We rise a little above ground at commencement...looking down to water level.
Going home and getting close.
Some shots on the second hike, at sunrise.
Wild horse on the other side of the river taking an early morning drink. Fascinating that one only requires liquid in the form of water to survive...maybe even thrive. Makes one think of the variety of liquids humans consume.
Always opportunities for rock and boulder hopping above the Colorado River. One cannot help but be astounded by the fissures in the earth; the sheer formations are beyond comprehension.
We did change our plans and direction because of the smoke in September, but hopefully, not our principles. Talking about air quality resulting from wildfires in the western part of the country, we had a good laugh the other day. People are quick to blame nature's reaction on man's behavior. Everyone is an expert although few are knowledgeable in the sciences. We certainly aren't but you knew that. Two guys were standing outside our room having a smoke. It was quite considerate of them because we learn so much from their conversations and we get the inhalation high at no cost. A good deal. Well, they were commiserating about the quality of air and how difficult it was to go outside to smoke. The air was unhealthy for their lungs.
We love it that the political class are concerned with health issues. We recall a time or would like to think of a free society where parents took responsibility for their children and adults took care of themselves. I remember former mayor Bloomberg, who literally has more money than brains. He went after stores in New York selling too large size cups of soda drinks because citizens are too stupid to make their own decisions, healthy or not. Apparently, they were concerned for our health. However, they fought a long battle for citizens to enable them to smoke marijuana. We have always thought we had a better chance surviving on the roads against smokers rather than drunkards. It's more likely to be struck by a drunk driver than a smoking one or one who is over-weight, has bad teeth and other maladies because of drinking too much Coke. We live dangerously so we prefer to take our chances against a Marlborough Man, even a Lucky smoker is acceptable. Thus far, they haven't tried to curtail people watching television, demanding we exercise, sending us to tertiary schools or forcing us to treat our neighbors kindly.
My 'favorite' is preventing parents from knowing that their young daughter is contemplating or undertaking an abortion. Contrast that with not allowing a school nurse to administer a headache powder to a kid without permission from the parent. I suppose minor aches and pains are far more serious issues. We still believe a parent can be informed that their child misbehaved in class or has failing grades although in the case of the latter, we recall reading the child has to give the parent permission to read the report card from college. We spend much time in a state of confusion. Nevertheless, we are thankful for the governors closing down houses of worship during the pandemic. It gave many of us a good excuse to miss church, synagogue or mosque.
When protests and riots occurred, many of them said it was a necessary outlet for people to vent their feelings of anger and frustration. Others, in recently formed political groups, stated that riots were a necessary expression of anger. Looting of businesses did not harm anyone and besides, it was a form of reparations. After all, insurance companies exist to make good any and all types of negative behavior. We understand why we are confused and why the word 'lunacy' pops up every once in a while or actually, more often. Practically speaking, we decided it was the right time to sell our stock in short-term insurers. Heck, we did say we don't understand much anymore but we still have a few brain cells remaining.
We’re a little slow to understand and catch the new trends. What can one do? It’s one of the risks of life and so one finds oneself left in the dust. Along came the concept of ‘defund the police’. Frankly, we were horrified when we first heard it. Actually, we thought it was a new comedy show. But like all things, when a person puts one’s mind to it, the sense of it surfaces. Sometimes, we make the mistake of allowing reality to interfere with big and bold ideas. Should the police be the cause of much of the crime that infests humanity, then the concept of ridding societies of police forces is a brilliant step. We can see that now.
Have you noticed that once a person buys into an idea, a concept, you can take it so much further? Get rid of the police, hence, no more crime. No more criminal lawyers, judges, prosecutors. Get this—no more prisons. In one bold stroke, we can have millions of jobs disappear and save billions. Okay, we’ll have a large unemployment problem, but this can be alleviated because we have more big ideas. As an aside, we have always been tickled by the concept of criminal lawyers, but I suppose we should have been afraid rather than tickled. Fortunately, this could be ending.
Do you remember that picture of the fella, David Geffen, sailing away on his 590 million dollar yacht and announcing with humility that we’re ‘all in this together’, the Covid issue? Well, we see this all the time. Many rich folk acting with such humility and telling the less wealthy, those living in poverty, in ghettos, on the streets, how they should integrate and love thy neighbors. (We love it when they find religion.) How about this? We’ve been thinking again—it becomes catchy. Instead of living in mansions that are mostly empty, having multiple residences, sailing on yachts to nowhere, why don’t you invite the homeless, the poor and other struggling classes to share your homes? Heck, what use is a ten-bedroom house with only two or at most four or five occupants. It would make the slogan ‘we are all in this together’ much more meaningful and would be fine acts of charity—acts from the heart and soul rather than from the pocket.
Listen, we understand NIMBY—not in my backyard. However, if all those ‘horrible people’ in the poorer neighborhoods are told not to ‘nimby’, maybe the rich shouldn’t either.
We have an admission to confess. We try to behave decently; we try to act within the law. However, we admit that should we be traveling on the open road in a 65-mile speed zone, knowing there are no police about, we’d travel faster. Yep. We’d break the law. We witnessed part of a debate the other night, it would be difficult to term it presidential, in which one of the principals said we should not focus so much on police but bring councilors into the equation. I can see the merit of that.
“Now, Jeffrey, when you were a child, did you ever feel you had the need to be a racing driver? Were you deprived by your parents of a V8 engine in your VW bug?”
Another of the concepts that has us baffled are the liquor laws. Fortunately, I can offer an unbiased opinion as a confirmed teetotaler and Coke zero expert. I wonder why a young person not yet 21 years old can be ordered off to war, one of the most horrifying aspects of life, be commanded to kill, maim and put oneself at risk of death, torture and serious injuries but not be allowed to walk into a store or bar and order a beer. I don’t know whether that’s someone’s idea of humor or just plain moronic.
Heck, if you have read this, I trust you realize I’m struggling to understand so much and unfortunately, (maybe fortunately), not winning. Somethings are better not understood.
Cheers,
Wild horse on the other side of the river taking an early morning drink. Fascinating that one only requires liquid in the form of water to survive...maybe even thrive. Makes one think of the variety of liquids humans consume.
Jenni and Jeffrey
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