Georgia Coast, "Blonde on a cell phone"

Today was a "bum" day dealing with the "Free Health Care" situation. You have to be "dirt poor" to qualify, which I think we are, as the laws have changed these past 6 months. You must have $182 or less of net income a month and no land to your name even if "The Oasis" was about the least expensive land around gifted to me. Cell phones are a luxury… even if you have a heart condition, I guess emergency phone calls are not tolerated. I don’t even own a home! If you want to call it a vehicle, our Home is our car. Basically, honesty does not pay… I am not one to get around into complicated paths as putting everything on someone else’s name. There is nothing to begin with. So all my paperwork, filling in the questionnaires, photocopies… all has been a dead end. My new medications was not a dead end, it turned out to be the end of the wallet instead, but they are helping me tremendously and again I have to thank the ones that have made it possible. Will be traveling to Fort Stockton in the future to refill those at the cost of only $10 for 3 months, each that is!

Rally Prize in Louisiana after we crashed!

Their numbers have increased, I now carry them in a bag! Since the weekend is coming up and the medical field, unlike the medical conditions, take the days off, I have some thinking to do. Keep an appointment in Odessa on the 17th with the Cardiologist and take the plunge with tests that might let us know what is wrong and what is needed, or find out if I can still obtain complete free Medical Health care in Florida. Maybe both as finding out results through plan A might guide me better toward Florida, plan B, if anything major needs to be performed. I keep thinking "what is one suppose to do without Medical Insurance?". I cannot even start thinking how Spirit and I will manage going to Florida if flying or riding the train.

My Friend "Juice", owner of DSRL Forum, we have now something in common!

Tired of thinking about it all, knowing that Karma will show us the way, I started going through some past photos. They always bring me joy and transport me to those moments spend in their space. They open up a path of thoughts mixing the past with the present, outlining those steps we have been on enabling me to look forward to many more of those wonder times that have surrounded us. Strangely enough I feel as this has only been the beginning of our Journey. I feel as it has taken me this long to start truly appreciating my surrounding world and the beauty that comes with it. I am so hungry for more and maybe this tune up of mine was bound to happen within this great timing, considering not much camping is truly possible right now. This too shall pass.

Another spirit…

Could this be one the reasons?…

It is going to take me a while to reply to all your kind "words" my Friends, I think about them all, I read them again and again in weaker times. One at the time I will soon get to them. In the meantime, a quote from my Friend "Claude"…

"Well my friend, you ,and all of us here, have a lot to be thankful for in that you are still with us. You know I have ‘been there’ and although that alone may not give much comfort to you, I can say that we both need to give thanks that we can still see one another again here on this side. The beauty that you have shown to so many through just being yourself is an encouragement to many more than you will ever know. Wake up calls are big events in our lives and we have both had some. Life here on this Earth is something that is precious and God given. Life after we leave this world is something that is also God given if we decide to accept it. The beauty on the other side is only something we can dream of but the dreams can be good ones if we have made a decision about where we wish to spend eternity. Yes, we have spoken of this in times past and I can only trust that you have made a decision that will allow us to meet again even after we leave this world. Wake up calls can mean different things to different people. Lets ride out our time here together and be confident that we will be able to ride again together for all eternity…God is good and He and I love you very much."

I wonder where they are now?

I have known Claude for a while, we go back to before Spirit and I embarked ourselves on this Journey, and what Claude says has always moved me. As a "believer" or "not", no matter your "faith" or your "path", his words are of human interest ahead of it all. This quote I find is in correlation of also a comment made after I called for help that infamous day. My Friend of course was happy that I did, and also at the same time, a bit questioning, for lack of better word, that I had called and truly not just embraced, as Claude calls it, going on to the other side. I appreciated the comment as it showed how well this Friend knows me. Claude’s words and the comment have me thinking a lot. My Friends know how much I miss Lance. If there was a chance for only one moment, one fraction of a second to lay my eyes on him and us to touch as briefly as it would be, well, I would take that step. I however went through the motions of hope to be around as long as I can, as I promised him almost five years ago now that I would go on, strongly, head up and feet planted solid on the ground. There is a "Legacy" that I want to leave for him, this is "his" Journey, these are the "colors" seen through his own vision and his "Legacy" will materialize soon.

California did hurt…

I have a Mother that is almost 82 years old, she has been my rock and my best Friend and what would her Life be without me, being an only child. I cannot take away her utmost dignified pleasure of our conversations and exchanges of feelings as all siblings should. Spirit is now my shadow, what would his own Life be to miss out on the good years yet to come and all that riding awaiting his own senses. Who will take him around in his sidecar if I was not? These past days have been shaky, but as I wrote earlier, your outpour of such kind words have been my foundations daily, and today, suddenly, I feel as I have woken up again and felt underneath my steps a familiar path that has guided me these past couple years.

I was always serious about my Coffee as Spirit about his sleep…

The biggest challenge I am facing, same challenge Lance and I faced a while back, is of Health Care. The fact is that no one has wanted to insure me for a while now. Yes, they hang up the phone when they hear of bypasses and past heart attacks! What is one suppose to do? I have been only asking for the basic human help toward each other in the form of Medical Care. It is not even the paperwork involved, it is the attitude I receive as maybe I am asking for a new motorcycle?… or a Lottery winning number! I am only asking for medical care… to be allowed to Live… and only because the system will not insure me going back many years. So I will wait, patiently, hoping that my new medication will maintain me till then. I do need to add, mentioning that "Russell", a reader that now works for Southwest Airlines, has offered me a round trip ticket if I need to fly to Florida where I think I can get Health Care. What an incredible gesture it is. I will battle anyone’s words if I ever hear that this world has been emptied of kind and generous Human Beings.

Spirit and the log… perfect timing!

Friends is what we have left in Life. Friends has 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 Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 9:52 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.