Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

People are weird.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

We’re not going back!

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The words do not have to be perfect.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

This fight is for everything.

Republicans in disarray!

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ozark Hillbilly, Irreplaceable Inspiration

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Originally published on June 21, 2020 (under the title ‘Zenning Out’) if you want to read the comments

Zen Out

From beloved gardening & photograpy master Ozark Hillbilly:

On my first expedition I had the pleasure of spending 6 days underground with Chuck, a Rastafarian smoke jumper from northern NM who was one of the most even tempered people I’ve ever caved with. On our last day his fractious headlamp that had been incessantly arguing with him the entire time just stopped working. Chuck, who had never uttered so much as “darn” or a “dagnabbit” began cursing like a sailor and beating his headlamp in the hopes of improved morale and then, just as suddenly stopped.

“Oh wow man, I need to Zen out. Here in this most beautiful place, I really need to Zen out.”

That’s where I’m at with the murder of George Floyd and all the white people who think protesting for haircuts with AR-15s is the height of resonableness, also thinking they get to lecture black people angrily protesting for their lives on how they are doing it all wrong.

So I am Zenning out…

ZenOut [top photo] shows the all but finished original Zen garden. There are a few more details to be added to the divider such as the “stained glass” my wife is going to do for the windows.

The pics are just the step by step construction of the Zen addition.

Photo Bomb Percy (damn dog tries to get in every damn pic I take)

Spiderwort is added just because this needs a pretty flower picture. They are growing up thru a broken cast iron pot I found while mushroom hunting, no doubt thrown away by a frustrated 1870s iron prospector for whom it was the last straw. That area is pocked with prospect pits including at least one 40′ deep shaft going straight down.

***********

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

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Sad News, We Have Lost Our Beloved OzarkHillbilly

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Medium Cool – Equilibrium!

Our beloved OzarkHillbilly is gone.

He left this earth at the end of August, just a small number of days after his last comment here.

Ozark didn’t want a funeral, or a fuss, or an obituary, and so there was none.

Such a special person.  Smart, thoughtful, kind, generous, knowledgeable, sharing his building experience with all of us as needed.   And not a bit of mansplaining!  I will remember him for his stories.  For the love of his land.  For his love of his dogs.  For his fierce love for his sons.  I will never forget when he nearly lost one of his sons in a terrible accident. For his love of family,  And oh, those grandkids!  How he loved his Mondays!

He shared a lot of himself with us through his stories.  But Ozark was also very private in some ways, keeping blog life separate from some of the people in his life.  So we’re going to respect that, and not post his name here.  I’m not about to “out” OzarkHillbilly and share any parts of him that he shared only with us.  We’ll allow his blog life and real life to remain separate.

It’s hard to read what you’re writing when your eyes are filled with tears, so I stopped to get a handkerchief just now, and I found this note in my handkerchief drawer.  I had seen it somewhere and it resonated with me because I sometimes struggle with all these things.

Be free.
Be free from pain
from fear
from regret
from guilt
and from heartbreak.
Be free.

We love you, Ozark, and you are already missed.  You’re with your beloved Woofmeister now.  Fly away, home!

i will probably repost some of the stories he sent me – he was such a great storyteller!  Here’s a photo from one of Ozark’s stories about his beloved dogs. Ozark had titled it longlastgoodbye.

And now we come to the Irish wake part, where I hope we can maybe smile through the tears and share our own stories about OzarkHillbilly and the world he shared with us.  If not today, then soon.

Raising a glass to you, Ozark, we are all lucky to have known you!

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On The Road – OzarkHillbilly – Las Pozas

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OzarkHillbilly

I first visited Las Pozas (The Pools) during the winter of 1988/89 and it was a surrealist wonderland. At that time it had yet to acquire its current name. We cavers called it “the bird house of Xilitla” or just “the bird house.” Edward James had only been dead a few years. While his longtime friend and collaborator Plutarco Gastelum was responsible for it’s care and upkeep, I suspect he was doing so with very limited resources. At the time, nothing much was being done. There was no gate or entry fee, we just walked in and explored, going wherever we wanted (or so it seemed at the time). The few caretakers walked about aimlessly, making desultory swings with their machetes at the encroaching jungle. Rusting rebar stuck out of the many unfinished concrete sculptures. At the time I fully expected the jungle to swallow it up, just like it had the Mayan pyramids a thousand years before.

