Occupation of Independence

The downtown/old town is the "draw" around here. I took a walk through downtown, just out of curiosity. It was so dead, it felt like one of those post-apocalypse science fiction movies. But I shouldn't have been surprised. There is hardly one "essential" store in the entire downtown. What it does have is yoga/pilates instruction, art galleries (trinket shops), over-priced food fad boutiques, antique shops, tattoo parlors, restaurants (offering small portions and high prices), and metaphysical centers. There were hardly any cars, and not many pedestrians either. Normally you would see a diverse sample of the menagerie of the Democratic party. A culture has to create some sort of economy, and perhaps looking at the economy tells us a lot about culture. But in thinking about this example, Cause and Effect get confused in my mind. It was thought-provoking to see an already weak economy completely crumble. Perhaps groceries, hardware, and tire stores really

It is nice to see some pestilential germ-holes shut down. But it staggers the mind to think of millions and millions of people trapped in their houses, and consuming media all day. How can it be mentally healthy to shovel that mind-rot, fear, and panic into people's heads, hours and hours per day?! People aren't used to seeing media consumption as a bacillus or virus -- but they should. In fact, media consumption is the ultimate form of contamination. But it is one thing to condemn mass media; it is quite another thing to propose healthy alternatives. The easy answer is 'books.' But I don't have a high enough opinion of authors and the publishing industry to be a cheerleader for this option. Listening to music is certainly a healthy pass-time.  But if you listen to too music, you become numb to it. It might help to accept background music as "real" music, and to renounce the expectation that you are supposed to be swept off your feet by gorgeous melo

In our society, words like hero, honor, and support get bandied about, usually for work that is unnecessary and destructive. Lately, going into Walmart stores, I admired and appreciated the work done by the employees. Without them, the economy would almost be shut down. You could say the same thing of grocery store employees and many others. Wouldn't it be great if the virus panic caused us to start honoring people like these who are doing something necessary and constructive?! I hope it becomes a permanent change.  

Last episode I was comparing our yearning for some good news about the virus to a sailor struggling to "round the Horn." There are better analogies for people who live through east-of-the-Rockies winters. They yearn for the first sight of spring. In some places, blooming crocuses might do the trick. But lately it has been encouraging to see other people become more normal -- perhaps a certain ennui has set in, and they have turned the television set off. Have you noticed all the plexiglass windows popping up at the checkout counters? Some look improvised, while others look quite professional. What a sensible idea! These windows save the checkout person from being coughed on by a customer three feet away. I hope the windows remain in place after this virus panic is over. It surprises me when something practical, sensible, and affordable is done in the USA.  I think those little pieces of tape on the floor, that tell you where the 6 feet distance is, are also a good ide

It is spring in New Mexico. So the central fact of physical existence is not sunlight -- as newbies might suppose -- but rather, horizontal gravity. Try leaving a building supply store with a 4' X 8' sheet of something! If you walk exactly into the wind, you might make it. But if you get 5 degrees off, you will "broach to," in nautical lingo. Then your load will fly horizontally into somebody's car. On such a day recently celltower workers chose to climb the mast, all the way up to the crow's nest. I decided to park on the other side of the parking lot. Imagine what it was like to be on the lookout for land in the crow's nest of a clipper ship, especially when the ship was heeled over at a 45 degree angle, and the length of the mast amplified the pitching and rolling of the ship. I am usually careful to park my camper's bow straight into the wind, to reduce the side-buffeting, and to ensure the side entry door is slammed shut by the wind, in