DRIFT WITH ME

AFTER 2 WEEKS WITH MY NEW-FOUND DAUGHTER IN EL PASO--I MOVED WEST TO A SMALL NEW MEXICO TOWN---Where I kissed a lady that needed to be kissed

crossed this dry alkali dry lake bed--noting the warning sign: (USE EXTREME CAUTION)

remembering the dust storm of my first crossing.

Growing sleepy I pulled into the desert and whiled the afternoon away

remembering the closing words of a poem by a minor poet:

A FULL SET OF STUFF

.................

........Down back roads by lazy brooks

I take a nap or read my books;

Chase the wind, drift and roam,

Let night overtake me everywhere home.

Live my life in a thousand places;

share myself with a thousand faces;

Drink in life till I've had enough;

Thanks to my rig and a full set of stuff.

Briefly visited the ghost town of Shakespeare,

Picked up a cross country bicyclist--Kuba,,  

Took him with me to Tucson, introduced him to CB, who recorded him. He makes money playing on the street.

Then CB and I went to the Tucson Book Festival, always a wonderous experience.

Each of these little tents represents a cause of some sort--staffed by a group or individual willing to pay $500 to have their say to the people passing by.

Like this for example:  A fresh new Messiah named Maitreya--who (allegedly) is about to declare himself to the world---who mysteriously "appears" in the midst of crowds all over the world, speaking telepathically to all in their native language.

His coming has been heralded by  appearances in the sky of new mysterious stars--photographed and here displayed- by his followers for our wonderment.  Aren't you convinced?  Read all about him here.  

In larger tents--serious presentations by respected experts.  That guy in the middle is the real life model for the character "Heyduke" in Edward Abby's famous book: THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG, a book that gave rise to the super assertive earth defenders movement known as EARTH FIRST.

This is their audience.  I got to ask the first question: How can we reduce the population of earth to a sustainable level?  They had no good ideas--just said that we would peak at 9 billion.  Heyduke had no hope--said in effect that we were too stupid to do the sensible thing.

Then I went to Yuma and had a root canal in Algodones.  If you want to save a damaged tooth, this is the guy you want to see: Dr. Fernando Dominguez D.D.S. (phone 928-362-0530).  He is a specialist with the Rubio team and will give you a very expert root canal for about $300.  

In Yuma, I crossed paths again with this pretty lady who gave me a computer lesson and invited me to travel with her for a few days.  

So off we went--traveling 10 miles the first day.  In the early morning she amuses herself juggling.

I showed her the nearby paintball war zone.

Then we went to Quartzsite, Az and I showed her the most visited grave in Az---that of the famous camel wrangler from Syria,  Hi Jolley, who came to America as part of a 19th century experiment in desert transport.  Read about it  here.

That's Jesus entombed after his crucification---part of the full passion story you can see in Yarnell, Az. The Lady and I stayed the night at the American Legion.

Then we moved on to one of my favorite boondocking spots: Thousand trails rd just east of Cottonwood, Az.  Two my favorite people Laurie and Lisa live a short mile away and came to visit us.

In a few days the lady moved on and I had business in Phoenix, where I visited for a happy two days with my good friend Joyce.  She is the spirited aviatrix who took me on one of my life's great adventures.  Check it out here and here.

She introduced me to TV's greatest bargain: A one time payment of $300 dollars for about everything thats on TV--movies, TED talks--everything---and without Annoying ads,

We watched 2 days worth of TED talks, Absolutely terrific.  Tjhis system is called Digi X Stream and If you are interested in knowing more about it, call 210-907-7097 and tell them you were refered by 6dod8e1e. (it will give you and her a 20% discount)

 Then I persuaded her to come with me to Cottonwood to escape the heat.  And she did for a week of good hiking and comraderie.

I

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:   So there you have a peek into my drifty lifestyle and some of my friends.  As much as I love my lifestyle, I love my friends more.  My friend Laura Skutch from Vermont tells of a study showing that friends are the MOST IMPORTANT  component of good heart health.  America's healthiest heart community is located in Pennsylvania. Surprisingly they have about the same diet and health habits  as the rest of us.  What makes the difference is that they have a particularly tight and supportive friendship network.  Read about it here.