Homeless - 36

Salutations, fellow omnivores,

Well, the weather conditions have undergone a noticeable shift to the cooler and dryer end of the spectrum; mid 80's during the day and low 60's at night - most comfortable sleeping conditions for my situation. And, yes, still doing the hot tub and swimming a few laps in the darkness of the morning. I don't know if the world has gotten quieter at that time of the day or if I have but the silence seems to be more acute.

This morning I bought a large donut thingy ($.34) and got a free cup of coffee and sat at an outside table in the large shopping center to watch the sunrise. I was about 60 meters from the 'turbo coffee' place where the patrons sit on padded chairs. The place where I sat doesn't open until 11 AM and their outdoor furniture lacks padding but it is not crowded. I sat there watching the sun slowly rise, turning the dark blue of the eastern horizon to a ribbon of burnt orange until finally, our stellar furnace peeks over the curvature of the planet; the first rays of light of a new day reflecting off the ebony flanks of Black Thunder resting comfortably a couple of meters away. Then more of those pesky humans start arriving in the area and I move to another location to read the paper.

I mentioned in an earlier entry of the physical difficulty that I was experiencing in the morning after a night slumbering several hours in my spacious sleeping quarters - pronounced stiffness of joints as well as other living tissues that I've grown quite fond of over the past years. That difficulty is not present these days. After clawing my way to full consciousness, I unfold from the truck and, standing on concrete, raise my arms above my head and reach for the sky, stretching and tensing my entire physical frame for a few moments and I'm good until I really stretch out within the next 30 or 40 minutes when I practice the ol' levitation techniques as well as other Jedi/Matrix related stuff. There's the usual 'snap, crackle, pop' things going on but that's normal...for me at least. Maybe the body has adapted more to the current situation. Another thing that I've noticed is that the whites of my eyes are...whiter. What's up with that?

I read where those damn Rooskies planted their flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole in an attempt to claim the anticipated energy reserves that are present in that area. Wait a minute - doesn't Santa C. already own those parts? Canada and others are getting into the act, too. Great...another combat theater in WWW III which is right around the corner. The news article included some content about the viewpoints of the people that live in the region and how they felt about the reduction of ice that is affecting their lifestyles, the loss of culture and tradition. One man was saddened by the fact that his 16 year old daughter would be unable to participate in a traditional rite of passage that consists of tracking down and killing a polar bear. Hang on a minute there, Nanook - a lone 16 year old girl killing a polar bear in the wild? It didn't present any tactical information in the method of execution; whether that epic confrontation was decided by hand-to-claw combat (would karate work on a bear?) or by a good old traditional knife-to-claw melee. I have to assume that a rifle figured prominently in that quest, preferably a weapon along the lines of a .44 Marlin. I don't know about you but the polar bears that I've seen in zoos and on TV would not be taken down easily by a .22 rifle. Hopefully there would be enough distance to chamber and fire a second round as well as others in case there are some rounds that don't proceed to target as intended. Are those young girls sent out with a 'do not come back unless you are wearing a bear pelt and leave the cellphone and IPod if you please'. And what do the 16 year old boys do? Swim out and rassle an orca onto an iceberg barehanded? I remember grandma trying to get me to kill a chicken so we could fry it up for supper. I couldn't do it. I held the chicken down with my left hand with a machete in the right and I couldn't do it. I let the chicken go, dropped the machete and ran away crying. She ended up killing a chicken and I plucked the feathers off and she cut it open ad I reached inside the carcass to take out the ...insides. I did manage to eat a drumstick at supper. The experience marred me for life but not enough to not enjoy some Popeye's on a regular basis these days, spicy if you please. Some great hunter I am. But what's a rite of passage for the young ones in our society? Let me think...yeah...uhmm...yep, I got it. At high school graduation, get a limo, get hammered, ingest psychoactive substances and have hot, American sex if you're still able. Not quite as character building, is it? Doesn't exactly have that substance of a defining moment; a transition to a broader, deeper relationship with the world that heralds the participation in a richer, more meaningful life. And I know what some of the fathers of 16 year olds are thinking in some parts of this country - no, there ain't no wild polar bears with the continental United States and besides, the educational authorities might balk at your request for an excused absence for a 'rite of passage' activity for your child. But Jeez, think of the impact it would have on her classmates when they read her paper 'What I Did This Summer'.

Well, there are other rites of passage that have the potential to be just as profound in our society - marriage, children, education, divorce, death, love gained and lost, learning to roll one, failing eyesight and not killing a chicken. I think that one of mine was attending a Native American Church many moons ago for an entire weekend. The mechanics of that participation consist of : 1) entering a tepee (that's right, pilgrim, I said tepee just like you see in the movies) that is out in the middle of BF where it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face but you can see the halo of the galaxy 2) you enter said structure with a few other people at dusk and exit at dawn to rest during the day, for three consecutive nights 3) everyone sits in a circle with a small fire in the center and a small drum is passed around so that each individual can sing an Indian song (I was omitted since I didn't know any) and 4) at periodic intervals a container is passed around so that you can extract a prescribed amount of a peyote mixture and ingest. I know what you're thinking but it's not like that; the purpose and context is different than getting together with some friends in a dark room and 'sroom up' and wave some cigarettes in the air so everyone can see tracers and exclaim 'whoa, dud, so cool'. The atmosphere is more of a religious function much like people going to a regular church on Sunday morning with the purpose to get closer to their God and to enhance that relationship. To me, either method can serve as a conduit to that vast reservoir of the non-linear that exists within us all but the NAC alternative is not as structured and, quite possibly, allows a more profound and direct experience. It certainly happened with me. Maybe the use of hallucinogenics assists us in removing ourselves from... our self. From what I've read, other methods exist in other cultures.I read 2 or 3 weeks ago that some social scientists are concerned about the loss of indigenous languages, not just in the Americas but across our planet. For them, those disappearing languages represent unique templates of how those ancient cultures perceived and interacted with their world. The article cited as an example that the English language has only past, present and future verbs while some languages have more and others less. There is a high probability that we won't ever know of their methods and may be losing something that is beyond valuation.

Thinking of that teenage girl who will never have that experience, I have to wonder what she is missing. In that quest, there is certainly the cold and the treacherous ice but she would be hunting one of the most feared land predators on the planet that is capable of killing her easier than one of us changing our underwear. I can only imagine the focus of mind that she has to employ; no thoughts of that cute boy or that fight she had with her brother or which limo to rent, not even room for fear but only total focus if she is to survive.

I am thankful that there are no polar bears in my range that I have to contend with. Well, at least not until the next ice age occurs which is right around the corner, too. Though I may have something worse...other humans.

Have a pleasant weekend,

David