Category Archives: Travel

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly

2024 Trip to South West United States, 2024 Trip to Southwest USA

One things travellers learn quickly on a road trip is that life is hard when you’re stupid.  We actually learned that lesson a couple of years ago on our way down south. No adventures this year.  That earlier year was different.

Our final destination for the day this year was Watertown, South Dakota. It was the same a few years ago. This is where I once did one of the stupider things I have ever done, a few years ago. We had been travelling south on I-29 when it started to get icy. Because we were “smart” we stopped early and hunkered down in a hotel. We were so pleased with our decision we immediately enjoyed a cocktail in the hotel room so we could toast our brilliance. We were relaxed in our hotel room when things really started to get ugly. Visibility was low and the road became treacherously icy. When we went out to eat dinner, I turned right from the Main Street when I ought not to have done that. Chris tried her best to tell me I was going back on I-29 but I didn’t listen. Hubris and ignorance led to my sad downfall. This brought me right back onto I-29 as she said when conditions were much worse than before. And we had to travel 12 miles down I-29 to the next exit to turnaround and then drove 12 miles back again on the iciest road I have ever driven on. Cars and trucks were in the ditch everywhere. I drove very slowly riding on nothing but white knuckles and guts while cursing my stupidity all the way. Fortunately, we did make it back without incident.

 

That year, I compounded my mistake the next day. Blizzard conditions continued and we spent the entire day in Watertown.  Early in the afternoon I decided to see if I could open the car doors.  It turned out I could not. The locks were completely locked with ice. So I trudged half a mile in bitterly cold and windy conditions to Wal-Mart to buy some lock de-icer and then walked all the way back to the hotel. I quickly proceeded to see if the de-icer would do the trick. It did quite nicely. So far so good. Then I noticed Chris waving at me from the doorway of the hotel as I was working on the lock. She had thought I might be doing something stupid outside. What made her think that?  I was annoyed because she was slowing me down and I wanted to get out of the cold as quickly as possible. I waved her off, but she persisted bugging me until I stopped to talk to her. Then she pointed out I was de-icing the wrong car!  The vehicles on the parking lot were covered with snow so all looked similar.  Well, I had done my good deed for the day. I de-iced the wrong car!

 

Someone must have been very pleased to find their car doors working perfectly. Meanwhile I had to de-ice my own car too. Why don’t I listen better to my lovely wife? Don’t answer that question on the grounds that it might incriminate me. No. It will incriminate me. As I keep saying, life is very hard when you are stupid.

Well this year, I at least, I did not do anything that stupid. Driving conditions were perfect. After we arrived in Watertown, Chris and I went to eat at Appleby’s, restaurant which was the least obnoxious of the chain restaurants in town. The food was quite tasty and the bartender fixed me a grand Old Fashioned with bourbon. The meals were satisfactory.

Today I proved the Bible wrong. The Bible says, “As a dog returneth to his vomit so a fool returneth to his folly. I say, not always,

It was a great first day on the trip. Life was good when we were not stupid.

 

Things no longer work

2024 Trip to South West United States, 2024 Trip to Southwest USA, Decline of the west

 

Once again we have headed to the southern part of the USA to escape the harshness of Canada’s winter. Our first stop in the U.S. was Fargo where we purchased gasoline. This was a surreal experience. The gas station was large and highly visible from I-29 to which it was adjacent.  As Julie Gold said in her famous song, “From a distance there is harmony, and it echoes thru the land.”

 

This day it was a serious illusion. When we got closer we noticed that most of the gasoline nozzles were covered with a paper sign that said, “Not working.” The diesel pumps were working but not most of the ones for ordinary gas. Almost all the regular pumps were not working, so I lined up behind a row of cars going toward one of the pumps without a sign. When I got there, after a considerable delay, the pump would not deliver gas after I signed in with my credit card. I went inside to explain my problem to the clerk. When he came out the same thing happened. Gas was not pumping and a grade of gas could not be selected. It did not work for him either. At least until it miraculously worked. Then, of course, when the job was completed the machine refused to disgorge a receipt. Since Christiane insists on receipts, I had to go back inside a second time to beg for a receipt.

 

As the clerk was making the receipt for me, I asked him what was the problem with this service station. Why did so many pumps not work? He merely shrugged his shoulders and grinned sheepishly, as if to say, ‘what do you expect in the USA?’

 

This is how many things operate here in the richest country in the world and the leader of the free west. The Americans claim the US is the best country in the world. Many Americans worship the country. They consider it “exceptional.” Sadly, evidence of exceptionalism is lacking.  It is exceptional in its polarized and dysfunctional politics. In fact, I believe that the profound dysfunction in their political system is a mirror of a much deeper dysfunction in society.  America is in serious decline. Things are falling apart,. The center cannot hold. But baubles hide that. And what do the people do about it?  They shrug their shoulder and grin. Sheepishly.

