Nice piece JC2.0a "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the enslavement of fools." I may have quoted more than once. Laws are there to be broken ... responsibly, wisely ... as you say. There but for grace go we all.
But hold on, did I fall asleep in history class ? Sir Francis Drake in California ? Learn something new every day. Ian On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 2:32 AM, John Carl <[email protected]> wrote: > "the ancient Greeks reduced goodness to a sub-species of truth; they > encapsulated goodness in the > law. And their children, the Europeans, relied on the law to establish the > good. Human beings were seen as fundamentally flawed, lacking moral fiber. > They had to be told what's good. Law established morality." > > - Glover > > "In Adam's fall, we sinned all", the kids used to chant but it never made > much sense to me. It's not really in the Bible. A constant refrain from > the pulpit is that all men are sinful, but the Book of Job contradicts this > with God himself bragging in front of his arch-enemy, "Hast thou considered > my servant Job? Upright and perfect in all his ways?" > > The enemy replies, "yeah, well give man pragmatic reasons for his behavior > and you can get him to do anything." > > Me, I don't go camping or hiking much anymore. I'm settling in I guess. > Makes me a settler, I guess. But I used to adventure. > > Ever since the Cheese Sandwich at the solstice, I tried to honor the > passages of the sun, sostices and equinoxes with getting out and about and > spending a few nights out of doors to mark my collaboration in the cosmic > scheme of things. This particular adventure occurred during the Vernal > Equinox, at Point Reyes State Park, which includes Drakes Bay, being a > favorite spot for Francis Drake to hide and raid and generally make himself > a pain in the ass to the Spanish enemy in the service of his queen. > > I didn't have a queen. > > I was between queens, at the time, but I wanted to go away by myself and do > some thinking and meditating and Point Reyes seemed a good choice, being a > temperate location on the ocean. > > At the trailhead, they had a bunch of forms to fill out for getting a > permit, but I've never really been much of "permit" kinda guy myself. I > also prefer a square of nylon tarp to any pre-fab tent, so me and Dan have > that in common as well. It's more conducive to dynamic configuration. > Adaptable to circumstances. Trick is, to keep from blowing away in a > storm you simple wrap yourself in it like an extra blanket and use your rope > to tie your own ass down. Not that I've ever had to. I usually find better > shelter in a storm. > > This particular camping adventure, I definitely had better shelter available > than Dan mentioned in his story. > > See, what happened is that I hiked for about five miles along the coastal > ridge, found a spot about as far as any ranger patrol was likely to venture, > but set up in a designated campground area so I would not stick out so like > a camper in a non-designated area would. And they had these barbecue > stations, the free standing kind with the grill set at various notches, a > single post leg and an open rectangle you can swivle into or out of the > wind. I gathered up some wood and made a fire in one. A little nervously > because this was completely against the rules. Using wood to make a > campfire? In California? What am I? Nuts? > > What if everybody did it? There wouldn't be any scrap wood in the world. > > I heartily approve of this rule. It means I can always find firewood in > well-regulated areas. Providing most people follow it and the rangers are > lax in enforcement - I get all the firewood I need. > > Which isn't much. The rule is also good because it encourages small, > unobtrusive and efficient fires. Which is what I had going in the grill, > when a young lady came up to me and asked in a strange accent if I wouldn't > mind her tea pot nestled next to mine. > > Heck no I wouldn't mind! Being the shy and quiet type, any interaction with > girls my own age was always a gift from the gods, far as I was concerned. > She was comely. Girl shaped and plump, not boy shaped and skinny like is > all the fashion now. Her mate was small, dark and slender so they made > quite a complementary pair. We chatted and giggled over our uncivil - but > communal disobedience. She and her mate had graduated college last year, > and their parents had sponsored them on a trip to America. They were from > South Africa. > > I guess it's something of a tradition to South Africans to go off after > college and knock about a bit. Get a feel for the world before you settle > down into your place in it. Seems a highly sophisticated and well-thought > system to me. She invited me to come to their tent for dinner and cards > after, but I, typically, declined. My supper was on the grill and I said > I'd eat it and then join them maybe for a game of cards after. > > And so I did. The only game we knew in common was poker. And a funny sort > of thing happened. I thought of it when Justin gave his little bravado > performance of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" because the way the > girls said back and forth, "yea, the only problem with poker is you need > something to be the stakes." > > "Yes, that's right. We need something to gamble... Now what could we > use...." > > Long meaningful pause with hand on chin looking thoughtfully to me for an > answer. > > Yeah. What could we use indeed. I felt so stupid and blushing but at the > same time, I just couldn't quite go there. I've never had a more clear and > open invitation to "hey, I've got an idea. Let's play strip poker." And > they were both such nice girls. Attractive enough and fun to talk to and > interesting and now I could see that getting a bit of experience abroad > wouldn't be a bad thing or immoral for them. > > I just couldn't quite bring myself to go there. Partly it was that it was > the day before Easter Sunday, and I'd kinda come up this mountain on a > serious spiritual quest, to get in touch with my soul and my ultimate being. > The pleasures of the flesh are not a welcome distraction. > > But mostly it's more that I'm just not like that. I'm not into > one-night-stands or quick flings. Coyotes are monogamous and if you're > willing to breed with me, then I expect you to be willing to stay on and > help raise the pups. > > Besides. I probably got more pleasure fantasizing about those two S. > African Hotties than I'd ever have had in the realization of their > biological bounty. And I felt good the next morning, righteous and right > and comfortable with them and we hiked out together, friendly with no > awkwardness. So I'm glad I turned down the subtle offer. > > I asked them what they missed most about their home, now that they'd been > away for a while and they both enthusiastically responded, the music. The > scenery and beauty too, but mainly the music. "You just don't hear music > like that in the states". > > They were very enthusiastic about Paul Simon's new album, Graceland, which > had just come out and they loved, loved, loved it. It was a taste of home, > the rhythms and harmonies. One of them had a cassette in a walkman and put > headphones on my ears and smiled and said, "Listen" and so I did. I > listened to Graceland for the first time, spring in my step and in the > morning sun slanting through the fresh sea-tinged air. > > Next year I spent one night out of doors, and then drove on to Lu's house in > Mountain View. Thus leading me to the conclusion that things just keep > getting better all the time. > > > There is a girl in new york city > Who calls herself the human trampoline > And sometimes when I'm falling, flying > Or tumbling in turmoil I say > Oh, so this is what she means > She means we're bouncing into graceland > And I see losing love > Is like a window in your heart > Everybody sees you're blown apart > Everybody sees the wind blow > > In graceland, in graceland > I'm going to graceland > For reasons I cannot explain > There's some part of me wants to see > Graceland > And I may be obliged to defend > Every love, every ending > Or maybe there's no obligations now > Maybe I've a reason to believe > We all will be received > In graceland <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgQtL3aEmQ> > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
