lady) said I made her feel uncomfortable. I thought that precious considering... under seal. I never betray confidences. And my perceptions are ideosyncratic. (What gall.) Anyway, metaphysically, that's a lover; someone who is aware of what one thinks and feels, not indifferent nor supercilious. I should think that calls for dialogue. Never happened. Doesn't exist.

Well, with regard to virtuality, the best I can do is pull a shot at the coast from the archive, gussie it up some and talk to myself. (Really not much choice.) Blimey... is that the curvature of the earth I detect?

Teamwork

With no interest in football and scant in baseball, what's a fellow to do? Ha... file under who cares? Bored out of my skull.

This here was a team effort. Just noticed it again. Made it with some mentally challenged fellows. We pooled our know-how. They let me keep it. Is it art? Crafty, perhaps. For them? Over when it was done. For me... a memento. 

Thinking about the caves in Altimira. Those pictures are not stand-alone pieces, so to speak, but visual aids and mnemonic devices toward story telling. (Not unlike the device I hold in my hand.) Well, quite a few stories contingent hereby. Under seal.

Over Where?

Removing myself from belligerency, I'm reminded of De Broca's film addressing subject. Takes the edge off and no kings here.

Had a grand old uncle who was gassed in the Argonne; life-long invalid. So, some relevance.

Making Do

Passed on this yesterday. Didn't particularly care for it. Shot into sun just behind.
Without filters, not much one can do about detail. Thought I could salvage it B&W.
Bit of a tweak. This is one to come back for in morning sometime. Tectonic display.
If I want to take better shots, I should learn camera functionality. Too impatient.

Swaps

A new arrival: Stapelia hirsuta. Hairy starfish flower. Native to South Africa.
M. van Stapel 'discovered' it; back when the Dutch settled the Cape of Good Hope.
There are a lot of South African cacti on the market. Climate just like Arizona.
It's got a slight carrion odor to attract flies toward pollination, the pollen evident.

Something of an odd segue from the Great Imperialist War, as Lenin put it.
The Portuguese rounded the Cape toward India, taking supplies and trading.
The Dutch took Capetown in 1652. The British took if from the Dutch in 1814.
The Germans, united after 1871, came on the scene and wanted an empire too.

Colombes de quartier

Assis sur ma terrasse dans la fraîcheur de la soirée qui approche,
c'est tout l'observation des oiseaux disponible. Colombes très gras!

Fatigued

I am finished with Verdun. The French held. But it had a tremendous impact upon their collective psyche such that they were spurned for not having the same determination against the Nazi invasion of 1940. An unfair characterization, that they'd lost their will; they were beat by panzer tactics round their static sense of security and belief that the belligerent carnage would never, could never, in all humanity, happen again. 

Hitler's War was simply a continuation of frustrated German aggression taking advantage of a world community grown more pacifist in the aftermath of the so-called Great War; sore losers. Yet not much different from the other imperialist powers who enjoyed provenance.

The most horrible thing about Verdun was that the military objective was not terrain nor even a breakthrough out of the trenches. The Germans simply wished to kill as many poilus as possible toward breaking their will to resist thus isolating the British - who had their own harrowing experience on the Somme simultaneously. Sanguine in the extreme. Vive la France. Unimaginable, the sheer terror of it all. 

Read this a while ago. Perspective.

Nothing Happening

Tell me about it! Except for my 'new' artsy-fartsy toy.
Scene from coffee place; all caught up on news and tasks.

Production

All done with yesterday. Friday night in the big city! What to do?

Watch the rest of the baseball game. Go home. Make pesto sauce.

Like the above shot a lot. Last light. Great detail. Print it up sometime.
I watch the Walgreen's site for sales on large board prints. 50% off is good.

As I was on the other side of the mountains when the sun went down,
this was the scene as I swung around. Puts me in mind of a Rothko.

Stark Reality

With a bit of a tweak and a tad escapist. Late afternoon shadows on Piestewa.

Across the way - I'm fed up! Not identified on any topographical maps. Unreal!

I read all night and slept all day. Just getting around to processing yesterday's shots. It really does get to me when I can't ID something. The maps give contours and elevations but no names to the prominences unless it's the, er, prominent one in the area. I'm sure this is called something! I do have to find a good geologic map somewhere.

