I believe that there's something grand and majestic about the totality of our lives and of our universe. For me it's vital to look squarely -- as best I can -- at things and experiences as they actually are. My ideas of good and bad, pretty and ugly, useful and useless -- these ideas do not reflect reality as it is; they merely reveal my incompletely informed opinions of the moment.
What's in this image? Blue grama, buffalo grass, sagewort, dotted gayfeather, and a spatter of cowhit on a limestone rock that was sea bed circa 150 million years ago. Meh stuff, pretty stuff, ugly stuff, common stuff.
Such an image also reminds me of Baxter Black's poem "Reincarnation."
"What does reincarnation mean?"
A cowpoke ast his friend.
His pal replied, "It happens when
Yer life has reached it's end.
They comb yer hair, and warsh yer neck,
And clean yer fingernails,
And lay you in a padded box
Away from life's travails.
The box and you goes in a hole,
That's been dug into the ground.
Reincarnation starts in when
Yore planted 'neath the mound.
Them clods melt down, just like your box,
And you who is inside,
And then yore just beginnin' on
Yer tranformation ride.
In a while the grass will grow
Upon yer rendered mound.
Till some day on yer rendered grave
A lonely flower is found.
And say a hoss should wander by
And gaze upon that flower
That once was you, but now's become
yer vegetative bower.
The posey that the hoss done ate
Up, with his other feed,
Makes bone and fat and muscle,
Essential to the steed.
But some is left that he can't use
And so it passes through,
And finally lays upon the ground,
This thing that once was you.
Then say by chance, I wanders by
and sees this upon the ground
And I ponders, and wonders at,
This object that I found.
I thinks of reincarnation,
Of life, and death, and such,
And comes away concludin': Slim,
You ain't changed, all that much."
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Hiked and ran a bit yesterday. It was therapeutic.
More real stuff in the real world.
I can still run hills.
Just not as fast (or pretty) as I once could.
Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.
Baxter Black.
ReplyDeleteThat guy's got more common sense and insight into critters (biped, quadraped or other) than anyone I have ever heard. Used to hear him on the radio all the time. I think it was the late 1980s, back when the incomparable Paul Harvey ("Good day!") was still on.
Good times, before everything got so polarized and the truth still mattered.
Question on the fences along I-80. I think the along the right of way are responsibility of the DOT folks, not the adjacent landowners, right? Do they keep them well maintained, or do you end up doing it? Not a real serious problem if a cow wanders into the neighbors field, but loose on the highway can mess up a cow and vehicle pretty bad.
Thngs must be going well is you were able to squeeze in exercise session today, or you are getting better at juggling all the poop that's flying.
John Blackshoe
Those were good times. And bad times. I hope we're seeing a pendulum swing just now, and things don't get as bad as they might. Hoping that the little ones don't have to face too much bad stuff.
DeleteBaxter Black is a treasure. I've learned a lot from poets and poetry over the years.
As with most of our big-bureaucracy system, there's what NDOR says they do and what they actually do. They installed the fences and maintenance and upkeep are factored into their budget. The fences they build are done well and very solid. They do respond quickly when fences get torn down by MVA's, but routine stuff is done bureaucratically, so it pays for me to report and repair rather than report and hope. To be fair they have a lot of challenges and I doubt anyone actually intends to let fence go unrepaired. I guess it's a team effort. And it's not like my fences are perfect, either. Temporary structures existing in a wildly dynamic environment.
As for squeezing in exercise, I had to get serious about task management and recognize that I simply can't function well enough if I'm not fit enough. So I dug out the old jedi mind trick and convinced myself that a challenge is an opportunity to excel. It's a work in progress but I'm learning to be more efficient and organized and waste less time. Pain in the ass but also therapeutic and a growing up thing.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting John, you provided a perfect pick-me-up at just the right time!