Of course "there" is never where I want to stop, that thirst of going and going energized by unseen forces has a hard time keeping me down, only by randomly placing lately I have to admit a certain fear in me. I don’t even know right now if I am coming or going! It has been busy which keeps me wondering so often how can one be so busy, and yet, I know this is nothing compared to so many with Families and responsibilities that will not quit. I just walked outside for a bit and again it is time for the moon almost full to glow as a giant light bulb illuminating the surroundings and creating the silhouettes bordering us in the form of so many mountains. There is much to say about being here, just the fact to be alive in itself is a gift one should never forget. A deep breath, a glance around and again the priorities change as all around us everything moves so much slower with a bit more certitude than us humans.

I met Ryan in Ft Stockton a while back, he is the young Mac Gyver, the solar expert and any other electric or plumbing apparatus. He decided to come and spend some time with us, him and his buddy Diego, and actually I don’t remember if he was here when I was in the hospital or afterwards. 26 years old, he describes his passion as I do mine for cooking. He becomes "one" with a system, he breathe, he feels it, he "is". He could not let my solar system alone! And now I have just about double its previous capacity through "tweaking" some minor previous losses of electricity and with his gift of a third panel, this one pointed properly throughout the day, I actually do not suffer any loss in my batteries till sunset which are now full by noon. Totally amazing.

Ryan’s decor as he says is "tools"! no IKEA here, tools for him to use, up all night putting the final touches on his potato thrower, adjusting his own solar system comprised of… 18 panels on his roof and as if that was not enough, a diesel generator he has himself built, wired to a thermostat to comes on at certain temperatures to run his air conditioner so if Diego is left in the camper he will not be too hot. Same with his heater. I hope I have all this right! What I have correctly interpreted is his outdoor thermometer. 40 years of cooking and I had never seen the poor meat thermometer served with such purpose. But why not? Inexpensive and accurate.

Sensor right through the wall…

Ryan is good company, was good company as he now has headed back home, his Mobile RV business keeping him busy. Spirit and Diego? well, that was a different story. Even with Spirit being so gentle with smaller dogs, after this ambush while running after each other, Diego stopping and Spirit "not", it did not go too well. I think he put some fear into him and they never approached each other again.

The potato thrower was to say the least "interesting"! A mixture of hair spray and blowing in a couple breath of air, a battery operated spark and we never found the potatoes gone a few hundred yards away. We used a paper towel as a casing for photographic purposes!

Ryan was taking this demonstration very seriously, can you tell? There was no way to photograph the potato coming out and we thought then combined with a paper towel would make a better demonstration. As they say, do not try this at home, it is a lethal weapon and there are some definite steps to follow if you want to stay intact.

We had a good time, I learned a lot about electricity, a lot about solar, amps, volts, wattage and all that obscure side of Life. A couple weeks ago was all about clutches, I feel as I am in school here, actually the "school of Life" considering being surrounded by such incredible Friends pulling me through this slight "intermission" due to health. And yet so many good things are happening. Tonight is a big night as I have been offered a free echo cardiogram which will hopefully say a lot about my condition and probably also enlighten the Cardiologist I will be seeing on Monday the 17th in Odessa. The waiting is the worse part, not quite knowing the outcome, and yet I felt good enough to join the dual sport riders in town for the weekend as last year.

Their lunch on Sunday is always a great chicken and beef Fajitas, and now that I am looking at my plate, yes, that is the one at the empty seat, I realize that I should probably cut back a bit! As much Tricor and Lovastatin I am taking now might not be the smartest move to clear up those busy arteries of mine!… or am I waiting for the good Dr to tell me that?

The greatest news however was yesterday. Am I now a Photographer? am I now an Artist? Funny. Kiowa Gallery is the best in town, that is in Alpine and within hundreds of miles, and I managed throughout all this to make a 30 minute appointment with the owner Keri who has been at the same location for 15 years. I wanted to show her some of my favorite photos and brought my laptop and proofs of some I have had already printed a while ago. With Art Gallery Night on the 21st attracting thousands of viewers that fact in itself was a motivation. She liked them… she liked them a lot! My Photos go hand in hand with our Journey and 5 photos will be on display in a few days with a 6th one which will be our synopsis below besides a printed hand out Bio of us.

Of course I was floating on air yesterday afterwards, she is even hanging them in the front room which normally is reserved for paintings. I am thrilled as I will also have my Art Cards printed and will be there present for both nights! Will try to park Spirit right up front… Could this be the start of some recognition of my Photography and the messages our Journey conveys to others yet undiscovered by them? I am so humbled by everything going on right now.

The final approach…

As we returned yesterday I think even "Old Faithful" was smoothly, smoother than ever, purring through the miles toward "The Oasis".We stopped to observe this Hawk (I think it was a Hawk…) on his final approach seeking his dinner for the day. He spoke a bit, wondering probably if we were going to disturb him, but realized that we were only stopped to admire him and witness his agility through the skies. Yesterday was quite a day. Lets see what today brings, as I have said it in the past, Texas has always been good to us.

 

Friends is what we have left in Life. Friends have been the common interest over these past two years. Don’t forget your Friends today, call them, write them, hug them as your own Family, your pets, are also and should be your Friends. This is what I have learned…

Help us keep the site alive. Please contribute… I use to ask if reading this site was worth 1$ a month, loose change truly. I do again. This site has been far from being a free Journal as it was at one time!

Two years of Photography is finally in order on SmugMug… In "Your Favorites", in "States", some labeled "first year" and second year", now also "Texas the third year". Feel free to browse, you can even use the slide show mode and have fun.

Merchandise is also available through SmugMug. If you like to order a print all sizes are available as I store the originals myself considering the huge bandwidth needed to upload on the Gallery.

Be well, always.   Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 6:49 am and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.