Lay Down Your Arms

The trouble in Catalonia has got me concerned and stimulated the thought to skim through "Don Quixote" via the free download; another one of those books on the 'well-rounded man' list, eh? Somewhat aware of the gist with regard to standard received acculturation... the knight errant, his lady love - jousting with windmills.

The Catalan situation is serious, their having declared independence from Spain at the instigation of an entrenched anarchist political cadre who've got the people whipped up in a circumstance which could lead to civil war. Yes, Catalonia is different from Gothic and Morisco Spain. Along with Provence in France, old cultural ties to the former Roman establishment, their languages infused with colloquial Latin rather than the aggressive and guttural barbarisms from the north. The land of the troubadours. More akin to the Franks, who were their protectors from the Moors, than the Visigoth remnant in northern Spain. Wasn't it the union of Aragon and Castille which rallied the final throes of the reconquest? That's how far back the integration goes... to 1474.

Presently more cosmopolitan and a world tourist destination, they think they can go it alone on the revenues generated. Much out of spite. You just hate to see Spain tear itself up over egotistical folly. And, my oh my, haven't they had enough?

As I slog through the blow by blows at Verdun, there's the same question? For what? President Wilson intellectualized rational Allied war aims with his Fourteen Points, one of which was 'the self-determination of peoples' and that's the nub here. Who gets to say who you are and what you are? We run into it in the States all the time with regard to mass media. Who writes the script? And does it matter considering whatever sells is the script? If one is a Christian, scripture informs, the rest mooted. The Body of Christ must needs do without national identities and gender posturing.

All to be decided democratically? Make the world safe for democracy? Really? An impossible dream? Concurrent to this tune getting into the nation's collective consciousness we'd been 'democratizing' the Vietnamese. That was old school then. Burn their villages, clear them out of the countryside to concentration camps under guard. This prevented the VC from victualizing and using the populace as cover. Pacification. The 'noble cause' of democracy. Practically speaking, in our present electorate, your votes cancelled by the craven and ignorant, driven by the winds of mass media. They want and want. Beg, borrow and steal to get.

Stay Busy

Plenty of shots to process tomorrow.
I shall stay out of trouble; for the most part.
You know... don't even think about it. We cool.

As Is

Took a ride north of Sunnyslope toward Piestewa. A few vistas not seen before. Above looking across Dreamy Draw, the freeway traversing just below. Quite a jumble of real estate and a catastrophe of land-use-planning, I should think. Custom mansions looking up on the ridges but below upon dilapidation.

Don't know the history specifically but have to surmise that the land was vacant upon first habitation as Sunnyslope became a destination for poor tubercular invalids in the 1920s while wealthier people bought large lots and built custom houses where there was lax zoning authority. I'll bet the Phoenix city limits hadn't reached here, thus County and no conception of planning. Subsequently, a jumble of urban development on the flats south of Mountain View. Well, how'd you'd like to have put something upscale only to have the zoning allow lower echelon houses and apartments directly under your property? Further up the hillside, more modern large custom homes. I do think there's a prohibition on that presently. Anyway, quite a hodgepodge. 

Went on to Piestewa trailheads north of Glendale Avenue for sunset. Short hike.
Brilliant coloration on terrain in twilight. Moon rising. No baseball tonight. Music?

5x7

A textural shot as I decide what to do with myself.
Saw this tree planted five years or so ago. Go catch sunset?

One thing I do think about is volunteering at a literacy program.

Tutor kids looking to get their GEDs. Will look into that. Proportions.

They need to know fractions and percentages. Some geography, etc.
The 5x7 photo prints approach Golden Rectangle. Pleasing to the eye.

Suppose they might need to learn to write a sentence. A paragraph!
OK... what comes between an independent and a subordinate clause? 

Virtual Afternoon

Another warm day. Not up to much. Have gone off diet. Binging. Careless.
But it has been on healthy foods! When I get bored, I aggress upon the vittles.

Absolutely no prospect of caressing exposure with anyone, so... careless. LOL not.
Not good. Need a change of some sort; something has to give. In a bloody rut, I am.

Sitting peacefully at the scene of former delusional prospective forget about it,
I can't get over how infatuated I was with what is become a phantom memory.
Utterly confused; not where a rational person wants to be. Ah, but I've made it clear:
recapturing youth. Well, that's just as likely as climbing up there. Forget about it. 

Hold Tight

I do not care to discuss politics in this blog as I am wont to do on Facebook. Without linking to any particular story, the Russian slander against POTUS has boomeranged, a notorious dossier fabricated, it turns out, by the Clintonistas.

