Dandelions are hard to kill....

And so am I. I just noticed the dandelion growing out of a tree... strange and unexpected... a reminder... a sign. I named my photography business Dandelion Photography many years ago for just that reason... dandelions are resilient, persistent, and hardy. You can chemicalize, stomp, dig up, cut down the mighty dandelion as much as you want... but it comes back just as strong or stronger every year... you can eat the greens... a little bitter but tasty none the less... and the most delightful wine can be made from the flower... Something to think about for a plant most consider to be a weed and thus useless and worthy only of being destroyed... the channel is clear and open... I am in motion again and my business is still going strong after all these years ... sure things could be better... things could always be better... I'll take all the better I can get... perhaps, I could shoot our way out of here... hummmmmm.

Yeah, It's Kinda Like That...

It feels like Fall outside... Teresa and I have even taken to shutting the windows at night to keep the cold out. I went to take Lily out for a walk one day and found this small bird on the path. I try not to read too much into oddities like this, especially here. But I couldn't help but to wonder how something "as free as a bird"... like a bird... winds up on his ass like this... what went wrong? And how does it get fixed? Or does it get fixed... maybe that is the lesson nature has to teach us... some things can not be fixed or made "right"... Don't even try... I think that may be true of a very small percentage of things in the universe, but I think the rest of the fixing and "righting" is up to us... if we choose to do it... This gets to be a strange time of year for me... and bonus I have way too much time on my hands for my own good... perhaps I need a hobby... or maybe just a job... hummmmm.

RESET button...

Ok. Right brain... Left brain... Universal mind... set... go... it is now time for a RESET - TING of my, of (our) paradigm. An over-haul of the current... current of thinking. FREE free association... opportunity challenge new ideas blocked by old ideas rise ing above without notice watch out for vampires or call your mom to warn of impending laughter on site with blankets and cookies pinch the girls with the long dark hair and the cheery wind blown smiles it makes no sense and makes us no cents incensed to action without the map or the guide dance until you feel it you'll know what he meant no flowers no rubber gloves or pink socks with bunnies withdraw the questions of authority and you'll know if you were right left or wrong.... it doesn't make sense... but maybe it does... paradigm shift in 3-2-1...

Can I Get a Witness...?!

Ok, so remember when I said that I am done keeping a low profile...? This morning a man with a bible showed up on my door step... that never happens... bible or not... we don't really get visitors... at least no one that we actually want to hang out with.... (That's hint Amber if you're reading this...) Anyway, I saw the "Awake" Magazine in his hand before he even got to the screen door... which by the way, I didn't even bother to open. Jehovah's Witnesses... right here in Brayton... the guy was nice enough.. he had his very young son with him. He says, " We're just out talking to people today, about life, the world, and we're reading scripture with people..." I started by thanking him for his visit and then told him the truth... "We're Pagan, both of us... we're Witches.." I was about to offer him a Google search to look up what that meant when he said, "I know what Witches are, I knew some when I lived in Oregon" Then I said, "That's a little ironic, we have been thinking a lot about visiting and maybe moving to Oregon..." After a few words about finding people in town who were interested in the bible, he thanked me for my time and went on his way... It felt really good to finally say that to someone around here. There are some folks we have told... but only a couple that really matter. It is not like we have been in the broom closet - at least not on purpose - I think that we thought that we'd get settled... make some real friends... as in people that we could really trust...that one bit us in the ass. There be predators out here... If we were to click our collective heels together I am not exactly sure where we'd end up... probably back in Iowa City... I mean, there's no place like home... it's true... there isn't... But his is definitely not home... but it's a good way station... we are grateful for that... it could always be worse... always, but in all honesty the journey is really just now beginning... There is a new plan in the planning... this weekend in fact. I have been praying to Lord Ganesha to remove all obstacles and destroy our enemies - both within and without - we should be seeing some sparks any minute now eh?

A**holes in Paradice

Ok, so I'm a pretty easy going person in most situations... the other day there was like a birthday party or something in the park our house faces.... there were a lot of cars as the normal bicyclists showed up... to use the bike path. Ok, next to our house is the Water Dept. for the city of Brayton and next to that is a road that loops around to the post office and some grain storage silos... there is much open space on the road and by the silos thus overflow parking.... yet in spite of that, some jerk-off in a giant SUV chose to park in my driveway - right next to my truck which is clearly pulled back to the garage... I came out on to the front steps and said nicely..." Hey, that's not part of the park... that's my driveway..." The guy and his wife both looked at me with this kind of so what look and said, "Yeah, Ok..." and kept walking.... Honestly I couldn't have cared less at that point... until they just ignored me... I hate how so many people who drive giant SUV's seem to function with this weird sense of "entitlement" - meaning, "I'll drive like an a**hole and park where I want... what are you going to do about it...?" I used to drive transit buses... the typical city bus is 40' long and weighs about 16.5 tons... you'd think that someone with half a brain - even someone in an SUV would opt not to cut off the one vehicle that could knock them into the middle of the next week... You'd be wrong... anyway, the only way we got the A**hole to move was to be seen by him writing down his plate number and taking pictures of the offending SUV - I'd squeezed off about a half dozen frames when I saw him go for his keys.... What's with that? Why the overt dickishness? I have tried my level best to keep a low - very low, profile. I just know that if I parked in anyone's driveway around here I get asked with a shot gun or behind door number 2 - the local Authority would be all over me... . Teresa said " It's because you're black that they just ignored you..." The conversation then went to..."If you'd been an old white guy saying get out of my driveway... they wouldn't have even hesitated to move the SUV....." I don't go looking for spooks in that sense, but sadly I think that she is right... could this place blow any harder... sorry, rhetorical question... I don't even want to know the answer to that.....

I almost forgot about this little gem... is it a bad thing... something to worry about, if your neighbors suddenly start sporting confederate flags on the 4th of July...? Just wondering... I don't scare easy... so I'm not worried... it's just really funny that's all... How people define their world to others... I have been thinking about getting myself a Jolly Roger to fly proudly... Arrrrrrrr!!! or maybe just a big black flag... hummmm, I wonder how that would be received... now, there'd be a blog for ya....

Upbeat or Beat-up....

I am a fairly upbeat person - I try to see the good in people, places, and situations around me. I try. This "seeing of good" has been a lot more challenging than usual of late. Teresa and I are still quite under-employed which is slowing down forward momentum to a near crawl... don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to a good crawl once in a while... especially after some good - really good - drinking... but this feels like stuck in the mud. The constant spinning of tires and crawling through muck... while an awesome exercise in the building of character... is both frustrating and time consuming... and definitely not yielding the desired result - which simply put - is a consistent flow of income that allows for some other choices to be made. Choices that are proactive instead of reactive. That would mean launching our businesses and working for ourselves instead of looking for "jobs" that are ultimately neither satisfying or long term profitable. It seems that everything in our experience here has been about the short term fix... which rounds back to more of the same - over and over and over and over again. I get it, I think I understand how people here stay here for decades and ultimately have nothing more to show for it than a really shiny Ford F-150 in the driveway with a mini-van sitting next to it in front a cookie cutter house that looks like every other house on the block and is equally mortgage to the max. Ultimately these people have jobs they hate but can never quit (or be fired from) lest they risk losing everything they have worked for their whole lives... including their good name and status in the community... this is fine, I've go no issue with people here and what they want... if that is all you want out of the infinite possibilities that life has to offer... then party on and have it... I guess I want more... a lot more... I may not just need the special menu... I may need a whole new restaurant...