 

Nobody cares that things don’t work. The expect that. They are resigned to that. Just like no one expects politicians to tell the truth. Again, they expect that, and are resigned to it. That is nation in decline. And since the US is the leader of the west, this demonstrates that the west is declining. That is a problem.

 

Pursuing Truth and Beauty

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Arizona Photos, art, exotic flowers, Philosophy/Ideas, photography, Poetry

 

When I saw this cactus in Green Valley Arizona, south of Tucson and near the Mexican border I thought it might be the most beautiful cactus I had ever seen. I was on a church yard, so I thought I could walk and photograph it without fear of being shot.

 

When I first retired I said I wanted to stop spending my time in order to make a living and feed my family, I wanted now to pursue “truth and beauty” as John Keats said. I have done that. And it has been great fun.

When I went to university, in my first English literature course, taught by Jack Woodbury, one of the best professors I ever had, the first poet we studied was John Keats. English poet. He published only 54 poems before he died at the age of 25.  That is 54 more than I have published. And many of them were great poems.

John Keats was an English Romantic poet, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and others. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when in 1821 he died of tuberculosis at the age of 25. Talk about brief beauty!

 

One of the poems we read was “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”  This might have been the 3rd or 4th poem I studied in university. The poem describes an urn with an image of  a young shepherd pursuing a beautiful young woman who he wants to kiss. But of course, in the image he never catches her. She is forever, a “still unravished bride of quietness.” She never speaks. Their love is never consummated, but their love never turns stale either. It is a love that never withers. The shepherd is also a piper whose song is never heard.  But this too is fine. As Keats says in the poem, “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.”

The last two lines of that poem go as follows:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

 

There has been much critical debate about what those words mean. Many, including me, have puzzled over the meaning of those words. I think they make sense in the context of the whole poem. In a way it is a summation of the poet’s thinking expressed by the previous 48 lines.

By beauty I think he means beauty in a wide sense. Beauty basically is art. And art is true or it is not art. So beauty is truth and truth is beauty. Some cactuses bloom only for a day. What a dreadful pity.

So a beautiful cactus flower, caught in a silent moment by a camera, is a work of art (beauty)  that never withers. It  is an eternal thing of beauty. If is it good, it is good forever.  It never changes. That is truth which also is truth forever.

 

 

Ephemeral Beauty

2023 Grand Finale Tour, exotic flowers, photography

 

The first time I saw one of these gems, called the Argentine Giant Cactus I was told they bloomed for only 1 day.  I was stunned. How could such beauty be so brief? We heard this on the way out of the Phoenix Botancial Garden a few years ago. And they were blooming right now!  Of course, we had no option but to return back to see them. And they were indeed stunning. And the next day the flowers were gone!

 

In one respect we were very lucky in the weird year.  The cactuses were blooming about 2 weeks later than they normally do.  As a result, in a normal year where we leave for home on the last day of March, we would have seen very few cactuses blooming. That would have been disastrous. As it was, since we left April 15th this year, we got to see a lot cactuses in bloom. Not as many as we would have liked, but disaster was avoided. I did not have to pitch myself off a building.

 

One disadvantage of looking at cultivated cacti was I often did not know what kind of cacti they were.  I have some knowledge about wild cactuses but even less of the exotic ones

 

I always say I am an orchid guy.and it is true, I am an orchid guy. But I must admit cacti are pretty good too. Sometimes it is cruel how short of time we get to enjoy such beauty. And if you miss it, you must wait a year to redeem yourself.

The Dangerous World of photographing Cactuses

2023 Grand Finale Tour, exotic flowers, guns

Argentine Giant Cactus

This was a crazy year in Arizona.  Our 3&1/2 months in Arizona were the coldest and wettest we  have experienced there.  We hung around the pool a lot less than we usually do and worst of all the cacti bloomed later than usual.  More than 2 weeks later in my opinion. Fortunately, we were staying 2 weeks longer than we often did or we might have seen almost none. That would have been catastrophic of course.

 

Thankfully there was the Boyce Thompson Arboretum where the cacti are so well tended they can’t wait to emerge.  Secondly, there was the Phoenix Botanical garden as well as the Tucson Botanical Garden again where tender loving care convinces the cacti it is save to come out of hiding.  Finally, there were private homes where some magnificent cacti bloomed early. But here there were dangers!

 

In the early morning I visited the pre-scouted cactus sites  on yards I have seen in the Johnson Ranch area where we had been living. I had picked out places I wanted to photograph.  Of course, I will not venture onto properties without permission. That is dangerous thing to do here.  Of course, walking up to doors as a stranger and asking to talk to the owners is also dangerous. A  number of people in the US this year have been shot dead for doing exactly that.

