Occupation of Independence

  It is funny how some geographical features seem interesting despite being less than spectacular, visually. Arroyos in the Southwest are a great example of that. Here in the Northwest, river estuaries are interesting. As the river debouches into a lake, you sometimes get shallow lakes -- almost wetlands. It is a great place for wildlife. I was thinking about that this morning when a moose calmly walked along the shoreline, no more than 50 yards away from me. Q.t. 𝞹 was in the van with me. Finally she saw the moose. Surprisingly her reaction was mild.

  Early in my career as an RVer, I learned to avoid water: too many tourists, noisy boats, music noise, fees, bugs, etc. But I am happy to make an exception to that behavior now. I suppose parents go through things like this, when their child is the right age. Near Lake Coeur d'Alene I tried to look at the water as if I were a former Phoenix street urchin. Just imagine how soft and lush the green grass is, in this area, from her point of view! I wonder what would happen if I rented a canoe and took her out for a paddle? And she saw a moose?!

Q.t.𝞹, my newish miniature poodle, surprised me with her behavior on this high altitude sagebrush/grass/aspen land near Vernal, UT. Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise. She gamboled across the field literally by leaps and bounds. It was delightful to watch. The sagebrush was just the right height, and mixed with green grass so as to fit the stature of a 20 pound miniature poodle. Why was she going crazy? She had spend the first 4+ years of her life living in a hot urban hellhole (Phoenix), including some homeless street life, getting knocked up by a husky, having a litter of 'hoodles,' going to (good) second owners, and then finally to me. And now she was running on soil and green grass instead of hot pavement or rubble.  That must feel great to a dog; after all, they are pawed/padded creatures, not hooved creatures.  She chased white-tailed deer. I had brushed her the night before and had not yet reinstalled her collar, so she ran free and naked, a perfect little c

It is not satisfactory enough to keep saying 'I am astonished!' about events in the world today. Something better is needed. How much suffering will "Nato-stan" go through for such a dubious cause? But this won't be the first time that Rulers have been willing to virtually commit the suicide of their nation. I actually benefit by reading about some of the suicide-attempts of the past, if you are willing to admit that making sense of the world is a benefit. What suffering the average peasant is willing to go through just because they are afraid of their mighty Rulers! It is easy to explain. Rulers are a rather compact, semi-united nucleus of power, whereas the peasants are disunited. In olden times it was the churchmen who were screaming God, God!, GOD! at the masses, thus keeping them in line. And the King was appointed by GOD ALMIGHTY, so you'd better be willing to die for the king. Today it is the Media that brainwashes the peasants. Slogans such as Freedom,

  Interstate highways can mess up the road system that really matters: the dirt roads of the backcountry. So they put tunnels under the interstate highway to let vehicles cross under. I have always avoided these tunnels in the past. I didn't want an unpleasant surprise. But in this case I knew somebody and their rig that made it through the tunnel successfully. Still, I walked the tunnel first. The photo barely shows the top-line of the trailer behind the van. The trailer is about a foot and a half higher than the van. I had to remove its internet antenna. Anyway, for the first trip through a tunnel, it was kinda' fun. And let's not forget that tunnels screen out big rigs, especially toy-haulers!