Early November

It's been an interesting couple of weeks.  Turmoil to the left of me, upheaval to the right.  The path ahead? A rocky (ROCKY!) trail, where the only light (a comforting one, mind!) shines in the distance; this trail isn't smooth, it sure has it's rough spots (where the going is tough?) but that's no news to me; it has been said that the road to hell is paved with gold, and that is a thought that keeps me company when it gets a bit not-easy to follow my path.  An old etat-d'affaires, in my little life.  Thank fuck I'm an old school mountain-biker.

Ah, this time of year... a lot goes on for me this time of year.  My birthday is late October, as is All Hallow's Eve, an adaptation of an older time named Samhain, and I've never not known that.  This is my party-time, and I do my best to get out of my own way to enjoy the gift of life I got some years ago.  When the ghosts were near.

And then there is Remembrance Day, which I have a pile of respect for.  Here, check this out.  I even downloaded this to the iPod, but I don't think the 'kids' would find fun to listen to -



It's an interesting thing about me personally, this crazy contradiction within myself; I am at present organizing a paintball party for a local group of young people (know this! that they are almost all male), and at the same time, I can see that war is not a good thing.  One interesting thing that I have picked up in my travels and journeys, meeting and really getting to know many different people is what a woman, and elder in her context, a confident and well-spoken person with a proud and fiery Native heritage, is that she figured paintball-gaming was a good thing, that there was this way for 'boys' to work something out about their innate natures, without the disconnect from reality that video war-games allows.  One needs to really work hard! crawl in the mud! lie on your face! work as a team! to do well in a game of paintball.

Need I add that 'someone' (uh, Haliburton, Lockheed, Exxon anyone?) has figured out how to turn a profit on this propensity of young men to seek exciting things to do in the time they are on-planet?  Sometimes I think that we need to hunt our meat, to properly channel what young men find stimulating, exciting and rewarding, instead of getting them to hunt each other.  This world of comfort, once removed, where life takes on a critical and basic reality, is something I think young men appreciate; this life, without all the bullshit the popular reality suggest is our greatest achievement, our ultimate goal (think Kohler, KitchenAid, McDonalds, Mercedes-Benz and Bosch microwave ovens).

A thing that gets me about the embedded talk (via TED.com) by Deb Scranton is one thing she noted she became a close part of; a veteran's attempt to connect, who was confused about how to well handle what had happened to him in Iraq, around his part in the death of a child; and him a father!! for fuck's sake.  I would prefer there was no war, and I am brought to tears around this poor dude, who must have seen so few options to decide that enlistment was the best one for himself. Which in turn led him to a goddam tough place, and to some fuck's profit, to boot.

There is a glee and positive excitement! about this paintball gaming, such that I do not mind organizing this activity; there is a glee in the faces of the young men (mostly) who come out, that I must rest confident that this feeds them in a way the popular society does not; that they can leave the Field Of Battle (their testing ground), and not have blood on their hands.  I think it's a good thing to trust that glee, their grins, and their stories.

But if you could do this; greet a veteran (and they are no longer old men, which is tragic) and give them the opportunity to talk (with your attention, undivided!) about what they feel comfortable to talk about with you about their experience; that would be the world's greatest reward.  They could off-load some shit, and you might find a resolve to help end this waste of resources.

Soldiers!  Infantry!  My props respek (proper respect, btw), and best wishes for the world that you chose to achieve through your grievous sacrifices; may this come to be within our lifetimes, so that your efforts weren't in waste.