Somewhere up ahead ...

There is a first time for every road one travels, always a sense of adventure, even an element of danger. It is well appreciated as an opportunity one might easily - never have had. And that is not lost on me. Kolob Terrace Road (parts of which are included in Zion National Park).

Where are we going?

It is most interesting just how far ... the 'far right' have strayed from the original thinking that brought the 'original founding fathers' to the conclusions they reached at the time of our 'founding'. Today's battlefield has become digital. Communications have become 'instantaneous' and world-wide. Is it any wonder that the world (and certainly the US) has become irrational to an extreme and exponential degree? And generally speaking, today's Republican base relishes 'hate' rather than 'hope', mass hysteria rather than logic, monied propaganda rather than fact, and Salem rather than Washington. It is scary, and it is sad as we continue to march to the edge of the cliff. The edge is getting crowded.

Never let me go ...

Of income disparity, the 'sellout' of America and the 'young people' now being affected:


You know ... , for me this is so very sad. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed. I watched a now older movie the other day (thinking I needed to get my mind off of things for a little while) entitled "Never Let Me Go". I think I had seen it before, but didn't remember (not unusual for me :-). Anyway ... this time it took on a whole new meaning. This time, the fictional story became more ... real and heartbreaking. It is about young people (not unlike those we are seeing 'occupying "Wall Street"' and other cities recently), but these young people had been brainwashed into 'accepting' their fate because they had (through careful manipulation by the 'elite') never known anything else.

I know that I will not be around when all that is wrong with America finally sorts itself out one way or the other. I know that there will be an 'end' or perhaps a 'new beginning'. For the young people, I so hope it will be the latter. I love young people. I love to see hope and aspiration in their eye's and hearts, not disillusionment and despair. I hope they won't accept what the 'few' in my generation sadly have forced and manipulated upon them. I hope they refuse to listen to the 'snake-oil' salesmen that we put in charge. I hope they 'soar' and reclaim their future from the failure's of my generation.

I hope!

a healthy reprieve

I am back from my trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton (got back late Wednesday night). Survived the bears, though I saw a total of five male grizzlies (from a safe distance). Magnificent! Did a lot of hiking, walking, and enjoying the solitude when I had the chance. Put 1100 miles on a rental car. Took 36 gigs of photographic images in RAW digital format (which should keep me busy for months now). If twenty percent of those turn out well, I'll be very pleased with the effort. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip (lost 12 lbs. without even trying :-). Am I tired? Yes! The first seven days of my trip were spent alone (which I really like). The last 3 days were joined by my son and his family. Actually that was nice too - so great to see my grandchildren learn to enjoy nature, to love it, and to get a sense of the need and the duty to protect it, to revere it.

Was also nice to get away from "politics", cell phones, and the internet. It does one immeasurable good to do that once or twice a year - get's your sanity back in check. That's for sure.

Anyway, back to the grind of life, politics, and the big mess seemingly made, or being made of the American way of life. Democracy is dying a painful death it seems. Don't know what I can do about that, sigh. But, ....... I do care, still.

Yes ...

“At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do, it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” -- President Barack Obama - 1/12/11 - Tuscon, Arizona - Memorial Services for the victims of the previous Saturday's tragedy

remembering late summer ...

Visited Glacier National Park in NW Montana in late August 2010 ...

Glacier National Park and it's contiguous partner, Canadian Waterton Lakes National Park together are called the "Crown of the Continent". Together they comprise over 1.4 million acres of breathtaking beauty. Glacier NP alone has over 700 miles of hiking trails - some day hikes and others are multi-day hikes with remote camp sites along the way - all with a multitude of 9-10 thousand ft. peaks and many glacier carved clear water lakes and streams lending themselves marvelously to the wilderness adventures that await ...

My trip this past August touched, over five days, just a very few parts of Glacier (as shown in this set). One could easily spend a year there and still not see all the wonders it has to offer. Maybe I can go back one day ...

Faith, Hope, and .... "Leaks"

In matters of government and society it seems to me (as it relates to the media) that "truth" (and motive), unlike "fact", can be concluded from fact(s) and "opinion". But at the end of the day, the "truths" we each draw are solely our own, while the "facts" once discovered - live on ... and on ... and on. Wise men and women ought not to confuse the two, nor should they realistically expect them to coexist in every expressed opinion.

If asked, I can tell virtually anyone what I believe to be true, in whom (or what) I trust, and what I think I "know". But in the grand scheme of things, it is one's "faith" and "hope" that sees us through, renders our live's meaningful, and brings us some comfort ... amidst an often sea of despair.