Rode out under a cloudless sky
Again
Forecast is for blazing heat
Again (yet?)
Long shadows across the path
Strobelighting as we pass
Quiet morning
But light traffic sounds in the distance
And on the path
No resistance
Only a couple of leisure riders
And walkers encountered this trip
A skink and a single Roadrunner
Dithered as we passed
Back home after
An hour and a half
Catrike ‘stabled’
Until the next time
–LE - 7/9/26
(Wow, a 'full house', twos and sixes)
Only two of us anchored the picket line at the Ajo entrance to the VA for the morning shift change. We were there from 6:30-8:15am.
Responses were similar to previous weeks, 75-85%, with only one undeniable negative, a steady thumb down.
We are entering ‘high summer’ in Tucson. Temperatures are approaching ‘blastfurnace’ intensity, even in our post-sunrise protesting… thus, my frequent standing in the shade of that signature saguaro outside the gate.
–LE - 6/26/26
electric blue
dome overhead
long shadows
east to west
large skinks
sunning themselves
on the path
crickets
fiddling their
mating songs
in the shade
riverside brush
and trees
mountains
north, east, and south
just suggestions
in the blue haze
of distance
while those
in the west
seem more like
carnivore fangs
bright
sharp
gleaming
only a couple of
walkers
and
bikies
out
in the
early morning sun
an hour and a half
fifteen miles
behind us
when
at last
home
–LE - 6/23/26
Two of us anchored the picket line at the Ajo gate of the Tucson VA from 6:30-8:15am for the morning shift-change.
Responses were a little less than in previous weeks... Perhaps we're all becoming resigned to the chaos of our daily incomprehensible information flow...
There were a couple of definite negatives... from a bouncing thumb down to a 'no' head shake and an older guy in a newer white pickup truck, yelling at us as he turned down Ajo away from us, 'It's all your fault, you communist m.....f.....s'. Probably NOT a real cowboy or farmer... the truck looked 'pristine'... not used for any kind of real work... IMHO...; -)
Yes, we still had plenty of positive responses, and many pretended not to see us, too tired to respond, or just plain resigned...
A Tribute to the graphic novel and movie, V for Vendetta...
Opening lines: Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love... And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man... A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.
V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
Evey Hammond: My father was a writer. You would've liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up.
V: Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof.
Artifice Our Disguise
Artifices We All Hide Behind…
Yes, Our Truths Hidden Behind Masks
We all wear them, morning to night,
cradle to grave –
Inspired by societies, primitive and new,
to fool us, the gods, and especially the demons –
the demons within, and out in the world.
Welcome to the future, where masks
create and hide the fear and deceit, promoted
by the opportunists in charge, for their own
eternal perpetuation of power, wealth, control –
behooves them to keep us scared –
as Enlightenment principles are turned
up-side-down – as civilization devolves –
the future is here… full of primitive fear
all over again.
–LE
