Occupation of Independence

I will spare the long-suffering reader my stump speech, and write only about fresh manifestations or embodiments of it.  A great example of that happened lately in a small mountain range in southeastern Arizona . There was a secondary tourist attraction nearby.  The rocks were fun to look at.  And there was a little bit of history, too. I avoided most of the visitors, and chose a nearby area that featured a different kind of scenery.  The grass had big seedheads on it -- it looked like a kitchen scrub brush.  This grass was tawny and was left over from the last monsoon season .  Just imagine how lush it seemed at the end of last year's monsoon season -- it is no exaggeration to call it a miracle. And there were water resources in my hills, as well.  That is no small thing in Arizona.  The hills were soft, feminine, and useful: I sighed with relief when thinking about these things.  And so I want to know: do other long-term travelers out-grow...

What luck!  I like the 1964 movie, "Becket", and while searching for it on You Tube they suggested a new digital restoration of the movie on the Shakespeare Network.  The movie had twice the effect on me because of Khamenei's murder in his home, just a couple weeks ago. During the movie, analogies came to mind between the victims of King Henry II (of Normandized England) and Iranians' attitude towards martyrdom.  The analogies fizzled out quickly and then reappeared.  It was all quite tantalizing. The characters in "Becket" were always talking about honor.  King Henry II claimed an aristocratic woman (who was in love with Becket) just as a test of how loyal Becket would be when the chips were down.  Would Becket live up to a previous promise to Henry II by turning the woman over to Henry? When the woman learned that Becket was relinquishing her to King Henry II she said to Becket, "You've not found anything in the world to care for, have you?...

Somewhere in Arizona I saw this protest message.  It is probably caused by requirements for expensive, replacement, gasoline, storage tanks at gasoline stations, such as in California?  Well, I have long ago confessed to being a geo-bigot and love to make fun of California politics and culture. Be that as it may, shouldn't the protest message really say something like: "Keep Trumpanyahu's war policies out of Arizona tanks."  My goodness, this could turn into an expensive travel season.

 Ahh dear, the premature heat wave!  But there was some good news on this morning's ride.  For one thing, the discomfort made the experience less touristy and more authentic.  Also I actually encountered a well-designed gate on some BLM land .  Yes, I know that it sounds silly for a grown man to get excited about such things -- but I do! This isn't so silly when you consider how I struggle with these gates from time to time.  And how you go away with torn clothes.   And can you believe I was admiring something as simple as a lone, yellow flower that was different than the yellow/orange poppies you expect at this time of year: My goodness, I am becoming too easy to please!  But, back to the gate issue.  I rode down a small hill, and not too fast, because I was feeling hot and thirsty and a little punch-drunk.  It was only the last few feet that I realized that this gate was semi-invisible: I managed to get stopped, but just barely. T...