Although it was risk waking up to a strangers house unannounced I had some protection. I was not packing heat, but I had one good protective help—i.e. white skin. Most of the people shot were black skinned. That is almost suicidal. This is what happens in such a fearful country where so many of the people have guns. They shoot first and ask questions later. Who would want to take a chance on a stranger at the door?

 

Despair and Decline in the West

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Decline of the west, guns

 

Although I acknowledge that there is much that is worthwhile in western civilization including without limiting the generality of that statement, art, literature, music, a plethora of newly recognized human rights for members of the various LGBTQ* communities, and many others. So I am not arguing that we are going to hell in a handbasket. Everything is not getting worse.  However, we should not be complacent. There are also many areas where western civilization seems to be in serious decline. On our recent trip to Arizona, I resolved to pay attention to the decline. I have blogged on some of them, but there are many others that merit consideration. I want to continue that discussion.

There has been significant decline in the west, which many have not noticed, and perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the self-declared leader of the west, namely, the United States of America. There are many indications of that decline and some are surprising.  Frankly, after spending nearly 4 months there earlier this year the situation is grim. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death of among young Americans. How is that possible? Why is it happening? Is has even surpassed death by overdoses.

Richard A. Friedman a psychiatrist writing in the New York Times put it this way in 2018,

“Teenagers and young adults in the United States are being ravaged by a mental health crisis — and we are doing nothing about it. As of 2017, statistics show that an alarming number of them are suffering from depression and dying by suicide. In fact, suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people, surpassed only by accidents. 

After declining for nearly two decades, the suicide rate among Americans ages 10 to 24 jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017.”

 

Of course,  gun violence is now the leading cause of death of people under the age of 18 surpassing death by accidents and suicide is the second leading cause of deaths.  Is that much better? Gun violence and suicides are the leading cause of the death of young Americans!

And most people in the US are not aware of this. They seem blinded by their religious belief that America is the best country in the world. Is that possible with such stats?

What is going on in the United States?  Is this not a sign of civilizational decline?

Harris Hawks: Hawks of the South

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Birds, Natural History, photography

 

 

In the US Harris Hawks can be found from Arizona to Texas, but not farther north. They can be found as far south as South America.

It has a long tail and a relatively small head.  Harris’s hawks can live up to 15 or 20 years old. The Harris’s hawk is usually between 18-24 inches in body length and has a wingspan of 3-4 feet yet only weighs from 1&1/2 pounds to 2 & ½ pounds.

Some of the Harris Hawks nest in spring but some females lay a second or even a third clutch whether or not their first breeding attempt fails. As a result, in Arizona eggs have been recorded in each month of the year.  This is possible because they nest in the southwest USA and farther south. This would not be so easy in Manitoba.

Young Harris Hawks sometimes play with each other by chasing insects or jumping on stick in imitation of the prey they capture.

Like most hawks, the female Harris hawks are larger than their male counterparts.  males. Sometimes these hawks practice a behavior known as “back-standing” where several birds stand on top of each other.

 

Harris Hawk: The Cooperators

2023 Grand Finale Tour, Arizona Photos, Birds, Evolution

 

Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

At the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum the last raptors we saw in flight were Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)  which I have seen a number of times before.  I was very lucky to have captured an image of this wonderful bird in flight,

 

This bird is unusual because it is one of the few birds of prey that hunts in packs. As a result, Harris Hawks  are more successful at capturing prey than individuals that hunt alone, but, of course, that means they have to share.

Harris’s are one of only two truly cooperative hunters in the raptor world. They will live in pairs in the tropical areas, or places where prey is abundant. In areas such as the Sonoran desert where prey has a lot of good cover because this desert contains a lot of vegetation,  they have been documented in groups as large as 9 birds.

That is why they are sometimes called ‘wolves of the air‘ taking their turns harrying a rabbit or squirrel and then chasing it out of cover towards other members that catch it. Here at the Museum they did not have to harry prey because the food was laid out for them. Briefly, the commentator giving us information through a loudspeaker tried to trick us into thinking they had found some prey were trying to pursue it into a corner. She soon acknowledged that this was not the case.

Sometimes Harris Hawks have been electrocuted by hydro lines, but sometimes other members of the group will return to help the injured hawk.  Thus, they carry their cooperating to extremes.  This cooperative view of species is sometimes controversial, as some evolutionists believe there is no cooperation in nature, just competition, but I think the better view is that cooperation is real, and Harris Hawks are an example of that.

They also nest in social groups that allows them to bond before they venture out together on hunting raids.