Summer (Autumn) Breeze

I can't believe how bad the blooger boogers have made this interface. I wonder if they're trying to drive all bloggers away -- all of them except the ones who will only do newspeak. Sigh.

Anyway, I wanted to do the blog title like this:

Summer Autumn Breeze

With the strikethrough. In my goofy mind I wanted to play on the song...

And present the video above.

Just because it seemed a clever and perhaps upbeat way to open the post.

But blooger won't let me do strikethrough in the title from compose view. I could monkey around in html and do it but It seems too much work for a non-coding ape-lizard named me.

Upbeat opening, wot? I could fall into a barrel of tits and still find something to complain about.

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The opening image doesn't do justice to the wind we had yesterday. Wind is a part of life here in the Nebraska Panhandle. With the exception of late summer -- August-September -- we usually have a good bit of wind here. In the late summer stillness it's easy to forget that. When the wind returns it's always somewhat of a surprise.

The wind returned yesterday with gusts up to 60 mph.

It was a bit annoying, but not too bad. I made an interesting observation while it was windy. I watched the rushing air strip leaves from trees until it seemed like the atmosphere was mostly blowing vegetation. A very powerful force, wind. Nevertheless, the kis clothes affixed to my clothesline stayed right where I put them. And dried almost instantly!

Fun stuff. That was yesterday. What is today like?

It's very cool. I noticed interesting ape-lizard trash. If I were an alien I'd wonder at the insanity of wuhandromeda and I'd be somewhat reassured that so many masks are discarded like kleenex. Not everyone, it seems, is trapped in the narrative.

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After a couple of miles of walking and hill running in the pesky wind I found another splash of autumn color in a lee area. Maybe not too much wind noise?

Today is brilliant, happy, okay. It's Columbus Day, and I know the secret of Columbus. I learned it in second grade. Cool, eh? As I walked I shuffled my feet through fallen leaves and made one of the characteristic sounds of fall. Too bad I can't share the smell, it's lovely too.

I also finally flipped my calendar to October. It was her calendar and features pretty outdoor scenes and passages from Psalms. From the batshit crazy file, I've left the calendar on August for the last couple of months. Why? Batshit crazy. Today I changed it to the actual month we are living in. Why? Batshit crazy. October's passage from Psalms, 139:14.

I praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Yes.

I set out to walk over to the corner pharmacy. The round trip I faced would be a crushing six blocks. A full(ish) half-mile. When I returned home I'd actually hiked 6.5 miles. I ran smokebong hill five times. And I never got to the pharmacy. Until my second walk of the day, anyway.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. When I hike as usual, and do so despite my aches and pains and infirmity, I demonstrate the marvelous nature of my physical existence. Hiking through pain and mental/emotional inertia demonstrates the marvelous nature of my heart and mind. These things are a marvelous expression of my soul. In a way my actions proclaim the reality of this beautiful thing called livin'. It's not my job to make anyone understand, but it feels like it's my duty to make the demonstration.

Of course I have feet of clay. My primary purpose in hiking is not a demonstration of God's works; my primary motivation is to enjoy and feel better. But the demonstration is also what it is, whether my intent is service to my fellows or not. Along the way I sometimes find new and cool stuff which is really old and not all that cool. Except to me.

So why is today brilliant, happy, and okay? It's a good question and deserves a good answer. Whether I can translate my mind-set and heart-set into a good answer remains to be seen.

Simply put, I am alive and I choose to live, despite having sustained physical and emotional wounds. I choose to suck it up and drive on, to embrace beauty and pain, to do livin' stuff on life's terms. I will not give in to the tee-vee narrative and be simply a thing owned and operated by that tee-vee/infotainment empire. I choose to live as a free and sovereign human being.

Does that make sense? Probably not. I'm not in this writing moment in a place where I can be articulate about what I feel. So be it.

Now that I've got everyone completely confused, it's time to think about quitting while I'm behind.

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Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.