Grifters from the get-go, looks like criminal charges forthcoming. Tip of the iceberg considering the 'foundation' pay-to-play scams. Premier bullshit artists going down. 

This is not news to MI6.

I like the Russians.

This is one of my favorite pictures.
Wassily Kandinsky. Way before this, LOL. 

Quite a career.

Old Friend

Did take a ride along Jackson Street; Phoenix's Produce Row. Nothing not already shot. Parking was impossible north of 7th Street bridge alongside stadium. 16th no good; into sun. Could not get access into yard. Took some shots of graffiti on the box cars. That's about it. On the way back, several shots in Coronado District and stopped by Phoenix Art Museum.

This piece was the first of its kind I ever saw here. (Monumental? LOL) After many visits through the 70s, moved here in 1981. I'd traded my vehicle for a guitar while in Portland (about a $500 value swap with an auto mechanic who took the Gibson guitar as payment for a job) as I was fine, in mine environmental scruples at the time, using public transportation and bike there. The old 1967 VW 1600cc was rusting beneath anyway. 

Arrived here without a vehicle. Stayed with my folks a while until job and apartment found. One of the first things I did was to get a library card. Hopped on the bus at 49th Avenue and Cactus to go to the old main branch at Central and McDowell. It took an hour and a half! Got a car the next day.

The former PAM was behind the library and this piece was on McDowell. Was amused by it without jumping to conclusions. It's placed in the parking lot of the new facility! You can't get a decent shot without vehicles being in the picture - had to kneel down for this. They could do much better insofar as placement goes but what do they know?!! The place looks like a bunker. 

Up There

One from file last time on Verde, looking up from the bank. Will have to do, LOL.
Stumped as to where to take pictures today. Sort of like to go to rail yard downtown.

Probably many interesting shots; security issues - they'd be on case pronto, I'm sure.
Could walk the bridges, 7th or 16th Streets. Do prefer closer. Grain! We'll see. 

Uptown

Was feeling bored then I saw this and said, "I'll go birding." Where? Good question. Wonder if Verde River is flowing out of Bartlett Lake? May be too late in the day.

In addition to usual habitat, the river is stopover for migrants. Plenty hawks as well. But, still rather warm and early morning best time. It's on the agenda. Bored!

With regard to uptown Manhattan, met a fellow the other day whose grandfather was a stonemason who put The Cloisters together for J.P. Morgan. (Ha, not personally.) Morgan bought the pile of an old monastery in France, had it disassembled, then shipped to a location near the northern tip Manhattan Island alongside the Hudson, parks surrounding and adjacent. Beautiful spot. The grandfather part of the crew who put it back together.

Many walks and bikes around when living nearby in the Bronx but never went into museum. At the time, Inwood neighborhood was still an Irish bastion. The avian art occurring further south, the area has seen waves of immigrants for sure. Nice to see it get spiffed up like. 

Create a Diversion

1917 marked the nadir of morale in the French Army. Bled for months on end in the Battle of Verdun and reeling after the Nivelle Offensive, dissension was rampant and mutinies broke out in the ranks. Put down brutally, I suppose the only way, aside from reading about, that time's been related to us is in the film "Paths of Glory". As Americans entered the lines, they were relieved.

Quite something... the Germans saw themselves, in their Greek temperament and technological prowess, as the rationalists to the libertine French. The Spartan officer corps versus dilettante republican degenerates. Anyway, that's the reading objective... "On ne passe pas!" All very pagan, wouldn't you say?

Amidst the carnage, a profound film... la.
It goes some way toward salvaging our humanity.

Plate: Verdun Tableau de guerre, Félix Vallotton

Irony

Must be something going on somewhere. Used to be something else.
Not my problem. Sheesh. Can't be disappointed if no appointment made!

Think I'll get some air. Go for coffee. Peruse.
Stay out of the bars, eh? Nothing but trouble.

Enlighten Me

The unexamined life is not worth living.

So said Socrates. (BTW) Am I trying to recapture my youth? In going back to read something someone else was some 45 years ago? I've had this thought for a while since retiring and having the time to be more sociable. Posting here simply passes the time.

The reality is we live in an environment where commercial transactions are what 'life' has become. There's very little else to existing on the slab. Get your money out; have a nice day. So, if I have anything else to say they're not in the least bit interested in, I guess I say it here.

