Missouri: LaBarque Creek - January

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

My brother has a place with frontage on LaBarque Creek. He tells me that LaBarque Creek is among the top four most pristine waterways in Missouri, and that the state owns a goodly percentage of the stream system in order to protect it. 

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

LaBarque Creek is only a little over six miles long, but it is home to more than 50 species of fish.

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

My brother and I took a short walk along the creek the other day.

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

I was, of course, delighted when he noticed the skull overlooking the water. 

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

Do you see the ribbon-like trail marked above, in the sandy stream bed, by some creature?

LaBarque Creek, Missouri. January 2015.

I like the variety of ice designs above - the speckled surface at the top, the bright lines below on the left, and the crystalline obelisks on the bottom right.

Missouri: Old Mines - St. Joachim Cemetery #2

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

At least I think this is St. Joachim's Cemetery #2. There appear to be three St. Joachim's Cemeteries in tiny Old Mines.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

My mother and I took a mini road trip Old Mines over the weekend. My interest in this village was due to its Missouri French history and a tradition it had that is similar to the courir de Mardi Gras in South Louisiana. If you watch the Pat Mire documentary, Dance for a Chicken, at minute 6:38, you'll hear about La Guignolee, a tradition similar to the courir de Mardi Gras, albeit a different time of year (December 31 or January 1) and different song (La Guignole). You can listen to the song here:

Here is a half-hour video about Old Mines and the Missouri French. The video references the cemetery, mentioning the abundance of iron crosses. The designs on the cross ends are similar to those in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and of the Cajuns in South Louisiana. The designs go back to the time of the Crusades in Europe. 

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

My French people helped settle St. Louis (specifically Florissant) in the early 1700s. They came down from Cadillac in what is now Michigan, but back in the day, was in French territory.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

The video also mentions a book, It's Good to Tell You: French Folktales from Missouri. You can download or open the book in its entirety here. Rosemary Hyde Thomas, affiliated with St. Louis Community College at Meramec, collected the stories from French-speaking Old Mines residents in the late 1970s.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

The crypt above looks ominous to me. It's for a T.C. Murphy, who evidently died in a boat explosion. I tried to get a photo of the interior through the keyhole in that metal door. Doesn't it look like a crematorium? Shivers.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

Here is a good page that identifies some of the markers in Cemetery #2.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

I bet this cemetery has been flooded a time or two.

Rootless: Health Insurance

Last year was the first year for mandatory health insurance enrollment. 

I didn't enroll in the health insurance system in 2014 because:

• My legal residence is in one state, but my body is often outside that state. I had no idea how to enroll in a plan that would actually be of any use to me should I need it. Over the years, my experience with bureaucracies has shown that they don't know what to do about round pegs in square holes. The consequence is that the round peg is penalized in some way. (Not to mention that the legislators in my home state willfully sacrificed affordable access to their constituents in order to make a political point. They even made it a crime for state employees to give any advice to Missouri residents who had questions about enrolling in the ACA.)
• I'm very lucky to enjoy good health.
• It made more economic sense for me to pay the 2014 penalty for non-enrollment than to pay the insurance premiums.  

This year is different because:

The penalty for non-enrollment is significantly higher than it was in 2014, so I might as well get the insurance coverage, although with its ridiculous $6000 deductible, it's about worthless to me except in a catastrophic situation.

In fact, I'm appalled at two things: 1) that I'm paying so much every month for so little; and 2) that taxpayers are paying the extortionate monthly subsidy I qualify for - for this deplorable coverage  - in order to sustain a healthcare system that enriches a lucky few, wreaks financial, physical, and spiritual devastation on so many, and to top it off, is so disparate in its quality of services. These high-deductible plans - with the carriers getting so much money per month from the insured and the federal government - are like a happy financial windfall for them. 

But here is the silver lining: Some of the policies are eligible for health savings accounts. Now there's something I can get behind! The HSA is a pretty little creature:

• I can put tax-free money into it every year (there is an annual cap);
• I can use it for any medical or dental expense throughout the year (without paying tax on what I withdraw);
• Any unused money rolls over to the next year, so as the likelihood of my medical needs increase with my age, I'll have more HSA money at my disposal; 
• I can put the HSA into an investment account to grow my deposits; 
• Once in a lifetime, I can roll over an IRA into my HSA; and
• When I reach a certain age, I can treat my HSA just like an IRA. 

I think health insurance coverage will work for me for 2015, after a fashion. "Work for me" in the sense that I won't be assessed a tax penalty for the 2015 tax year. Unless I miscalculated my prospective income for the year and then I will be punished for same.

Will it work for me after that? Don't know, as I don't know where I'll be after 2015.

Hopefully, the current iteration of so-called "affordable" health care is merely a stepping stone to what we need to do in the USA - have single-payer health care. Medicare and Medicaid are already viable systems, so it's not like we have to invent any new wheels.

