" The Greatest Tragedy of this Century is that a man can live his entire life without ever knowing whether or not he is a Coward," Or words to that effect.
I was moved by the above quote and I'm not really sure why. It isn't really germaine to anything I am doing, but it evokes some thought without really reaching a conclusion. But anyway..
I have been experimenting with the panoramic and slide show programs. Hopefully should be pretty cool if we get anywhere interesting in the next couple of months, like Spain (keeping fingers crossed)
Used to go to great effort to google earth our location. Hmmm. The thrill is gone baby as we have moved five times this past month. Usually I am just happy to find the nearest town for laundry groceries etc. Accidentally hit another Cat tonight. He was a stray in a remote area. Still, I felt bad. Just as I have the two Raccoons and the 7 foot somekindofsnake that I barely missed in Arkansas only to see get squished by a semi tractor hugging my bumper.
I read about stray dogs in Russia learning to read traffic signals before crossing the road. The author of the article even claims to have followed a female stray that had learned to take the train out to the country to forage for food and then return by train. She had supposedly learned to huddle under the seats. She even sensed that her temperment needed to be adjusted to fit in with the crowds of people and though skittish on the street, wagged her tail and accepted the occasional petting while on the train. A year ago while camped next to a popular Duck hunting area I was standing near the water sipping morning Coffee about to try and video a Female dolphin with her pup swimming next to her about two hundred yards out. A few seconds later an Air Boat shot out of the reeds and the driver steered the boat to run right over the Dolphins. They easily avoided it and though I tried to get a pic, I just couldn't get the camera fired up. Just like that the boat was gone. I toyed with trying to report the incident but didn't have enough info. I have a fantasy of catching that guy (literally would be nice but I am not in that business anymore) But if I ever do the guy is hitting Youtube in short order for the rest of the world to see what a first class asshole looks like.
Literally, I am not sure if there is anywhere else where Dolphins and people live so close together. It has just been fascinating to me. I have on a lazy day fishing the Jetty at Port A seen hundreds of Dolphins and dozens of Sea Turtles. On the rare occasion when a Dolphin has come close to me (within ten feet) He has only made the determination that I will not harm him. Not that he has any particular notion to get to know me in any way. Probably has a very poor opinion of me. Likely because of incidents I just described above. But the fact that he will size me up in that manner is so very very cool. All right it's like he French or something but as a sheltered Idahoan, I just haven't been exposed to that kind of inteIligence other than a dog. Recently I talked with an older fisherman who said that last year while reeling in a fish he had caught, a Dolphin took after it. This older guy from Oklahoma, a wading fisherman, I believe told me he got the fish in first. He was chuckling when he told me that the frustrated Dolphin stuck his head out of the water right in front of him looked him right in the face and squirted water in it. While splashing him as well with his tail making his exit. I have fished for hours with Sea Turtles breaching all around me and Dolphins swimming past my line. And like other folks around me not worried about accidentally catching one. I am sure a turtle could be snagged but not only would that be senseless, your ass would also be in considerable trouble. But I also have a sense that there is more innate intelligence there as well. It's probably not going to happen in my lifetime but I am certain there will come a time when there will be effective ways to communicate with Whales, Dolphins, Dogs and other forms of life, and that they are given the same rights to life as people in this Country.
Well, that was sensitive.
Lisa woke me up today to advise me that our operation (the whole Conoco Haliburton combined operation) had encountered serious difficulties. Men had been released and specialized companies to handle the delicate repair had been called in. I looked at her and said with as serious look as I could muster "What have you done?" I was half kidding but half serious. She gave me the look that she did not think it funny and continued telling me what had occurred over night to keep me informed. Usually alot. I'll explain myself a little more here. Each of us leaves a footprint on our environment. I am not talking about a Carbon footprint necessarily though I suspect that is part of it. I am talking about how we impact our world at any given time as we move through it. Myself, I continue on my course rather invisibly, occasionally bumping against somebody else like an electronic game of Asteroids. I rarely affect their trajectory in life and they rarely effect mine. My path across the country would be difficult to trace because frankly I am not that visible, by choice. At least at this time of my life. My wife, (my favorite subject) and favorite in general is the exact opposite. A rare bird in this world. If she spends any time at all in a given location and provided with a purpose and a direction residual effects of her presence will be around for years. She has this unbelievable mind that analyzes the tasks at hand, organizes them and then proceeds to accomplish said tasks with uncompromising quality and efficiency. Therefore, when we were given a job description with a visible result. In this case that each and every person who enters the worksite is oriented to worksite rules. This also goes for work attire and grooming. Doing all this while managing our little operation. When to pay taxes. Receipts to keep. When the water guy or the sewer guy goes through to service other onsite trailers. She snags them before they leave. And finally she is our Face that we put forward while I do my best to hide mine. Consequently we seem to be a perfect match for Conoco Phillips who love love love's her. It's kind of cool that a sign is placed as you leave each worksite that reads. "You have been safe all day now go home to your family". There is very strict enforcement of safety rules and Lisa's critical eye for detail fits right in. Woe to the unshaven truck driver hunkered down to protect the forbidden soul patch like the one today:
A battery of Company men will be patrolling the trucks to root him out. When they find him he'll get the boot.
Or the unfortunate idiot who blows our gate cause he's late.
She gets on the phone and he'll be back if he knows what's good for him.
OK, I really couldn't resist the Cartoons. here.
"Life has become immeasurably better since I was forced to stop taking it so seriously"
Hunter S. Thompson
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