I see that there are people who look at this blog. Make some comments. Let me know who you are. Very much out of my element and starved for intelligent human interaction amidst strangers, I'm just coping. And, hey... I did read Homer, Plato and Aristotle when I was a kid. Does that make me a snoot?  Trouble is I've forgotten much and, yes, am indeed struggling to refresh my mind in a vacuum.

Well, even writing things up, pursuant to grammatical challenges, good for something, I should think. How to say without saying something makes enemies you don't need? 

Stay Real

A bona fide Phoenix sunrise. There's no escape! 

Disappointed in "The Golden Bough". To say it's dated and somewhat racist is cliche. Of a theme, primitive minds have commonalities across cultural domains pursuant to superstition, the magic seeming to work sometimes, therefore efficacious and persistent until, you guessed it, science proves otherwise. Frazer is exceedingly pedantic and repetitive; nothing I don't already know. Made a joke about the archetypes: the Dionysian those primitive behaviors, the Apollonian, rational and buff.

Well, since Frazer inspired by Turner, have a gander and segue from verbosity.  

Mythical Morning

Having had me morning constitutional, nothing at all of photographic note, cardiovascular duty done, ensconsed in easy chair, I delve into Frazer. Upon perusal and after a nap, I'm sure to have a stimulating conversation in the tub.

"Are you Apollonian or Dionysian?" LOL

My pecs are baby fat. Deduce that, maestro.

Have lost interest in this. 

You make you own fate. Indeed.

Take responsibilty for your actions.

Otherwise, Sartre's full of himself.

Old Roses

One of the things about the 'parks' in Phoenix is that they have no flowers. Pretty much standardized with regard to layout and landscaping, they seem to present the minimum of what's termed civitas, the dedication of space for the public good. I suppose anything so delicate as a flower would be destroyed and aesthetics are not exactly on the municipal agenda. I compare to those in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. (LA parks are human habitats - and I don't mean visitors.) The terrain doesn't lend itself to any dimensional variation, they're flat and quadrilinear. In the cities mentioned, you'd see daily users. I'm ever amused by the older folk doing their Tai-chi... you don't see that here. During the day, they're not used at all. Over the weekend, there are parties and picnics for groups of people but surmise the malls are the premium destinations locally. Kids don't play baseball anymore. Not to be the curmudgeon! One just notices.

This an old shot from the little rose garden near Encanto Park. Not a city endeavor, but a private society of aficionados. I had a Biology professor who was one. After the publication of "Silent Spring" there came heightened awareness about pesticide use. I think Rachel Carson was, along with Barry Commoner, a seer with regard to the so-called environmental movement. Ecology and such. My professor responded to those concerns with regard to aphid infestations of roses. He bred wasps!

Dusting off the cobwebs, the wasps would, as I recall, inject their fertilized eggs into said aphids, the resulting larvae a parasite feasting on it's innards until but a deceased and dessicated ectoderm was all that remained, the wasp's next generation emerging. Biological control. That was 1970 and I see it's pretty much a standard method today. 

Workin' Trucks

Quite the scene at the QT in the early morning. Have mentioned before the busyness of fellows off to work. A sight to behold and an indication of boom time - at least locally. The markets have been good for the vested too but I don't know how it is in other parts of the nation, especially back East and in the Midwest. I do know there's a lot of real investment occurring in Phoenix with regard to 'infill' and redevelopment in the core area. Further development on the expanding perimeter going strong too. Concurrently, the traffic is horrible. Conflicted feelings, as ever. 

As I watch the demographic of guys (mostly) coming and going, in my neighborhood they're preponderantly, and I do mean approaching 75%, Latino. Construction workers, tradesmen. Great to see them working. How ironic; after all the immigration controversies, their wages have increased in the demand. Were there competition from further undocumented workers, well, go figure. The nation has always absorbed working people but there comes a point of exploitation of immigrants toward profit motives on the part of developers and industry.

Well, looks like good news to me as I scope that proffered on the Internet. Ridiculous fabrications that used to be pabulum for the National Enquirer. Perversion rampant. The people deserve better but, as always, the market for this idiocy are women. I saw the other day that the publisher of the local rag, which is all booster fluff with nary a insight into reality (website homepage headlining artisan pizza and postmodern booze concoctions) was the travel editor of several newspapers before she commenced her corporate schmooze. Affirmative fakes replicating themselves while essentially exploiting a business made in years past by serious journalists, they're the Donald assassins. Just like checking out at the grocery, scoping who's getting it on with whom in Hollywood, they're to be ignored. 