A final note: The singling out of smokers for higher premiums in the health care marketplace is discriminatory. Smoking has negative health effects, but no more so than some other behaviors such as driving while impaired, abusing substances (artificial or natural, legal or illegal, prescribed or not prescribed), and so on. There is a relationship between smoking and low socio-economic status. By targeting smokers for higher premiums, we are over-taxing the poor. (Disclosure: I am not a smoker, but I used to be.)


P.S.: I just saw where my insurance carrier has Dr. Oz on its home page. Imagine. Dr. Oz, who dispenses snake oil along with medicine.  Jeez.

,

Somewhere in Mississippi: A Relic

Somewhere in Mississipi

I passed this once-upon-a-time dream on my way from Louisiana to Missouri for my annual relocation layover.

Greenville, Mississippi: Cypress Reserve 2014

  

Cypress Reserve, Greenville, Mississippi, November 2014

On my way from Louisiana to Missouri for my annual relocation layover, I stopped for the night in Greenville, Mississippi. 

Cypress Reserve, Greenville, Mississippi, November 2014

The next morning I strolled through the Cypress Reserve, which I first visited in 2011.

Cypress Reserve, Greenville, Mississippi, November 2014

The Cypress Reserve is a lovely place for a quiet walk.

Cypress Reserve, Greenville, Mississippi, November 2014

Arkansas: Cotton

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

On my way from Louisiana to Missouri for my annual interregnum, about midway between Bonita, Louisiana, and Greenville, Mississippi (maybe Portland, Arkansas?) - Highway 165 - I saw immense cylinders stuffed with cotton - yellow foam cylinders.

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

 

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

 

Cotton in Arkansas. November 2014.

As you can see, they got my attention.

Gives me a chance to remember the so-soft cotton in Derry, New Mexico.

North Louisiana: Columbia

 

Columbia, Louisiana

On my way back to Missouri from Louisiana for my annual interregnum, I passed through Columbia, Louisiana.

Cemetery Hill,  Columbia, Louisiana

It was the first time I'd been in North Louisiana since I knew there was a North Louisiana, as opposed to South Louisiana.

Columbia, Louisiana

My buddy, Dave Robicheaux, doesn't seem to like North Louisianans much, but it seems impolite to go into the details when I'm actually in North Louisiana in this post. Maybe we'll chat later.

Alamogordo, NM: The Disappearing (and Appearing) Mountains Revisited

In 2013, when I was living in Alamogordo, New Mexico, it was like magic to witness how the Sacramento Mountains - so close! - could appear and disappear depending on clouds, rain, or dust conditions.

In March 2013, I published the post below. But I added the second video only a few days ago, as it had been lost somewhere in my archives. Both show me driving east on Indian Wells in Alamogordo - once on a clear day, and another time on a day during a dust-wind storm.

ALAMOGORDO: THE DISAPPEARING MOUNTAINS

I live perhaps half a mile - maybe less! I will clock it - from a front line of the Sacramento Mountains.

My apartment is oriented north-south, and I'm near the easternmost edge of town, and whether I look out my front window or back window, I see the mountains right there, so very close.

Alamogordo, New Mexico, 2013

The constancy of their presence is pleasing. I like to see how a day's changing light creates shadows on the mountain planes, shifting colors and depths in interesting ways.

Alamogordo, New Mexico, 2013

Some days the mountains disappear.

Alamogordo, New Mexico, 2013

Could be dust or snow or fog. It's uncanny.

The other day, I took the video below going east on Indian Wells to show how a dust-wind can completely obscure the Sacramento Mountains. You're looking right at the mountains in this video - but you can't see them, not til about 1:24.

Below is a video of the exact same route on a clear day. Mountains!

Louisiana: Coozie Count

 

Louisiana coozies

After a year in Louisiana, my coozie count topped out at 20.

I received them at festivals, parades, and hey - Brooke and Ron! Happy 2013 nuptials! - I even plucked one off the street.

Sizes vary to accommodate cans, bottles, cups, glasses, and some coffee mugs, if the handle is high enough from the base.

My coozies proclaim information about:

• Bands
• Bayou Teche clean-up
• People running for political office
• Businesses
• and Brooke and Ron's marriage

Louisiana: A Creative Setback

James Lee Burke. Source: James Lee Burke.

There are 20 Dave Robicheaux books written by South Louisiana native, James Lee Burke.

Throughout my year in Louisiana, I've used Dave as a prism to view the past, present, and future of South Louisiana - people, natural resources, beauty, ugliness, fears, potential.

As I read each of Dave's books, I collected excerpts that I found of special note. All of the excerpts illuminated South Louisiana in vivid ways.

