I hope that you have opportunity to visit the Joshua Tree National Park, where the Mojave and the Colorado deserts meet. We walked the trails there for three hours taking many pictures, viewing only a sliver of the park. I cannot describe for you the effect of the experience of this desert environment upon…
I had time to think. Our adventure in the west continued today with the drive from Kingman Arizona to the town of 29 Palms on the edge of the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is a desolate place. The two lane road was busy in both directions. There were commercial tractor trailers, and many…
Only experience suffices to allow understanding. And if you are fortunate, have someone to guide you, point out the manner in which “things work,” — there is a chance to learn without injury. The desert is austere, an unforgiving place. The scarcity of water means that life is precarious, the margin of survival is…
The journey continues. We’ve passed though much desert, and some high country with tall lodge pole pine trees. We are now in Kingman, Arizona. This is our third stop, visiting with individuals who have a long term interest, fascination with carousels, with the artistry and history of carousel animals. My host and guide, for…
I was told that it is windy in New Mexico this time of year. For someone that lives in the Midwest, eighty degrees with a stiff, dry wind, is a hot day in April… On the way to Albuquerque New Mexico we glimpsed an abandoned structure, a wrecked shell, with a small parking lot…
Passing through Texas. Anticipate reaching New Mexico within a few more hours of driving. The panhandle of Texas seems as flat as a plate, dry in appearance by comparison to the Midwest. Many cows are viewed from the road, standing, heads down, finding such nourishment as they can. Do they know they will soon…
It is Monday morning. I am in a hotel room in Springfield Missouri. Unaccountably I slept well last night. There is much to subvert a good night’s sleep, the bits and pieces of “the news” that one would rather not think about. Often the knowledge of things I would rather not say out loud,…
That Madman Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market-place, and cried incessantly: “I am looking for God! I am looking for God!” As many of those who did not believe in God were standing together there, he excited considerable laughter. Have…
Saturday is bright and brisk. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I, a refugee from Christianity find the unreality of Easter, that is a certain opinion about the Easter story excruciating. How so you naturally will ask… The pageantry, the spectacle made of the resurrection story by Christian churches directs me to believe because a mutilated…
Stoic Philosopher-Slave We met late in the day to discuss Stoicism, that is, the sayings of Epictetus, an excerpt from his “Manual.” Nine of us were around the table, a sell-out crowd. The discussion was spirited, wide ranging. There is no respite from the issues of our time, pressing upon us. Epictetus, a slave,…
