PLAGUED BY POLITICAL JUNK

IT WAS MUCH MORE THAN A SIMPLE SPRING CLEANING THAT ARISES FROM ANNUAL SURGES OF ENERGY, IT WAS AN ACCUMULATION OF ALL THE VITRIOLIC TRASH THAT HAD ACCUMULATED WITHIN EACH NOOK AND CRANNY OF MY ABODE THROUGHOUT THE PAST FEW MONTHS OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING. OUT OF MY LIFE ONCE AND FOR ALL. I HAD THE NEWSPAPERS REMOVED BY MEN WHO WOULD NOT REMOVE SUCH RUBBISH WITHOUT ORANGE RUBBER GLOVES. I TOLD THEM IT WAS ONLY NEWSPAPERS THAT HAD NOT BEEN CONTAMINATED BY TOXIC FERTILIZER OR MARGINAL WEED AND INSECT SPRAYS. THEY CHUCKLED AND SMILED; THEY WERE MUCH WISER THAN MOST WHO DEALT WITH SUCH. "WORDS, JUST WORDS, " I SAID. THEY NODDED AND SAID "THEY ARE THE WORST, THE WORDS ARE THE HARDEST TO WASH AWAY NO MATTER HOW HARD ONE SCRUBS. WORDS, JUST WORDS, SO HARD TO WASH AWAY."

THE FREEDOM TO TAKE AN ARMY OF PHOTOGRAPHS

We probably don't spend much time thinking about our freedoms because we are free. If we see a train or a plane and feel like capturing it with a snapshot, we just snap the picture.

When we go on vacation or off on a weekend getaway, we take our cameras and film--unless we have switched to digital. We go armed to shoot an army of photos of almost anything we want to shoot. Great! Yes, it is. Those planning on going to the Olympics in China in August might want to check with the Chinese embassy about what equipment one will be permitted to take. And one can assume that briefs will be held for arriving throngs of tourists about what they can photograph and what they cannot photograph. Count on it. Does a dog howl at the moon?
How sad it would be if we had to plan our vacations around the state regulations governing vacations. But that is simply the tip of the salt mine.

What if vacations were not approved by the state? Oh, some might say, "we would protest 24 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days a year..." And of course, that was the last we saw of them," stated Feargov Negatovkoopoff, a neighbor who was held in high-esteem in the commune because of his ability to remember small details about his neighbors and their investments before democracy was outlawed by a new President.Of course we are still enjoying democracy, but think about what it would be like if we were ruled by a dictator.........Any photos of old buildings that were abandoned and boarded would most likely be off-limits for numerous reasons. If you take a moment or two you will probably figure out what some of the reasons might be.

Thankfully, freedom to photograph old depots that have been closed since 1965 is a freedom we still enjoy. (Old depot in Central City, Colorado; photo taken in 1969)

INSIDE THE MIND OF AN ARTIST IN LOVE WITH LIFE

THERE IS WITHIN THE MIND OF ARTISTS A VARIETY OF THOUGHTS THAT TRAVEL UP AND DOWN THE SPINE, EACH ONE A PASSION OF SOME KIND, EITHER ONE REMEMBERED OR ONE JUST FOUND. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE ARTISTS EMBRACED ROMANCE FOR A FINAL TIME TO FIND THAT THE ROMANCE WAS NOT THE TRANSIENT TYPE BUT ONE THAT WAS MEANT TO LAST A LIFETIME.

WAXING PHILOSOPHICAL ABOUT CHECK OUT TIME AT MOTEL SIX

WORDS ARE IMPULSES, URGES, MOODS, EMOTIONS, MYSTERIOUS IMAGES IN THE SHADOWS BEFORE SUNSET OR SUNRISE; WORDS ARE NOISES, SOUNDS, VOCAL UTTERINGS AND EXERCISE, MOVEMENTS OF ARMS AND LEGS, YES--ALL OF THESE ELECTRIC CODES MOVING THROUGH FLESH AND BLOOD TO GANGLIA--NERVE ENDINGS. AND NERVE BEGININGS TOO, FOR SURE. WORDS, JUST WORDS, SOUNDS OF THE MAN AROUSED BY A WOMAN ON FIRE WITH DESIRES ONLY SATISFIED BY MATERNAL TASKS AND CHORES NOT YET KNOWN. THE SOUND OF THE WOODS IN THE DEEP OF WINTER WHEN FOOTFALLS ARE CRUNCHING AND FLATTENING NEW SNOW. ONE MIGHT WONDER IF THE TWO, SO DIFFERENT AND YET SO MUCH ALIKE, FIRST MET IN THE REFLECTING WARMTH OF A FIRELIGHT. AND WHO REACHED OUT TO DRAW THE OTHER THAT FIRST TIME? WHICH ONE READ THE RULES THAT FIRST TIME? AND WHAT DID THE OTHER SAY AFTER THE MULTIPLICATION DUTY WAS OVER? PERHAPS NO WORDS WERE SAID. INSTEAD, A LONG AND DEEP PRIMAL SCREAM COULD BE HEARD ABOUT A NOON TIME CHECK OUT HOUR, CHEATED ONCE AGAIN OF AN AFTERNOON NAP.

