I was working on some thought experiments but I'll save those for another day.
Thought for today: If it's such a struggle to hold on to a mad, why do I often fight that fight? I always lose, thank goodness, because if I win that battle I will die. Little ones teach me beautiful lessons when I'm teachable.
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| Losing the mad battle. |
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Physical therapy is proving to be extremely helpful. The hands on soft tissue work, dry needling, and instruction for stretching and exercise are making me more flexible and able to move much better. The process is also reducing radiculopathy. All in all a very good thing.
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| Sunlight kisses Scottsbluff National Monument through decomposing morning fog. |
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Friday and Saturday I was able to get out and train. They were sunny spring days and the lichen encrusted rocks were particularly fetching to my eye.
Couple of pics from Friday...
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On Friday as I hiked I was buzzed several times by a Swainson's Hawk. There are several mated pairs living above and around this particular slice of heaven, and it's not unusual for them to follow me around while I hike. Sometimes they buzz me, but that's usually rare.
The reasoning part of my brain tells me that they follow me in hopes that I will scare up a tiny, tasty morsel for their dining pleasure. Makes perfect sense. To them I'm nothing more than a feature of the ecosystem which they might be able to leverage to their advantage. Their lives are a constant battle for survival, after all.
On Friday, though, one hawk buzzed me more than a dozen times. I began to wonder if she was exhibiting a Jonathan Livingston Seagull-esque delight with livin' and flyin'.
And then, having shared beautiful moments with another in this place, watching these hawks, I began to wonder if something else might be in play.
At one point the hawk buzzed me and then disappeared into a gully. I didn't see her come out, so I thought she might have made a kill. It would be cool to see and capture in images a hawk kill, so I hurried over. I spied the hawk in the bottom of the gully. I didn't see any prey in her talons as she sat there in the sandy gully bottom, so I eased closer. And closer. And closer still. She let me approach to within about 10 feet, something I've never experienced before. I paused there, camera forgotten, and watched her watching me. Slightly (more than slightly) embarrassed, I asked, "Is it you?" She didn't laugh. She just watched me watching her. Finally she lazily spread her wings and floated aloft on a warm updraft. Where she had perched was a Pronghorn leg bone, bleached white from time and sunshine.
Alexzandra's sister is an artist and loves to work bone into sculpture. I picked up the bone, intending to give it to her. I was surprised by the heft. I looked closer. Pronghorn bone without question. But this one was a fossil, completely mineralized.
What do you do with an experience like this?
I delight in the thing, delight in livin' such an experience.
I am so very blessed.
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We all know how very serious the wuhandromeda threat is. We'll all die from it. Unless the gubmint saves us. We all know the drill; no need to think about it because tee-vee. Very, very, very, serious business.
Meanwhile, outside the tee-vee...
It's a very good sign in my estimation.
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Here's a recycled corpsman chronicle. I selected this one because in a comment Tom made via email, he described having chest tubes placed during a hospital stay. I too have had a chest tube, and I've also placed chest tubes. Re-reading this one gave me a lift and reminded me that while I get mixed up in serious stuff all the time, that doesn't mean I should take myself too seriously. I may be a unique ape-lizard, but more importantly, I'm exactly equal in my humanity to all other ape-lizards, past, present, future..
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Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.
Interacting with members of other species is pretty cool when it happens.
ReplyDeleteFlowers, lichens, hawks, and maybe something more. Cool indeed. I am blessed.
DeleteThanks Chris.
Interaction with any species, even some humans, is special.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is. Most humans are good to interact with face to face. Especially when you grant each other human status.
DeleteThanks Skip.
Liking the lichens.
ReplyDeleteLoving the Corpseman rerun, as a thankfully former Prez would call them. Another I don't remember reading before. Incredibly interesting. And a reminder of the impressive skills that some of our enlisted troops have, and can deploy when called upon, or merely allowed to do what they are capable of doing without micromanagement.
Yeah, the post-Vietnam Navy was "interesting" and a bit sketchy when permissiveness was the plan of the day, but it was pretty formidable once we cleaned out those not suited for our watch, ship, or Navy. It was a lot of admin work to get them out, but worth the effort, even if it left an empty billet.
Always enjoy visiting here.
John Blackshoe.
Something fascinating about lichens, the way they cling to life on decomposing rock. They're out there 24/7/365, enduring in their niche, worshiping the sun, and providing a lovely splash of color for those who notice.
DeleteThe navy, and the military in general, we're masters of guiding young ape-lizards along the path of greatness. I hope it's still the same today and I feel for the young men and women who have to navigate some of today's hard social/societal problems along the path of greatness. But it ain't supposed to be easy, I guess.
That post-Vietnam era navy was an interesting place to serve. I'm glad and blessed that my fellow Americans gave me the opportunity and the resources to go adventuring. What a country!
Thanks John.
the primary reason for my comment would be turning on my radio to listen to some music, and Cyndi Laupher's "Time after Time" was just beginning to play.
DeleteIt's been a while since you've posted anything, and like other readers have goaded before... many of us (or maybe just me) are wondering if everything is okay? I'm very far away in Iowa, so i probably am not too much help (if you needed it) and i'd go "even money" that you might simply be doing your usual busy life?
As for the military in general and the Navy specifically, i'm not sure it is the same path to greatness that it was during the 80's... maybe better in some ways, worse in others, as well as the different communities themselves (blackshoes, bubbleheads, aeirdales, specwar, etc etc etc...) and even "identical" mission units, but one with toxic leadership, vs the next one that rakes in the awards, promotions, retention, etc...
okay, enough babbling from iowa for now...
Thanks cT. It has been a long time since I posted. Thanks for checking up on me. It's been an astonishingly hard month for a multitude of reasons. It's also been an astonishingly blessed month. Sometimes the dichotomy of extremes feels very schizophrenic.
DeleteOne of many blessings is your opening sentence. How does stuff like this work? I blather in this space about a song and hard moments and at some point in the future a scrap of olden music playing many hundreds of miles away from here prompts you to wonder, "Now why don't he write?"
As for crazy times in America, it feels very much to me that a very great many people have allowed themselves to be programmed to forget Constitution, Equality of Humanity, and the Golden Rule/Categorical Imperative. The solution is to turn off the propaganda, check claims against reality, and do the hard work of the next right thing. Or something like that.
Anyway, thanks again and I hope to get some stuff posted up forthwith. Or perhaps fifthwith.
Physical therapy has proven to be quite beneficial. Hands-on soft tissue work, dry needling, and stretching and exercise training have improved my flexibility and mobility significantly. Radiculopathy is also being reduced as a result of the procedure. Overall, it's a great thing.
ReplyDeleteGmail Bellen