"We do not live..."

                                             LIFE AND DEATH IN THE DESERT

awoke in the night with a sick feeling in my stomach
a familiar noise was inside the van
a rodent
an animal which had sought to inhabit my abode
and possibly ruin it as my home
I pounded on the part of the van where the noise
came from...and got little sleep in the process
it was a nocturnal invader so I was sure it was
not one of the white tailed antelope squirrels which
I saw daily...but I had seen a giant kangaroo rat
upon my first arriving at the campsite and had never
seen it again...I did not think one of them would
climb into the van...but I was pretty sure they were
nocturnal...whatever the species they had to be discouraged
from chewing on my van and the contents...when morning
came I dug out the three mousetraps  and used some cheese
to bait the traps...I used to have a dozen trap which I had to
set nightly in Oregon...but I supposed that the mouse terror
was over with...little did I know...
and in the morning I saw the trap under the hood of the van
was without cheese...and the trap on the front floor-board
had been nibbled a little..and the trap behind the drivers seat
had the culprit...hopefully the only one...so now I have documented
three species of rodent at this desert campsite...the kangaroo rat
has yet to be phtographed

and the rains came twice...hard and fast...a flowering springtime
may come in the desert...and perhaps the caterpillers and moths
will emerge again...I will see

"We do not live to extenuate the miseries of
the past nor to accept as incurable those of
the present."  Fairfield Osborn

Birupes simoroxigorum

"Letter writing is a form of speech..."

                        this morning at KOFA   kings valley... with coffee
                          and a full moon over my shoulder

just when i am ready to go full snark
i read some of my book of buddhist
world views by thich nhat hanh
and i get a dose of the better side
and there goes inspiration for scorched earth
somewhat...

i still regret writing about D. Trumps hair...of
all things... when EVERYBODY was doing it.
can't get it back now
so although I, like most people like a good
scorched earth screed now and again...it can
get to be a real vice...so I will try to limit
my harsh views as much as possible and spend
more energy on trying to water the good seeds


"Letter writing is a form of speech. A letter can sometimes
be safer than speaking because there is time for you to read
what you have written before sending it. As you read your
words you can visualize the other person receiving your letter
and decide if what you have written is skillful and appropriate.
Your letter has to water the seeds of transformation in the other
person and stir something in their heart if it is to be called
RIGHT SPEECH
If any phrase can be misunderstood or upsetting, rewrite it.
Right mindfulness tells whether you are expressing the truth
in the most skillful way. Once you have mailed your letter,
you cannot get it back." THICH NHAT HANH

GILBERTO GIL

"Democracy is the art and science..."

                        MISS FOX IS HOPING TO FIND MR. ANTELOPE SQUIRREL
                         TO INVITE HIM TO DINNER--BUT HE IS ASLEEP IN HIS DEN

ah yes such neighborliness is nice to see
however...sometimes things are not as they
seem...

i recently read that bad diets kill more people
than smoking tobacco
it seems it is not so much eating bad food as much
as not eating enough good food
it is recommended that we humans eat
more nuts, seeds, whole grains vegetables
fruit and less salt...and I suppose if you
are a fox more mice and such as that...
this information is from a study of 195 countries
studied between 1990 to 2017 by the
GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASE STUDY


for reasons quite unknown to me
I am being kept under very close
surveilance...and I dont think it is
for a diner invitation...i do occasionaly
criticize folks...but so do I get critisized
politics seem to be rearing its ugly head
who would have thought!

i have been watching some very good
music videos and would like to recommend
a couple of numbers which I found especially
rousing
"Sad songs say so much" from Elton John in Barcelona 1992
song number 16
this video shows how good a piano player Mr. John is and
his vocal accompaniment (not back-up) singers do an excellent
job...he ends this video with a rousing vocal endeavor..he kicks ass

also a number from
Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam 1974 (I think)
"No Place to go" is a cowboy jazz masterpiece
although Mr. Daniels is most known for his fiddle work
his guitar playing is outstanding...all of the musicians
on this number and on this entire video are outstanding

"Democracy is the art and science of running the
circus from the monkey cage."  H.L. Mencken

CAROL KAYE

"If liberty means anything at all..."

                    BETTER READ THIS ONE TWICE...DON'T GET EXCITED!

Been listening to the radio
seems that the current commader in chief
is up to his pharyngeal slit with investigations
and it must be said that every second that is invested
in non-productive activities is one more second
that is not being used to implement legislation
that would ADVANCE the concerns of the USA
I do believe that all care must be taken to be
certain that the government is a funtioning
three part government...but lets not get bogged down
in the mud hole.
I think that this little investigation  may end up like the
BATTLE OF THE CRATER
and when the smoke clears the democrates
will find themselves in a hole of their own
making and being picked off by the Union troops

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the
right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
                                              George Orwell

Burrhus Frederick Skinner

"Better to live alone..."

                                         largest ocotillo in this part of the desert
                                         seems to be in symbiosis with saguaro twins


i keep hearing about
folks inquiring into impeachment
i would like to hear more about
peach mint ice cream
politics is now thundering along like
a herd of lemmings
probably not too many changes will be
made in how people get elected to national
office
that's the real problem
money driven elected officials need to whip up
support and do not get to spend enough time
studying the solutions to the problems
Yang wants guaranteed income
guaranteed food clothing shelter and health care
might better serve the citizens
and take social security from the billionaires too
i have this notion that if college  was free more people
would get a college degree and better paying jobs
and then more income tax money would be collected
is it me or do common sense solutions just
seem to be not very common
also why can't a person be prescribed a membership
to a health and exercise fitness type facility before
they need to get on medications
it is just too damned hot in the summertime
to get much jogging done
anyhow....I need more exercise myself...

FARIDA MAZAR SPYROPOULOS

"Better to live alone;
with a fool there is no
companionship. With few desires
live alone and do no evil, like
an elephant in the forest roaming at will."
                                                            Pali Canon

"In his third incarnation..."

                                            two saguaro cactus dug up and left to die
                                            which I replanted and watered last year
                                            and they seem to be doing much better

insofar as I do not have a PH.D
in environmental science but I
still would like to work towards
a better planet (this is my home planet)
I like to pick up some garbage every
day and help out the plants and animals
when I can...

"In his third incarnation Vishnu manifested
himself as a boar in order to rescue the earth
submerged under the ocean of non-existence."
                                   Hindu Mythology

 vergangenheitsbewaltigung

"Technology will surely drown us...."

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                                                      PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS


Some examples are as follows:

Vote for the goose and not the ganders
cast your vote for Bernie Sanders!

He's one of us, he's kind of plump
cast your vote for Donald Trump!

He's a civilized man, he eats with a fork
cast your vote for Beto O'Rourk!

Don't say he's strange, who are you to judge!
cast your vote for Pete Buttigieg!

Stick with a person who's always scorin'
cast a vote for Elizabeth Warren!

"Technology will surely drown us. The
individual is disappearing rapidly. We'll
eventually be nothing but numbered ants.
The group thing grows."  Marcel Duchamp

Charley Toorop