Technique

This is the self-same solitary bougainvillea gussied up pretty good.
The previous shot was with phone camera; not always the best view.

However, there are exceptions insofar as resolution goes. Here a simple snap.
As is; just sized down. Ubiquity cubed, I know, but a keeper nonetheless.

Drive By Inconspicuously

Rode around a bit looking for shots. Figured if my blooms are going off, there'll be others. Always dicey taking street shots at people's houses but, today, didn't see a thing that struck me as any different. Did pass by this fire station on 27th Avenue south of Northern. I'd taken a shot of this installation before but not any sort of a study. So I got out of the vehicle, waved at the crew (they shouldn't think me terrorizing the neighborhood) and did so for a Facebook album. It's not any sort of a memorial.

I've thought to do a similar sort of thing in my front yard, foregoing watering trees. (I've had two expire on account of frost and hail.) Copper strips crimped or riveted over a rebar frame... instant saguaro. All in tooling. You could do line drawings of cacti in heavy gauge wire too - I've done that small scale. Ha. When I get around to it.

The setting sun exquisitely back lights. Took several along Sweetwater alike.

Never been there! Just south of Thunderbird. No idea it existed.
Did they get it wrong? Should it be l'amour? I think so. Fight City Hall?
We wouldn't dream of it. And, as stated, taking these shots problematic.
I'm lining it up against the sun... guy steps out of garage; stares ominously.

Bored?

It's never watered. I suppose its roots have extended to the area occasionally dampened by the outside faucet a couple of feet away. Just a thought. One of those delightful surprises. Another survival story, eh?

Glad I didn't watch the Cardinals git thumped. Much better going to church, if a bit of bore. I'd really like to get into something completely different in that regard. As always, some chagrin in going alone. Somewhat ironic that one chooses to go there rather than the games, then they look down their noses cause you go to the bars for that otherwise. But today, not.

It's an old issue with the Christians. From the beginning advised to refrain from the blood lust of the games and the irreverance of the theater; I mean, of course, the bread and circus milieu. (No, life cannot be a cabaret, old friend!) Old Augustus' RCs called it 'the occasion of sin' to be avoided - oh, my. So much for la joie de vivre! Indeed.

Ah, Sir John... a very bad influence upon Prince Hal? Bit of an issue upon another there. With whom am I to discuss it? I don't know anyone who's read Shakespeare's Histories let alone a clue as to who Henry V was. Crispan's Day? We're talking cultural wasteland here. Not a joyful circumstance. Once more into the breach? Don't bother.

So, of a Sunday afternoon - what's to do? What does it matter?
Hey... having a reminisce! Such is mine dotage. I suppose.

Along about 1976, we'd go of said Sunday afternoons to the Masonic Temple near downtown Portland where Carl Smith and his Natural Gas Company with it's Big Band sound would hold forth, musicians from the area sitting in. But it was the dancers, the swingers, the jitter-buggers, who were the draw. Their music; their moves. We didn't dance. Just listened and watched enthralled.

Well, a saxophone player was married to a woman we remember as Umpqua Lady. She showed up one afternoon quite out of sorts. Fit to be tied, she was. She said her husband was cheating on her. That, because he knew Native women were loyal to a fault, he thought he could get away with it. Uh-uh.

She stood by and waited... he stood to do a solo. "Bullshit!" she hollered. "Buuulllllshit!" He played right through without skipping a beat, then sat down, non-plussed. She turned on her heels and vamoosed. 

So, like, everyone in the ballroom is looking at us. "Friend of yours?" Absolutely; the show must go on. Side of grief with the joy... way it is.

Thinkful Wishing

Exceptionally starry night. Multitude presenting.
Here, another by Van Gogh, not usually seen.
Over the Rhone. Hmm. Someday, maybe...
a river cruise. Lyon. Valence. Avignon. Arles.

Turn

This from a cutting years ago. Turned it around for to balance. Could use a trim... plant some more cuttings.

Always a pleasure to come home, however much I abhor the locality. At least it's finally cooling off. Now that there's no need for A/C on frugal budget, can spend more time home. It's mostly I've got to bear the wear and tear on old unit I don't wish to replace. I'll sell the house as is and be glad to get out of damned Phoenix. 

My skin and my disposition will be glad.

So much more and varigated foliage in OR.