1st time blog, 1st time blogger! I had something going that was real nice, poignant, concise (maybe), erudite (maybe), and, thru the curse of the machine world, it walked away. Disappeared. It's out there now, somewhere, riding the waves, carefree in denial. There was old Chinese, may have been some Thucydides, and my own bottleneck slide on the string of discord. If you spot it in your travels just let it go. Report it if you must, read it if you will, but don't spike it. Don't tie it up, or down, or fence it in, or off, or out. It got away, if there is such a thing, and would be free. So should we all.
Writing from the burnt over country. This time last year we were under fire. One of the great hot spots of summer. I spent a night and day with a bandana tied on, wielding the garden hose in a forty mile wind, against my house going up and burning down. Half the town was evacuated so the smoky streets were empty, and eerie, and I could feel a tremendous heat against my back from the fire four blocks away. I expected to see flames in the sky and hear the explosions of forsaken homes, but the nature of concrete geography and that old mediterrainian green grass culture, plus the prayers of volunteer firemen everywhere, turned the fire away, and eventually, back on itself, and burnt it out. This year, dry hot winds, fireworks, (six fires last night) and no rain makes the right conditions again. The fire burned through so fast, lots of fuel remains standing although the understory was pretty well toasted. This year, we'll see, we'll see. JA
