Gray days, colorful mind. “The Oasis”. TX

Monday, October 29th, 2012

“Paragraphs of Daily thoughts, a bit of mental therapy, published weekly or so…”

“When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying Life will rush in.”
~ D.H. Lawrence ~

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A gray day with a colorful mind.

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Decompression was so needed as I realize we had not been by ourselves for so long. House sitting in Tucson taking up a couple weeks and some days, on to Germany for another couple of weeks, on up and back to Wyoming and even though enduring the still present daytime heat, the evenings here are nice, pleasant, and the nights with a Moon on it’s way to be full again are magical. We rode till 4am a couple nights ago and then on slept throughout most of the day. A ride to nowhere on the familiar many unpaved roads surrounding "The Oasis", up and down some hills, crossing empty creeks filled with stones of all sizes and shapes transfigured by the intensity of the headlights.

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Almost eerie at times as all notion of distances and dimensions changes, shadows of all shapes and heights posted like predators lining up along us for the excursion. We at times pulled here and pulled over there, there is no camera to be used within those breaks, it is just us and these enchanted surroundings. It is no man’s land at that time, the World here was asleep. We were not, as cutting through such silence with the sounds of an engine and an exhaust screaming at times, idling at others and just plain turned off also bringing on the sound of emptiness throughout such moments.

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Life on the road into other spaces I think while then on here, lucky us, I realize is so demanding. "I want to be there when I am here, I want to be here when I am there…" has been the notion. Past tense. We are here "now" and I want to be here "now". A vast improvement. The Moon again is up a few watts, I feel alive throughout these cool illuminated times when the rest of the World seemingly is dormant. That is much what I think about. It is around us like a vast Ocean and the breeze so gentle and so perfect. Another ride tonight as I am getting to know these roads "Crusty" is taking us on with my riding partner looking always ahead and then on at me probably to make sure I know where I am going, but truly don’t. He does not know that and will not tell him. He is so different in "his" sidecar. It is definitely"his", there is no doubting his demeanor.

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I think I jumped the wall this week, that fence with the few thorns welded on here and there. They did not rip me off. I found out it is Saturday tomorrow. Not that it means anything to us, just the notion that I was still on Monday, or maybe was it Tuesday or Thursday. We have Friends visiting and I always have to tell them to remind me the day before.  I knew it, the day, because the cold front showed up and I scrambled for warmer clothing. Feels as it had been a Century for such temperatures. Stood outside first with only a short sleeve t shirt receiving plentifully what I was wishing for. Then froze and dressed up. We do strange things in this Desert away from it all. The rules (???) of Society do not apply. Not here. Our own "Oasis".

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These days the ceiling is of a gray color with no movement. No air moving, no sunshine, nothing. It feels as being into another dimension as I cannot tell what time it is. I know it is moving on, I don’t think we are as we have not been away in daytimes but only planted here doing this and doing that or was it maybe nothing. Could it be? Does it matter? Maybe tomorrow as we are running out of food. Some food as in vegetables, drinking water. There is always rice and pasta and a few other things. I like it this way. I have found myself again, it is calming and peaceful, not bombarded by any outside dilemmas too many seem to create only to pass it on to others.

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We rode in daytime finally. More of those back roads on which we had not been before and one we had, the one to the "Swimming Hole". I was warned it was in bad shape because of these past rains, specially the one "that night". That magical night when it all stopped and I stood outside surrounded by the lightning in a 360 degree pattern flashing on "Nine points", "Solitario", "Santiago Peak" and even "Cathedral Mountains’”. The road before the creek crossing did end up being not too bad, yet the deep gravel while I stopped lost my traction and suddenly tires and rims sank deeply. Without a reverse and two wheel drive it would have been impossible to turn around as it was hard enough as it is. So, deep gravel equals no go. Pretty simple. Physics, if I remember well, Sir Isaac Newton.

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Gallery of Photos on Smugmug.
Calendars on LuLu

collage calendar

You be well
Ara and Spirit

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9 Responses to “Gray days, colorful mind. “The Oasis”. TX”

  1. Bill McDonald Says:

    Just when I think I have seen your best photography, you come up with these to top them.

    I just love the gray look, the look that harks back to the masters- Adams, Weston, etc.

    Plus excellent writing to back it all up.

  2. Randy Says:

    Ah, all is well. I really enjoyed this post. Rode both my Wee-Strom and Sportcity last week. Might be a while before I can do it again. 18 this morning.

  3. texascindy Says:

    Glad Crusty was able to get you down some roads you’ve been longing to ride. Also very glad you were able to get out of that one spot! That’s what we fear most, while driving backroads, more than anything else; getting stuck so far away from anyone or anything. BTW, love the video! felt like I was right there with you and Spirit!
    Take care!
    Cindy

  4. texascindy Says:

    forgot to add: I even ducked a couple of times and could almost feel the “desert pinstriping”!
    Cindy

  5. Ara & Spirit Says:

    Thanks Cindy. That is one road that is out… Plenty others left. Getting a bit on the warmer side again, just a few more days. See you two (no, three!) soon…

  6. Ara & Spirit Says:

    18! Hmmmm… I like it cold but maybe not that cold! Time again for you guys to get on the road… right?

  7. Ara & Spirit Says:

    Thank You for your kind words. Cloudy days are nice in black and whites. Great writing and photos on your own also… Like to see the other side always as many as there are.

  8. brian wrabley Says:

    Spellbinding and mezmerizing reading! Your pictures are woven so magnificently into your writing that they achieve the same result. When I’m reading I see everything just like it’s a picture, and when I see the picture it’s as if the words just pop into my head as I look at it!Thanks for bringing the Oasis to life for those of us trying to get there!

  9. Ara & Spirit Says:

    Thank You Brian! Come and join us sometime…

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