Always Yellowstone

The park was in full bloom and the tourists were not too thick, although there were plenty. Decided to tour the Terraces in Mammoth, my old home for a year back in the day.  I had not taken the board walk tour since dragging the kids there a long time ago. I chuckled when I heard a mother ask, "it looks like we're on Mars, doesn't it?" and her son's dour response was "it looks like we're walking up lots of steps" (true).  I regularly coerced my three kids into visiting the park.  Although they would now agree those treks were a good thing, at the time, they often lacked a jubilant enthusiasm.

It is quite something recalling the look of the Terraces back in 1978 compared to now.  They look entirely different with all the constant fluctuation of the thermal activity.  Living in Yellowstone Park was a blessing which I fully appreciated at the time, knowing it was a once in a life time experience and Yellowstone has been a favorite place ever since. 

I decided to take the short walk to Tower Falls this time. I did not recall ever actually seeing it before, however I did have a vague recollection that the trail used to go to the base of the falls, confirmed by a closed trail sign with a note mentioning 1985.  The trail now goes down to the river, but you cannot see the falls from the river trail.

Going home, in any sense, is always trippy, whether it is back to your childhood hometown, or to a place when your life had a totally different complexion.  While not always disconcerting, I've found it comes with a sense of loss attached.  Though most of the lost things were better left along the trail of your life, it still evokes a feeling of detachment to something you once had attachment to.
 

So Much Beauty...So Much Pain

Our world is like a gaping wound of exposed nerve endings.  Our world is bursting all around with robust beauty and wonderment.  Those parallel tracks run through every second of each day.  Excruciating pain, injustice and unthinkable violence coupled with the deep overwhelming love for those we cherish in our home and professional lives and the joyful microseconds they bring to us each day.

More shootings in the news today, a murder suicide at UCLA, two San Francisco cops shot in a traffic stop gone bad.  And more, so many more.  You could not keep count if you wanted to; no one wants to.  And these include only stateside events.  Looking beyond our coddled American borders, the countless stories increase in horrific magnitude. 

If I didn't know better, I'd say we are all sleepwalking through some sick, tragic comedy.  There is no other explanation for the how and why of Donald Trump.  A bloviating egomaniac poised as a potential next president of the United States is beyond absurd.  But why? What feeds the mentality of a public supporting such a crass, insane megalomaniac?  There is a disconnect from reality for so many voters.  How can a man who would squash all the dreams of the poor and disadvantaged, of minorities and the paycheck to paycheck crowd, fulfill some ill conceived fantasy that he can lead a nation?  He has led several companies and a "university" of ill repute into the ground.  Why would anyone with half a brain trust him to rise above the role of a control freak boss, pointing his finger and declaring "you're fired!" on network TV?

These truly are the dark ages.  In so many ways.  I think in 100 years, history will not be kind to this era of the early 21st Century.  Assuming civilization survives the next 100 years.  I think at this point, there is serious doubt about the future of Planet Earth. 

Arches

Quick marathon one day trip to Arches National Park.  Amazing landscapes, spectacular views, a natural wonderland.

Death Valley & Joshua Tree

Grammys 2016

The Big "V" Day

I stopped to smell the roses today in the grocery store. Divine. Many dozens were scattered throughout in a delicious variety of colors, offered to the swarms of men (and perhaps a few women) as a reminder to get something special for your sweetie on this highly touted holiday of love.  Perhaps.  It is a day of well thought out proposals, nervously executed and ideally followed by outbursts of joy, then the requisite tears.  However, it also serves as a mine field of lurking expectations and inevitable disappointments.  Doubtless, the holiday serves as a catalyst for a fair number of royal battles as well.

Valentine's Day has never risen to the occasion for me. Lucky for me, I'm not a squishy, sentimental type.  My emotions run in a more forlorn, wistful vein.  A realistic idealist, I'm not one to place more significance on a specific day than it warrants. Doing so leads down a one way road to unfulfilled desires, or even bitter disappointment. Rather, live each day with eyes wide open, keen to feel the sensations that accompany both the beauty, and the pain of a life well led.