When I say "collect," I mean I manually keyed the excerpts into a draft blog post that served as a warehouse of sorts. Over the course of the year, I harvested salient excerpts from this warehouse to enrich posts I wrote about my South Louisiana experience.

What happened

I had read 19 of the Dave books and was in the midst of the 20th when it happened. In a tragic cascade of errors on my part, I deleted my warehouse of excerpts.

All attempts to recover my treasure were futile. This is because: 

1. I hadn't backed up my draft post onto a Word document JUST IN CASE I did something stupid. (The fact that I had never accidentally deleted a draft post is entirely irrelevant - back-up strategies exist for the inevitable failure of all systems at some point.) 
2. I had set my browser to not save any history. 
3. I had blithely accepted blogger's auto-save feature. 

If any ONE of the above situations had been different, I could have retrieved my pre-deleted draft because I discovered the deletion so soon after it occurred.

What next?

I grieved for several days and pondered my choices:

1. Be happy for the excerpts I'd already been able to weave into the blog and let the loss go; or 
2. Re-read all 20 books and recreate my inventory.

Some of the books I'd borrowed in hard-copy from the library. Others I'd downloaded onto my Kindle.

The decision

I decided to re-collect the excerpts. James Lee Burke's vision of South Louisiana is that important to my experience, and his is a perspective I want others to know about, too.

Fortunately, I had used Kindle's bookmark feature for those books I'd downloaded from the library. When I returned a downloaded book to the library, I couldn't access the bookmarks. But if I borrowed and downloaded a book again from the library, I could again access the bookmarks. Yay! 90% of the job done for those I'd previously downloaded, the only chore being to re-key the exerpts.

For books I'd borrowed hard-copy, this meant going through page by page to seek the excerpts.

Once I decided to re-do my work, I accepted the situation and got started. I'm still in process of re-creating what I lost.

Oh and yeah. Now I back up my progress on a Word doc, and I've re-set my browser to keep my history.

Here's a list of how Dave has helped guide me through South Louisiana thus far:

• February 15, 2014: Introduction
• February 22, 2014: Dave Robicheaux and North Louisianans
• February 23, 2014: Dave Robicheaux and Alcohol
• March 4, 2014: Dave Robicheaux and Some Fine Music
• April 12, 2014: Dave Robicheaux and Louisiana's Shadow Self
• April 16, 2014: Angola and .. 
• May 19, 2014: Police Dave Robicheaux, Police Violence and Our Complicity in Same
• July 20, 2014: And Now for a Word from Dave 
• August 3, 2014: Katrina in a Nutshell  
• October 17, 2014: Dave Robicheaux and the Beautiful Whore Called Louisiana
• October 18, 2014: Dave Robicheaux' Music

 

C'est la vie, cher.


 



 







 

Rootless: Security

Outside Warrenton, Missouri

I've had short-term and long-term relationships with data protection schemes.

The past 

In October 2010, I explored Virtual Document and Data Storage, Part 1. I talked about how all systems fail, and the goal of protecting a system is to fail intelligently, and about safe sex.

Later the same month came Virtual Document and Data Storage, Part 2. I talked about buying a pig in a poke and the unknowables of the Big Cloud. Here was a follow-up on the unknowable part.   

Then came Virtual Document and Data Storage, Part 3. A discussion of external hard drives based on my teaspoonful of understanding.
 

In 2011, there were some mishaps. Amazon S3 stumbled via redundant redundancy. Dropbox lost my favor.

I've written about the ins and outs of what makes for a good password. Here. And here.

And on the perils of complacency.  And the cascade effect of system failure.

Key

The present

'tis January again, thus time for a review of my security tools and processes. Talked about this last January, too.

External hard drive versus cloud back-up

I've gone 'round and 'round about backing up my stuff on an external hard drive versus a cloud (or clouds) versus ... what?

More than a year ago, I terminated my relationship with Dropbox. Not trustworthy, in my opinion, at least not for the kind of relationship I seek. (See link above.) Mostly, I just want an easy-button way to back up my stuff  in a secure way on a secure place. I don't want to sync the data and I sure as hell don't want a public-sharing option with my back-up application.

In general, I was losing confidence in the cloud as a go-to for my important data. This squeamishness was reinforced when I talked with some of my EFL students who are techie professionals. Bottom line for them: They don't put important personal data on the cloud. Now, in the grand scheme of things, is my personal data so rivetingly important to attract untoward attention? Well, no. But gosh darn, it's my personal data, thus important to me.

In the past year, I've been using an external hard drive to back up my stuff. It's relatively easy, although I'm the one who has to calendar the back up and plug in the device. The dearth of user guidance that came with the device was irritating. Of course, I could keep the hard drive plugged in and then the back up would be automatic, but keeping the external hard drive with my laptop kind of defeats one of the basic tenets of security protection - keeping your stuff in different places.

