Summer 2021. Vagrancy revisited

 10222128 Part 25 11.11111111..... Prescott AZ is a high desert town carved out by heavy winds and ancient rivers and rains, so that now it is all sand, dirt and rocks, and endless canyons.    My sister Jill and her husband Joe say that when they first moved here in the early 1990s they were the only house on the canyon.     Now that same canyon is dotted with houses, there are big box stores in town, and the town has mostly transitioned from ranching to  - now - tourism and retirees having moved up from Phoenix.       Oddly similar demographic trends to where I live in Bandon Oregon, albeit that Bandon is still in the early stages of that transition, and still blessed with the charms of locals who will sit in the coffee shops and scowl and curse at the retirees and tourists because the town is changing too fast for them.    I have been told to my face by one farmer that he is just waiting for all the Californians and tourists to leave, to which I could only respond "Too late for

 101824 Part 24 On fresh thinking I have found that when I sit down to write, or work on a somewhat larger project, it is always best to approach it with an empty relaxed mind, and usually after having just woken up, or having walked by myself for awhile and just thinking, and allowing my mind to ruminate and empty itself.    This is consistent with the approach I seem to have taken in life of not really knowing what I am doing - pretty much at anytime anywhere -  when approaching projects, but trusting that I will somehow figure it the resident challenges.    A noisy mind does not allow much into it.   An empty vessel allows for the echoes of thoughts to bounce around enough so that you can turn them on their sides and see them more properly. *****************  Icy morning.   My "summer" away has bled into the fall, and much cooler weather, and I never thought I would ever say this, but I am looking forward to getting back to Bandon and returning to my walking life.    I hav

  Part 23 The hand that holds the carrot first morning ice Mornings are getting much cooler now in Prescott.    This is the first morning I rode into town wearing a hoodie.    Its the scarlet hoodie that Jana bought for me a number of years ago from one of her retail jobs.    Much worn and faded now.    This hoodie has had much use as Bandon weather gear for most people who live there is a hoodie.   Temperatures in Bandon range from the low 50s in Winter to the high 60s in summer.   Pretty much cool and breezy most of the year.   Coastal weather.    During the rainy season November to April, when it is not raining, most folk wear hoodies.    In summer when it is not raining with all the wind it is usually a hoodie as well.   Bandon is a hoodie town. This being Arizona, the temperatures do warm up in the afternoon, so I am thinking that from here on in I might shift my rides from morning coffee rides to afternoon Tea rides.    This way I can still get my daily exercise in, in order to c

  Part 22  or so.  I resemble that comment I was watching Hulu the other night and could not focus on any movie long enough to maintain enough interest to watch it all the way through, so drifted through 3 of them. 1.  Some old guys with nothing better to do,  and too much time on their hands, trying to maintain relevancy by investigating a murder in their apartment building 2.  Another one about a fading country music star trying to maintain relevancy by writing one more hit song for a young beauty who gave him a night or two before discovering who he really was. 3. A third one about an aging screen writer whose idea reservoir has run dry,  and struggling to maintain relevancy by teaching a writing course at a community college Of course I detected an overriding theme.    Aging men trying to find a relevant role in a world that has an increasing disinterest in them.    And the overriding themes of aging.   The struggle to stop from disappearing.   To scream into the night that you are

  Part 21 The hesitancy great podcast I sometimes get distracted by the notion of what would happen if I could stop myself from ever meeting Michelle, and thus never having her abandon me at age 60  - too old to start over but having to  - and thus leading to the greatest pain of my life.    This gaping chasm that 4 years later I am still trying to crawl out of.   I think what if I went back to that moment of meeting her knowing what I know now, and thus avoiding the great pain that would come 30 odd years later. In other words, What if I blinked, and I was suddenly back in that moment in my 28 years old body, but with my 65 year old sense of self.    What would I do? I think it would drive me mad.     While there would be obvious benefits in that once again I would have a 28 year old body, with all of its quickness, strengths and reserves, in addition to having the knowledge of what companies are going to increase 1000 fold in stock price, it would still drive me mad because I could n

 100313 Veinte 3 skinny people waiting for their coffee   20 in Spanish.     I know only snippets of various languages.   I can count to 10 in French, and Danish (Danish from old girlfriend, who also taught me a nursery rhyme),  I spent a Boston summer trying to learn Russian back when I drove a cab and found that most of the cab drivers were Russian.   I would stand in the Logan airport cab drivers's cafe and listen to them talk.     After a couple of months of working with 3 by 5 flash cards, I got to a point that when I listened to them I could catch the odd word here and there, but not really understanding anything.  Still, catching individual words from the constant streaming sound chatter of a foreign language is a foundational start. I did take 3 years of Spanish in high school, so I know Spanish more than anything else.   Knowing some Spanish is helpful in America, and specifically living in the west.   It has been whispered that America is an Hispanic nation.   Most Americ