AN ESSAY ON THE THEORY OF ENERGY: I GET A CHARGE OUT OF LIFE

THROUGH THE FENCE I SEE MORE ELECTRICITY THAN I CAN UNDERSTAND. AT FIRST GLANCE, IT MIGHT BE A BIT CONFUSING. NOT MIGHT, IT IS CONFUSING. LIFE ITSELF IS CONFUSING. BUT THAT IS ONLY MY OPINION. FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT CURIOUS ABOUT ENERGY, LIFE IS SIMPLE AND EASY. OF COURSE, IF THEY TOUCHED ONE OR TWO OF THOSE ELEMENTS BEHIND THE FENCE, LIFE WOULD CEASE TO BE SIMPLE AND EASY, NOR WOULD THEY BE TROUBLED OR CURIOUS ABOUT ENERGY. NO THEY WOULD, MOST CERTAINLY FIND OUT ABOUT ENERGY FIRST HAND.

NOBODY SHOULD SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE UNLESS, OF COURSE, THEY DESERVED IT. AND THAT BRINGS UP YET ANOTHER SUBJECT, THAT OF CAPITAL OR CAPITOL PUNISHMENT. EXCUSE ME! WHO AM I TO JUDGE ANOTHER? BUT IS IT OKAY TO SAY THAT I BELIEVE HITLER WAS ONE WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN LET LOOSE BEHIND THE FENCE ABOVE IN AN ELECTRICAL STORM. BUT SOMEHOW THIS ESSAY ON ENERGY IS DIGRESSING, DRIFTING SOMEWHAT AIMLESSLY AND GOING WHERE? LET ME RETURN TO THE ORIGIN OF THIS PHOTO ESSAY. I WAS LOOKING FOR A SOMEWHAT UNIQUE PHOTO TO WRITE ABOUT. HAVE YOU EVER DONE THIS? DONE WHAT, YOU ASK? PICKED OUT A PHOTOGRAPH AND TRIED WRITING SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT IT, THAT'S WHAT. NO, I AM NOT SUFFERING ANY ILLUSIONS THAT THIS ESSAY IS INTERESTING, I SIMPLY HOPE IT HAS SOME ELECTRICITY SURROUNDING IT, ENOUGH TO KEEP THE READER FROM SNOOZING. YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID THAT "...IF YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE" RIGHT? DO YOU BELIEVE IT? REALLY, I DON'T GIVE A RODENT'S REAR END IF YOU HAVE HEARD IT OR NOT AND I AM NOT BEING RUDE, JUST HONEST AND REALISTIC. DO YOU SUPPOSE THERE ARE MANY RATS THAT RESIDE WITHIN THE PERIMETER OF THE FENCE THAT SURROUNDS THIS POWER STATION? AND IF THERE ARE SUCH RODENTS ZIPPING ABOUT, DO YOU FEEL THAT THEY HAVE ABSORBED ANY TOXIC MINERALS IN THEIR MOLECULES? BUT HERE'S A THOUGHT I DO WANT TO SHARE SINCE IT HAS BEEN MENTIONED: RATS THAT MAY HAVE ABSORBED SUCH FOREIGN ELEMENTS MIGHT HAVE DEVELOPED A TOLERANCE (THEY ALWAYS DO) AND MIGHT, I SAY MIGHT, BECOME A SUPER RAT, A REAL BAD ASS MEAN ASS RAT THAT MIGHT DESTROY SOCIETY AND CULTURE AS WE KNOW IT NOW. WHAT? YOU SAY THAT IT COULDN'T GET MUCH WORSE. NO, NO, ONE MUST HAVE HOPE, A POSITIVE ATTITUDE FOR THERE WILL ALWAYS BE RATS AMONG US. WHO WAS IT THAT SAID THAT, "YE SHALL ALWAYS HAVE THE RATS AMONGST YE"? WHATEVER, WE KNOW WE HAVE THE POOR, THE RICH, THE FREE, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW? HEY, I AM JUST GLAD TO BE ALIVE AND FREE AND NEITHER RICH NOR POOR, BUT SUFFICIENT ENERGY TO SURVIVE AND LOOK FORWARD TO YET ANOTHER DAY.

the day everybody decided to go to the art gallery

i woke up this morning and looked out my window and saw a stream of autos filled with smiling people talking and smoking and they looked like they knew where they were going so i hurried up and fixed coffee and kept waiting for it to perk so i could have my usual cup before i started doing what i knew i would be doing and after drinking almost a full cup of that good stuff i took the freight elevator down to the lobby of the old hotel or let me say it was once an old hotel before the city almost went broke and instead of demolishing the old buildings they did what i and others had hoped they would do and that is refurbish the old buildings and turn them into lofts so i looked out the windows of the lobby and was glad the rush was not over and i would still have time to join in with them and would be able to have as much fun as the people in the cars would have after they got to where they were going.