Occupation of Independence

A traveler in the USA has some real advantages to enjoy. Our weakness is the shortage of cultural and historical aspects of travel. Let's talk about one way to lessen these disadvantages.  'Leaving Yuma' is a good example. It is delicious to do a good job of it. Start off by admitting the grim truth, without any sugar-coating or pep talks: Yuma sucks to high heaven. And then let the first heat wave hit you. What happens? In Yuma, you can't even bring your dog in the car when you go grocery shopping during the daylight hours, except for a few weeks per year. Today is probably the last day.  Then wallow in it a little bit! Laundromats will soon become hot -- combine that with them being desperately crowded. Take a chance and grab a laundry cart that an old snowbird-biddy thinks belongs to her, and see what happens. Parking lots are congested. People back out without looking what's behind them. After all, their necks won't twist that far, and only newer cars have b

  Are my readers interested in media criticism? I am not sure. But they probably should be, since media consumption is likely to become a bigger and bigger part of life. Recently I was following a tip to a new podcaster, "The History of England," (David Crowther. It is a history of the country of England. Do not confuse with Kevin Stroud's "History of English" about the language. ) I had high hopes but they fizzled out. It is a shame to admit defeat because there was a lot of good content on his podcast. It was large. And his voice is pleasant to listen to, despite the usual "speech defect" of an English accent; that is, he is half-non-rhotic. Since podcasting is a new medium to me, it interests me to see likes and dislikes take shape fairly quickly. What bothered me about Crowther's podcast is the snideness in his voice. It isn't the greatest defect in the world, but I still want to run away from it. Why so? Perhaps it reveals the podcaster

People thinking about becoming RVers have a problem in front of them. Information. That might sound facetious, since there are so many You Tube videos and old-style blogs available on the topic of RVing. But few of them discuss what really matters.  Instead, they just talk about their "rig" or about converting their van, because that is how they monetize their channel. "Just click on the link." The old style blogs show pretty scenery, day after day. Putting these two traits together, we could say that the propaganda out there assumes that the benefit of RVing is all about relaxing in the sun or looking at pretty scenery, but the main challenge of doing so is finding out where to camp or what aftermarket part you need for improving your RV or van. How an armchair traveler looks at RVing.   I'm here to tell you that this point of view is all wrong. So then, what "matters?"  Largely it is finding things to be interested in, when the initial euphoria of ga

It happened again. I wish it happened more often: an intersection between mountain biking and music. Years ago I wrote about an experience like this on a despicable trail outside Madera Canyon, south of Tucson. But the unpleasantness of the trail created an appreciation for the mood of the music, which was ascending and gentle. (But, my goodness, I was long-winded back then!) The music by itself was enjoyable -- but it really was the synergy between the biking experience and the music that was magical.  In a sense, then, someone with no musical talent or training can become a type of composer, by combining the music with other parts of their life. A few months ago I heard a solo piano work 'played' (aka, acted) by the 'lady of the house' in a classic TV western of all things. IMDB wouldn't divulge the identity of the music, but it sounded like Schumann or Brahms. I kept searching. ...but with what? It's not as if you could hum it to the internet search engine,