pridefest, key west & other odd bits

I think what I want to do today is ramble on about this and that from no particular point or perspective.

Where are we now with the oil clusterf#*k in the Gulf?
60 godamned days and all we get is more adolescent irresponsible political theatre. Between that mess, the bankrupt economy and their endless pointless Afghan war, it's no wonder I walk around with one of the angriest songs I know, Bruce Cockburn's "If I had a rocket launcher" ringing in my ears.

Twice a year, once at New Year's and again at this time of year - when my chronology grows a year older, I take a little time to unravel any unsettled issues I might have knotted up in my head. They're not usually big ticket issues, my life in paradise is pretty simple, but I know me and, if I don't take stock, life's bullshit becomes baggage I'm not interested in carrying.

This summer's issues have included, reclaiming whatever might be left of my mind after a year of my body being not quite right, accepting the loss of a loved one, welcoming the warmth of another lover and replacing the microwave.
Like I said, small stuff but life stuff.

Most of you know I'm a history junkie. I haven't mentioned it before, but last year I subscribed to History.com and what that gets me is a daily e-mail to tell me what happened on this or that particular day in history. For me, it's a cool thing and maybe you'll like it too. Here's a link. . .
www.history.com
By the way, on this day in history, President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain and the war of 1812 began. On this day in 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and in 1967, Jimi Hendrix rocked the Monterey Pop Festival.

If you haven't already had a chance, take a look at Google Earth. Christ it's cool!! Interactive satellite pictures of almost everywhere on this blue marble of a planet. You can find your house or explore places on the planet you've never been. It's even got a flight simulator feature. It is really very cool.


You all know (or ought to) that I've always got a book going. Last week was Jack Finney and the week before that, Isaac Asimov. This week, it's "The Audacity of Hope, thoughts on reclaiming the American dream", Barack Obama's second book. You can say what you like about the guy's politics and presidency, hell - day to day I don't know what to make of them but, damn the dude can write. At 300 plus pages it's an engaging, easy read and he makes good points.

Early this morning, while I was settling in for meditation, I heard Maxine (you remember Max the cat) scrambling around the living room. She's always been an energetic soul but it was a little weird because she knows the pattern and when I sit to meditate, she normally gets quiet and sits with me. So I got up to see what was up and it turned out, she'd found herself a frog/toad and was chasing it around the house.

Well I figured the terrified little critter didn't really want to be in the house in the first place and I committed myself to help it find a way out. The trouble was, to escape feline fangs, it had stuck itself 9 feet up on my 12 foot walls, (higher than Max can jump or I can reach). So it became a something of a project. I dragged out the step stool, reached up to grab the critter and of course it didn't want to be grabbed and jumped what I guessed was three feet to another seemingly safe place.

I was impressed! I never imagined they had that kind of range. Well I moved the stool, tried again and he jumped again and I moved the stool, tried again and he jumped again and I moved the stool, tried again and he jumped again. . . You get the idea.
All that went on for the better part of an hour before I actually got my hand around the little guy.

Climbing down off the step stool, frog in hand, I learned a couple of things. First, the little pecker was stronger than I'd imagined, I really had to hold on and hoped I wasn't breaking anything. Second, when he knew he was had, in the palm of my hand he just surrendered. No fear, no ego, no struggle. He looked at me like "o.k. human, you've caught my sorry ass, what's next?"

Now I knew that all I wanted to do was release the poor bugger back into nature. But for all he knew, I could've been a French chef looking for legs or a guy like Joe Cartoon, ready to put him in the blender.
In the end, I did release him back to a safe place on the grassy property where, I noticed, he stayed motionless for almost an hour; Like he was thinkin', "what the hell just happened?"

Our lives are filled with those kinds of experiences and odd bits and we ought to do our best to embrace and accept them. It's like I heard Sinatra say, "live every day like it's your last, because one day you'll be right."