Thankfully, my fears were unrealized. From the Wiki page: “In the summer of 2007, the Fundación Pedro y Elena Hernández, the company Cemex, and the government of San Luis Potosí paid about $2.2 million for Las Pozas and created Fondo Xilitla, a foundation that oversees the preservation and restoration of the site.” Las Pozas now thrives and is much treasured by all Mexicans.

I want to apologize for the quality of the photographs. On that first trip I had a real camera and took a hundred or more photos on Kodachrome. Sadly they got eaten by my divorce. All my following visits (iirc 4) were during the between years. (between my marriages) Most of my Mexico travels were sans camera, but on at least 2 trips I did bring/buy disposable cameras. There is much that I remember seeing, the concrete bamboo forest, the aviary, his bedroom with the poems on the walls, and much more that I have no pictures of. It is so large and maze like that it is easy to return to the same sculpture 3 or 4 times via different routes and difficult at best to see it all in one day. But I give what I’ve got.

One can read more about Las Pozas at

Atlas Obscura   https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/las-pozas

The World Monuments Fund:   https://www.wmf.org/project/las-pozas

Wikipedia:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Pozas

And of course, the Las Pozas web site:   https://www.laspozasxilitla.org.mx/

English:    https://www.laspozasxilitla.org.mx/en/index.html

One last thing, should one want to visit, I suggest avoiding the summer holiday months and also the days around holidays (especially Xmas). The crowds are not bad, and Mexicans are unfailingly gracious and polite but I always found a solitary experience to be far more fulfilling. The weather during the dry season has always been perfect for me. My one trip during the rainy season (early August) was humid but day time temps were in the 70s and 80s and quite pleasant to me. It did rain every day, sometimes torrentially. I cannot say how typical those temps may or may not be for Xilitla.

In case you can’t tell, I have a hard time picking and choosing which pics to send. I have more, most of which are of lesser quality. A couple of the ones I’ve sent are of lesser quality, but I just couldn’t quite leave them out.
The second set of photos will be up tomorrow.
On The Road - OzarkHillbilly - Las Pozas 2
Las Pozas

Cascades.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Wintry Mix in Flyover Country – week 3

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It’s still winter in flyover country, then we jump back to fall color with BillinGlendale, Cheryl teaches us how to take better pictures of our pets, and OzarkHillbilly shares a very special place with us.

Albatrossity

The third week of our Wintry Mix in Flyover Country comes with a reminder that spring is on the way, and colorful birds will replace some of our more demurely-plumaged winter avifauna. But while they are still here, let’s appreciate these hardy companions before they start to head back to their summer homes.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Wintry Mix in Flyover Country - week 3 8
Near Manhattan KSJanuary 10, 2022

Seed-eating birds are abundant in this agrarian landscape, and they come in many sizes. This Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens) was one of a flock of several thousand, all hoping to find some waste corn in a harvested field. In decades past, colder winters and fewer corn fields meant that the Snow Geese would simply fly over us, and winter on the Gulf Coast. Climate change and human population growth has been good for this species, at least temporarily, as they can avoid a longer migration and spend more time fattening up for a shorter journey north in spring.

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zenning Out

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Zen Out

From beloved gardening & photograpy master Ozark Hillbilly:

On my first expedition I had the pleasure of spending 6 days underground with Chuck, a Rastafarian smoke jumper from northern NM who was one of the most even tempered people I’ve ever caved with. On our last day his fractious headlamp that had been incessantly arguing with him the entire time just stopped working. Chuck, who had never uttered so much as “darn” or a “dagnabbit” began cursing like a sailor and beating his headlamp in the hopes of improved morale and then, just as suddenly stopped.

“Oh wow man, I need to Zen out. Here in this most beautiful place, I really need to Zen out.”

That’s where I’m at with the murder of George Floyd and all the white people who think protesting for haircuts with AR-15s is the height of resonableness, also thinking they get to lecture black people angrily protesting for their lives on how they are doing it all wrong.

So I am Zenning out…

ZenOut [top photo] shows the all but finished original Zen garden. There are a few more details to be added to the divider such as the “stained glass” my wife is going to do for the windows.

The pics are just the step by step construction of the Zen addition.

Photo Bomb Percy (damn dog tries to get in every damn pic I take)

Spiderwort is added just because this needs a pretty flower picture. They are growing up thru a broken cast iron pot I found while mushroom hunting, no doubt thrown away by a frustrated 1870s iron prospector for whom it was the last straw. That area is pocked with prospect pits including at least one 40′ deep shaft going straight down.

***********

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zenning OutPost + Comments (81)