July 17th, 2010

July 17th, 2010: Thought we were going to get some rain today, big storm clouds came in from Idaho

during the second day of 99 degree temps. 99 degrees is the hottest I've ever seen it here, but its stil

l a joke when compared to Texas standards. Yes, it went up to 100 degrees for 2 hours, after starting

the day at 60 degrees, and its already in the 70's by 8:00 PM. I still love hearing the people bitch

about it, and no humidity? Hell, I find the temps perfect as can be, but would like some rain, its

quite dusty in my campsite, and the rain would keep the road dust from covering my camp site.

Had a visitor today. I wasn't here but the bastard walked off with the hot dog buns, I had stashed in

my guitar case. No trace was left. What could it be? The tree and ground squirrels would have

broke in and made a big mess, leaving a holey bread bag, and crumbs behind. A bear would have broke

into the cooler and ate the hot dogs, drink mixers, milk, beer, ect... Then I saw the bastard, I should

have known that the three foot high mound at the edge of my campsite was built by an animal. The

"Bastard" is formally called a "Marmot", which is a very large rodent, about half the size of a beaver,

that weighs about 15 pounds and looks like a giant hamster. I have witnessed Marmots at a distance

before and I absolutely love these animals. Many are afraid of them, afterall they are essencially rats that

probably kick your ass if you pissed one off. I think they are cute.

I plan to buy them (they usually come in pairs)some food before I leave, maybe go to the feed store

and buy them a bag of corn for the wintertime. I will try to get a picture of their mound, they moved 1000's of

pounds of dirt to built this thing.

One my my favorite things about moving to a new state is to check out all the new life forms, with

insects and plants to capture my notice at first. But after three years, I've seen many new types of

birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles as well. For instance we have two types of mosquitos here. One

is a small slow lame-assed mozzy, that I can usually feel and squash before getting bitten. It does carry

the West Nile Virus, but not really many cases up here. The other type annoys me the most, called the

"tree hole mosquito, they live in holes filled with water in the trees. They are fast, large, and take a bite

and move before you can slap it. They are few, and do not spread the aforementioned virus.

After Borders, I went to see Logan again, had coffee with the boy, then went to grab some lunch before

taking him to work, we wound up eating at his restaurant. I try not to bug him too much, but after a

month without my own place, lonelyness begins to creep in. I find myself talking to strangers, blabbing

all kinds of personal shit, then leaving once they have that "this guy is wierd" look on their faces! Ok,

I exaggerate but this does happen from time to time.

Stopped in my classroom to feed my lion fish

and noticed that my custodian and friend "Cathy" beat me to it. She had a few goldfish, in a bucket

and the fish was laying on the ground in "digesting" mode. So I put the other ten fish in another bucket for

the lion fish to eat, when I visit Dallas in a few days. Today is a little over a month since I been camping

and hoteling it. I think I hoteled it about 60 percent of the time, a fact that I am ashamed of, but I did

have the money, and it becomes all too convienient and easy. But I'm committed to make it till Monday out

here which will be 6 days of constant camping, which is my record in the truck camper. I am still learning

and getting my camping logistics down, there is an awful lot of preparation when trying to assess the

things you really need and the things you can do without. Adequate clothing is essential, as is water

and a way to light a fire. But I didn't need 15 sets of clothing, since it takes up a ton of room, or three

different jackets, 7 knives, three guns, ect. I will get smarter each time, because the less clutter, the easier

it is to find the necessities. And the less weight the truck has to pull. Since I'm getting 7 miles to the gallon,

losing weight would need to happen on a long trip somewhere. The mileage is so bad, I've never had the truck

out of the valley.

So I passed the "Shit Time", and made it out alive once again. I plan to rename the "Shit Time" to the

"Bastard Time", but since there is a famous "Bastard Time" quote by John Steinbeck, and the meaning

a completely different one, but "Shit Time" sounds so crass, and "Bastard" is my all time favorite word,

I think its fitting to rename "Shit Time", to "Bastard Time". Sorry John, in your treatise you referred to

"Time" itself, as a "Bastard", and called the whole thing "That bastard Time"!

John knew the time was coming, the skinny Bastard died at age 68 from

a heart attack, to the chagrin of us fat bastards, who enjoy watching the skinny not outlast us. I know this is

morbid, but would you like to constantly here the tragic news that YOU were always gonna die early? I hear

it daily, I try to work on the weight issue, and the constant prognostication of my doom, are not appreciated.

I'm aware of my medical conditions, I work at it and many times am successful. My conditions are all stress

related in the first place. My job is what causes me stress. Hopefully it will cause me less stress this year.

But, when I hear of skinny people dieing of heart attacks at age 40 or 50, I do get a rush of confidence, though

I am not glad that the individual is gone. I really wish that Steinbeck would have lived 100 years or more. I feel

cheated, that he died so young. I love every thing the guy ever wrote. It was all good. I even liked his log

report when he helped his Zoologist friend with collecting little marine animals in the tide pools in the Sea of Cortez.

