A TRIBE---- OF INDIVIDUALISTS??-- HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

GLAD YOU ASKED!  ----AN INDIVIDUALIST IS AN INDEPENDENT THINKER.  It's what's in our head that makes us an individualist! And the affections in our consciousness that makes us a tribe. WHERE we are-- is irrelevant--these days. Thus we can belong to a "tribe" without sacrificing our individualism or our solitary wanderings.  Perhaps this catch-up montage of our recent adventures will illustrate.

Our group scattered after Caballo St Pk----we will gather again--"downstream".  Here I am parked near Leesburg dam, NM.  I woke this day to find a tumbleweed -- fitting symbol of my  lifestyle --visiting me. 

Drifting solitarily for A few days, I make my way to Rockhound St Pk.  Laurie may join me there.

 

She does not see me arrive and I take this surreptitious shot of her at the center of a labyrinth--doing--- whatever spiritually oriented people do.  She does not explain.  You may remember a shot of her in this same posture when she happened upon a fallen man in Chama.

 

 We stay a few days in Rockhound then make our way to City of Rocks St Park .

 Those giant stones are the size of Stonehenge---- hundreds of them.  Only 5 such natural sites like this exist in the world.

 We  meet a new and exciting friend---Malinda. I wrote her a poem naming her motorcycle: AZURE STEED.   She accepted the appelation.

 

Laurie, Sloan and CB join us for a few days among the boulders.

 

Then we scatter again and I go on a solitary venture.  Here, I'm amusing myself in the shrinking town of Bowie, Az----photographing an unusual teepee house.  In an interview, I learn that the population now is 300---down from 600 a few years ago.  I'm curious who goes and who stays in situations like this. Answer: the old stay---the young leave.

 

 Everybody has left this town---Steins, NM---I stay awhile to get the feel.

The group reassembles in Tucson for Thanksgiving.  We share dinner with a few hundred people celebrating an ALATHON.  Pictures of the meetings were not permitted---here's our group outside the meeting hall.  Oh sweet people--if you bother to find out what this was about, you may understand why I was deeply moved by the love, comraderie, acceptance and protocols of these amazing people.  I was allowed to sit in on three of their personal meetings---I learned a lot about the kinds of glue that can bond people dynamically together. 

 

As if my cup weren't full enough--next day our group shared a dinner at the casino Del Sol celebrating Tish"s Birthday -- Our new friend Malinda joined us for the feast. 

 

 On another night Laurie takes us all dancing.  During a break I capture a pict of  CB and Sloan---

Very cute lovebirds.

 

 Someone among us is a yoga person who has everyone stretching in the parking lot.

 On another day, I managed to get a picture of a Cougar in action.

And a coyote. 

 

 

 And a most unusual tree---what could it be?

In the center of a nearby labyrinth---Laurie and Sloan ponder the mystery of life.  

And then---on her birthday---CB takes Laurie and I to dinner at Claim Jumper--a terrific restaurant. Does her happiness show?  Friends who care for us--- make all the difference in our well being.

 

And then last night Tish treated us to a movie (LONESOME PLANET) at the local art theatre. We ham it up in an old fashion photo booth in the lobby.

 

A trinity of friends sharing the morning in Laurie's cozy Casbah

 

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  I hope I've illustrated how a group of friends can "tribalize" without losing their liberty-----and can gain the enormous bonus of association.  We are all richer for our bonding. By being mobile---in separate rigs---connected by modern electronics---we preserve privacy----reap the rewards of cross pollination and human synergy.  What distinguishes us from an ordinary set of friends is that 1.we are committed to CHAMPION each other to live their best life and 2. To engage at the level of authenticity. If you are mobile and this appeals to you---seek us out--test the waters.  We envision a wide network of such people who wander in and out of the core.