Occupation of Independence

Young people probably tune-out oldsters when certain phrases come out, such as "I remember when...," or "It happened 50 years ago, but I remember it just like yesterday." But the thing is, good ol' Gramps was right after all.  Because it was 50 years ago when my Grandpa -- a lifelong farmer -- was reminiscing about his one and only scenery vacation to Colorado.  There was a change in the barbed wire fences when he reached the Great Plains compared to a Prairie State further east.  Then he caught himself, smirked, and said, "You don't want to hear about that.  A young man needs so much excitement..."  And I can remember it like yesterday, dammit. Indeed, I have noticed how satisfied I can be with things that don't seem flashy or exciting.  The other night it defied the weather forecasts and gave us a nice little shower at 4 in the morning.  On the morning dog walk I was impressed by how fresh the sagebrush and grass smelled.  It was dead calm....

Fuses blew and circuit breakers snapped open.  Such was my head when I learned that the only laundromat in town would not accept quarters.  They wanted me to pay upfront for a card, and then use a credit/debit card to load up a balance on the card.  The instructions were printed on the wall.  About 16 steps were needed. As an alternative, I could download an app onto my phone and pay that way.  I was shocked to learn that the washing and drying machines were connected via bluetooth to the customers' phone, so no card was necessary. from istockphoto.com There was a telephone number on the wall.  Amazingly enough, a human being answered it.  He explained that the former laundromat owner went out of business partly due to vandalism of quarters at the machines.  The man who answered my call was a personable young fellow, and soon he had me in the mood to see this whole infuriating experience as a game to have fun with.  The app wanted me to set u...

What could be more shameful than your country actively aiding the extermination of a people?  It makes an individual in America tune the whole thing out -- it is too depressing to think about.  But that will just guarantee that the murderous people win.  The alternative is to look for some help, some escape, from this shame. Apparently elections are a false hope.  We have had a Democrat administration and now a Republican administration actively participating in the slaughter in Gaza.  To hell with the Blue versus the Red -- in either case, the Media and Congress are complete slaves to the Israeli lobby. If we back off from the daily news and take in a long-term view, we see public assemblies going through fundamental changes from time to time, typically because of some crisis.  Think of the changes the English Parliament has had over the last few centuries.  Or consider King Louis XVI reconvening the French Estates-General, only to watch them reconst...

There is no shortage of postcard scenery in northeastern Oregon.  I could have camped at a spot where this view would literally have been out the front door:  And I enjoyed the view for a few seconds, but quickly lost interest.  I wanted to find something that wasn't such a tourist  cliché.  What sort of surprises could I find out here, if any? There was a sagebrush and grass ridge that made for surprises and delights.  Those are the words I use when I can pedal my bike uphill in something other than granny gear.  It was proving to be a great ride.  Near the high end we ran across this: The mountains were OK, but what really grabbed me was the soft, gently uphill curves on that dirt road. There wasn't much traffic on my dirt road.  But there were more houses than expected.  Perhaps this was an old mining town.   The locals weren't the kind of people you would probably want to talk to.  They were stereotypical rural yahoos ...

Isn't that how the old song goes?  Travelers in the deserts of the Southwest frequently see wild burros.  And they love them! But in the northern states I have never seen wild horses, despite being on their areas.  Until now.  When I got out of bed yesterday, there they were. They didn't act too wild, actually.  They were only 50 meters from my camper, and calmly watched me and my little dog going on our morning walk.  The horses seemed to want to mooch something from me, but I resisted.  After all, they are supposed to be wildlife. When I spoke quietly, they slowly walked away. 

Sometimes Caitlin Johnstone really hits me hard in the stomach with her op-eds.  Her recent "Multiple Western Press Outlets Have Suddenly Pivoted Hard Against Israel" is a perfect example of this.  (She is available free on Substack and Consortium News.) "After a year and a half of genocidal atrocities, the editorial boards of numerous British press outlets have suddenly come out hard against Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza...'' "These people have not suddenly evolved a conscience, they’re just smelling what’s in the wind. Once the consensus shifts past a certain point there’s naturally going to be a mad rush to avoid being among the last to stand against it, because you know you’ll be wearing that mark for the rest of your life in public after history has had a clear look at what you did..." "So if you’re still supporting Israel after all this time, my advice to you is to make a change while you still can. There’s still time to be the first a...

Driving across Hell's Canyon the other day, I saw a little bit of heaven:  It was easy for me to appreciate these red maple leaves, but I can't lavish enough thick, gloppy words over the experience to cause a reader to appreciate the leaves.  Most of them see real trees-- you know, the kind with leaves of interesting shapes -- all over their hometown and yard.  'Hunger is the best sauce' as the old saying goes, and you must live in a gawdforsaken waterless wasteland to feel that hunger. Another miracle: enough rain was prophesied that I actually relocated camp onto a hard surface.  It was exciting to visualize the possibilities with the clouds around camp: There were many flowers and much green grass between the sagebrush: One of the real bragging points of a camera is that it can take closeups of small, dispersed flowers and give them importance while blurring the background. All this vegetation makes for some happy mule deer: I hope the reader is as big a sucker fo...

 Whether the written word is obsolete or not might seem like an over-the-top question.  But before deciding too quickly, let me ask you when was the last time you did a long division problem with pen and paper?  Or even addition or multiplication? I do multiplication mentally when calculating the prepay price of gasoline.  But I do the multiplication in a weird sort of spatial/geometric way, not much like how we did multiplication in grade school. Or play this game: imagine a 75 year old comparing today with the year of their birth, 1950.  I find it even more interesting to go back 75 years from their year of birth, 1950.  What sort of predictions would somebody have made in 1875 about what 1950 would look like? Another way to ask the question is: why was writing invented in the first place? 1.  Semi-permanent records of kings and gods, inscribed into stone or clay tablets.  Even papyrus lasted a lot longer than a human lifetime.  The same w...

  In principle the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II is an excellent opportunity to revisit the misinformation and myths that many Americans subscribe to.   Larry Johnson has done a good job of that at sonar21.com .  I hope many more writers take on the myth. After 80 years it would be so nice if America finally said, "Why are we still in NATO?  Let the Europeans run NATO." But of course powerful lobbies want to keep the gravy flowing.  So the post-World War II American empire will linger on.  Still, I want to cling to a little bit of hope that the 80th anniversary will have some effect on how Americans think. Doing an internet search of iconic World War II photos seemed like a good idea.  Here is the photo that captures the myth better than any other: It  is natural for a Baby Boomer like me to relate to this photo.  It reminds us how coterminous we were with the American Empire.