His friend was the crazy Zoologist, featured in his books "Cannery Row" and "Tortilla Flat", the best of Steinbeck.

So tonight was beautiful once again. I am nearly out of kerosene, so my camp is dark tonight, with only one

lamp protecting me. So I overdid the campfire, and sparks were flying into the dry trees and grass, so I shut it

down with a few shovels of dirt, some old water, and a piss or two. I don't want to be known as : "The teacher

who burned up Green Canyon", and it is dry and windy tonight. I am a paranoid careful bastard in times like

these. Maybe I'm old enough to learn from watching other peoples past mistakes.

The dark campsite tonight is really bringing out the stars and constellations. They are bright and easy to see,

since I don't have all the lanterns keeping out the wildlife. I am unafraid after spending last night in the total

dark till morning, and nothing happened. If the lions didn't live here, it probably wouldn't be as fun. And

the large male wolf that was shot last week, in Franklin County, about 18 miles north of here makes it even

more fun. Bears, haven't been seen in this part of the mountain range in years, but they do exist within 20 miles

of here, which means an odd one can make it here in one day. I'll live. I used to swim in lakes with large alligators

and many water moccasins, and 300 pound gar fish. Most animals just want to get along for the most part. Unless

wounded or hungry, or rabid, a big guy like me will be fine. Yet I do admit my fears freely, they are just another thing

to overcome. People that refuse to admit their shortcomings, generally are liars and self-deluders. Once ya start

lying to yourself, your credible life is over. Everything, is a fantasy after you start lying to yourself. People like

that are totally lost. Be honest with yourself above all else folks: then you can work on your issues. Keep telling

yourselves falsehoods, or blaming others, and things will not change for you. WORD.

I'm listening to some really old classics on the AM radio, by the campfire with little light and I can't see beyond

the picnic table I'm sitting at. Unless I look at the stars I am surrounded by total darkness. The lovely music

destracts me enough to sit here and write at One AM. I will retire soon due to the cold, but I want to squeeze out

a few more words before I go, perhaps I like to hear the sound of my own voice, and my own stream of conscience.

I did check out a nice apartment today. It was called a "Down town Penthouse", also an art studio, it looks pretty

cool, and I do love living in an old "DownTown" Building, which is right smack on main street, of a city of 50,000, souls.

The tall ceilings and brick walls are nice. The maze of ghetto hallways and the roof one has to walk across at night

looks to be a challenge, but for $450 per month? Its a steal.

July 17th, 2010: Thought we were going to get some rain today, big storm clouds came in from Idaho during the second day of 99 degree temps. 99 degrees is the hottest I've ever seen it here, but its still a joke when compared to Texas standards. Yes, it went up to 100 degrees for 2 hours, after starting the day at 60 degrees, and its already in the 70's by 8:00 PM. I still love hearing the people bitch

about it, and no humidity? Hell, I find the temps perfect as can be, but would like some rain, its

quite dusty in my campsite, and the rain would keep the road dust from covering my camp site.

Had a visitor today. I wasn't here but the bastard walked off with the hot dog buns, I had stashed in

my guitar case. No trace was left. What could it be? The tree and ground squirrels would have

broke in and made a big mess, leaving a holey bread bag, and crumbs behind. A bear would have broke

into the cooler and ate the hot dogs, drink mixers, milk, beer, ect... Then I saw the bastard, I should

have known that the three foot high mound at the edge of my campsite was built by an animal. The

"Bastard" is also called a "Marmot", which is a very large rodent, about half the size of a beaver,

that weighs about 15 pounds and looks like a giant hamster. I have witnessed Marmots at a distance

before and I absolutely love these animals. Many are afraid of them, afterall they are essencially rats that

probably kick your ass if you pissed one off. I think they are cute. I plan to buy them (they usually come in pairs)

some food before I leave, maybe go to the feed store and buy them a bag of corn for the wintertime

I will try to get a picture of their mound, they moved 1000's of pounds of dirt to built this thing.

One my my favorite things about moving to a new state is to check out all the new life forms, with

insects and plants to capture my notice at first. But after three years, I've seen many new types of

birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles as well. For instance we have two types of mosquitos here. One

is a small slow lame-assed mozzy, that I can usually feel and squash before getting bitten. It does carry

the West Nile Virus, but not really many cases up here. The other type annoys me the most, called the "tree

hole mosquito, they live in holes filled with water in the trees. They are fast, large, and take a bite and move

before you can slap it. They are few, and do not spread the aforementioned virus.

After Borders, I went to see Logan again, had coffee with the boy, then went to grab some lunch before

taking him to work, we wound up eating at his restaurant. I try not to bug him too much, but after a

month without my own place, lonelyness begins to creep in. I find myself talking to strangers, blabbing

all kinds of personal shit, then leaving once they have that "this guy is wierd" look on their faces! Ok,

I exaggerate but this does happen from time to time.

