I have probably travelled less in my life than most reading this. It was not until 2016 that I even left the region of my birth, having never really vacationed and worked and trained and read and wrote in the same wretched place.
For the past few days, as I wind down and wrap up my writing projects and begin to pack, I have been getting homesick for Portland Oregon already, making me a piss-poor nomad for sure.
Travelling and having new experiences late in life, is, I suppose, no substitute for having done so young. But I am so lucky to have had such opportunities at all.
I have met only 5 souls since I have been here in terms of learning anything about one another and communicating about our view of the world. That is five more than I met in 25 years as a grocer in Baltimore!
As for the teaming anonymous ghost refugees from various wrecked economies and overrun pseudo-communities who I have observed here, they have been pleasant and benign company.
Finally, this afternoon, walking to the café, among the highest wooden telephone poles I have seen, I walked under a bald eagle, a mere 150 feet up, gliding low, as a black crow menaced, pecked and otherwise harried the majestic predator, not leaving off until the eagle soared high and away, as if declaring this a city of crows.
It seemed right somehow after staying up into the wee hours speaking of many things with my hulking host, a man who I had not met until this past winter, who has extended the hospitality that is as old as our beleaguered kind.
I'm weaker in more ways than I'm strong. But if anyone ever asks me to name my brothers, Big Tony will head the list.
Thanks, Man.
James, Saturday April 27 2019
Mobbing activity of crows is pretty hilarious. I put a winter suet feeder out on my hillside and it gets quite a few songbirds which inevitably invites predators, hawks, kestrels, merlins and eagles. I was standing by my front door the other day when a bald eagle contour flew the hillside right in front of me only 6 feet off the the ground. Mind blowing.
We may be taking our rig up the coast this summer so should be within hailing distance. Otherwise I'm still by Tahoe/Tahoe Nat'l Forest.
We get the teaming ghosts here......mostly refugees from the various fires. Most of the few folks where I am pretty much mind their own business. As rugged individualists in a rugged area, must of us don't even like each other for reasons we can't fathom. I think it's hilarious when people my age or younger assume they are older than me and then look down with all that entails. I stick out by not pretending to have been in the Marines, (you would think the Army never existed and I know the Marines never accepted that many men) I don't have a Marine flag AND a US flag outside. I've always thought that people that did that were afraid they would forget what country they were in and would be assured upon awaking, with just a bit of curtain twitching, that they were home. I guess a lot of tweakers get introduced to meth in the military.
James, if you’re getting cluster headaches, which aren’t well understood or easily linked to anything, you might try fasting. One place to start is with electrolyte replacement fasting: quality water, sea salt, potassium, baking soda and epsom salt. Details: snakediet.com/getting-started
Dry fasting is probably the best bet tho and the snake diet guy’s YouTube is a go-to for that too. No food, no water. It’s how the body heals. I don’t like giving unsolicited advice but I think it’s worth a shot and it’s cheap. I’ve dealt with chronic pain and it ain’t fun.
Thank you! I will try this-and is essentially what brought me out of the worst cycles as the vomiting was so pronounced I had given up eating.