Stopped in my classroom to feed my lion fish

and noticed that my custodian and friend "Cathy" beat me to it. She had a few goldfish, in a bucket

and the fish was laying on the ground in "digesting" mode. So I put the other ten fish in another bucket for

the lion fish to eat, when I visit Dallas in a few days. Today is a little over a month since I been camping

and hoteling it. I think I hoteled it about 60 percent of the time, a fact that I am ashamed of, but I did

have the money, and it becomes all too convienient and easy. But I'm committed to make it till Monday out

here which will be 6 days of constant camping, which is my record in the truck camper. I am still learning

and getting my camping logistics down, there is an awful lot of preparation when trying to assess the

things you really need and the things you can do without. Adequate clothing is essential, as is water

and a way to light a fire. But I didn't need 15 sets of , since it takes up a ton of room, or three

different jackets, 7 knives, three guns, ect. Every little thing also needs its own place, and you will have to

find it within a minute, this is hard to do. Perfect organization of over a hundred small and medium sized objects

, and if the object is something essential, like a "lighter" or "bug repellent", or "rain pancho", you will miss it dearly

and possibly have to break camp and find a store.. This is why I bring 5 or more lighters, and just as many flashlights

I did run out of batteries in all but one flashlight, and ran out of kerosene too, if it wasn't for a tiny keychain flashlight

last night would have been a dark son of a bitch. I will get smarter each time.

So I passed the "Shit Time", and made it out alive once again. I plan to rename the "Shit Time" to the

"Bastard Time",but since there is a famous "Bastard Time" quote by John Steinbeck, with a totally different meaning

(he was referring to "time" itself, as a Bastard). "Shit Time" sounds so crass, and "Bastard" is my

favorite word, I think its fitting to rename "Shit Time"to "Bastard Time". John knew the time was coming, the

skinny Bastard died at age 68 froma heart attack, to the chagrin of us fat bastards, who enjoy watching the

skinny not outlast us. I know this is

morbid, but would you like to constantly here the tragic news that YOU were always gonna die early? I hear

it daily, I try to work on the weight issue, and the constant prognostication of my doom, are not appreciated.

I'm aware of my medical conditions, I work at it and many times am successful. My conditions are all stress

related in the first place. My job is what causes me stress. Hopefully it will cause me less stress this year.

But, when I hear of skinny people dieing of heart attacks at age 40 or 50, I do get a rush of confidence, though

I am not glad that the individual is gone. I really wish that Steinbeck would have lived 100 years or more. I feel

cheated, that he died so young. I love every thing the guy ever wrote. It was all good.

So tonight was beautiful once again. I am nearly out of kerosene, so my camp is dark tonight, with only one

lamp protecting me. So I overdid the campfire, and sparks were flying into the dry trees and grass, so I shut it

down with a few shovels of dirt, some old water, and a piss or two. I don't want to be known as : "The teacher

who burned up Green Canyon", and it is dry and windy tonight. I am a paranoid careful bastard in times like

these. Maybe I'm old enough to learn from watching other peoples past mistakes.

The dark campsite tonight is really bringing out the stars and constellations. They are bright and easy to see,

since I don't have all the lanterns keeping out the wildlife. I am unafraid after spending last night in the total

dark till morning, and nothing happened. If the lions didn't live here, it probably wouldn't be as fun. And

the large male wolf that was shot last week, in Franklin County, about 18 miles north of here makes it even

more fun. Bears, haven't been seen in this part of the mountain range in years, but they do exist within 20 miles

of here, which means an odd one can make it here in one day. I'll live. I used to swim in lakes with large alligators

and many water moccasins, and 300 pound gar fish. Most animals just want to get along for the most part. Unless

wounded or hungry, or rabid, a big guy like me will be fine. Yet I do admit my fears freely, they are just another thing

to overcome. People that refuse to admit their shortcomings, generally are liars and self-deluders. Once ya start

lying to yourself, your credible life is over. Everything, is a fantasy after you start lying to yourself. People like

that are totally lost. Be honest with yourself above all else folks: then you can work on your issues. Keep telling

yourselves falsehoods, or blaming others, and things will not change for you. WORD.

I'm listening to some really old classics on the AM radio, by the campfire with little light and I can't see beyond

the picnic table I'm sitting at. Unless I look at the stars I am surrounded by total darkness. The lovely music

destracts me enough to sit here and write at One AM. I will retire soon due to the cold, but I want to squeeze out

a few more words before I go, perhaps I like to hear the sound of my own voice, and my own stream of conscience.

I did check out a nice apartment today. It was called a "Down town Penthouse", also an art studio, it looks pretty

cool, and I do love living in an old "DownTown" Building, which is right smack on main street, of a city of 50,000, souls.

The tall ceilings and brick walls are nice. The maze of ghetto hallways and the roof one has to walk across at night

looks to be a challenge, but for $450 per month? Its a steal. Hope I can get the place, that will leave me another

$100 to rent a heated warehouse for my motorcycle stable.

Later...

Humm: Not sure about the Marmot picture , hope you can read the text over it.