Speaking of keeping my primary data storage segregated from my secondary storage (i.e. external hard drive), this is tough to do in my rootless life. I live in small spaces with minimal furniture, closets, and helpful nooks or crannies. Sure, I could rent a deposit box in an outside location, but that would make regular back ups a pain, ergo, they wouldn't happen regularly enough.

For a Plan B, I considered divvying up my stuff among various clouds, but that just made me feel tired.

Belt and suspenders

Sooooo, I revisited the idea of an online back-up service.

I chose the service whose primary focus was backup and not primarily online storage. (At least this is its stated focus.) In comparing services, I looked at:

• Straight cost + cost in relation to quantity of data that's included in that cost
• Techie and user reviews
• Ease of use

It took about 48 hours to back up my stuff for the first time. I'm in a free trial period, so I can opt out and go with a different service if I find a shinier penny somewhere else.

The service I'm test driving has a "sync and share" application. If I want to launch this application, I have to download it specifically. Frankly, I don't like a back-up service that I can also use as a collaborative-working application. This is mission creep as far as I'm concerned, and there are other applications out there with kick-ass collaboration tools. I heartily dislike that my trial back-up service has a Facebook link so I can share my backed-up photos with same.

We'll see how my relationship goes with this particular back-up service.

But if I stick with this service or go with another one, as someone whose life's footprint is almost exclusively digital, I feel better having both the external hard drive and the online back up service.

Top Five Free, Travel-Easy, Pack-Friendly Beauty Secrets for Women of a Certain Age

Obligatory weird and kinda gross picture for this kind of post. But in fact, these are actual eggs inside an actual chicken. Rustavi, Georgia.

Yes, you heard right.

Five weird tricks that plastic surgeons don't want you to know about!

Free!

They take up no space in your luggage!

No messy liquids to measure and carry in four-ounce containers loaded into a ziploc bag!



1. Close your mouth

When we get to a certain age, I've noticed that many of us have a tendency to let our mouths hang open a bit. Don't believe me? Start looking for it. It adds 10 years to our looks. Easy fix. Close your mouth. Get your nearest-and-dearest to tell you when you forget. They'll love to oblige.

2. Smile

I've seen miraculous transformations when a woman of a certain age smiles. Years drop off in a nano-second. Works with an open- or closed-mouth smile. Being a rather serious sort myself, I try to remember this tip, otherwise I can look very stern (which could also explain this).

3. Avoid locking your upper and lower molars together. 

This creates a severe look. When your mouth is closed, let your jaw relax away from your upper teeth. Look in a mirror at the difference between the two positions.

4. Look alert.

Look like you've got your wits about you. Make direct eye contact with people you're talking to. Look with purpose at things around you.  

5. Put your shoulders back and stand up straight. 

Just like your mom told you.

6. A lagniappe: Borrow some bad-girl attitude:

Numbers 4 and 5 have the side benefit of making you look less of a target when you're traveling.

Louisiana: "Stuff Cajun People Like"

I've had the Chockablock List of Stuff Cajun People Like bookmarked forever, saving it for a rainy day. "Chuval" is the author.

Sadly, the most recent post is from 2010, and a number of the linked videos have since expired, so who knows how long the blog's delicious contents will survive out on the ethernet?

A couple of my favorites from Chuval's list of 39 things Cajuns like:

#2 Lent

Cajun people love Lent, the 40 days of repentance and fasting that lead up to Easter. More specifically, Cajun Catholics love lent, but since the majority of Cajuns are Catholic, I’ll use the two interchangeably. Forty days may sound like a lot of sacrifice, but after the pure debauchery of Mardis Gras kicks off the Lenten season, Cajuns actually need 40 days of repentance and fasting, and there’s nothing Cajun people love more than asking each other “What did you give up?”. Mostly we give up small things like chocolate, candy, or swearing, but some crafty Cajuns build loopholes right into their penance like “I gave up all candy but chocolate.”

Each Friday during Lent, Catholics are asked to give up meat, and only eat seafood. This is the equivalent of asking a child to skip dinner and only eat dessert. Sure, we may put on a pained expression, but how miserable can a Cajun be when he’s shoving seafood gumbo or crawfish etoufee down his gullet?

Sure, the whole Jesus-dying-on-a-cross thing might be a downer, but everything else about Lent is all good.

Bullfrogs in St. Martinville, Louisiana

#39 New Orleans Saints, or: Nobody, Dat's Who!

Man, I thought I wuz done with dis bloggin’ stuff.  Thought dere wasn’t anything else good to write about.  And dat was mostly true, until the other day dat is.  See, cuz dat’s when this funny little thing happened.  You might have heard about it.  You know, when dem SAINTS WON THE WHOLE DAMN SUPERBOWL!!!  Wooooo Hooooo!!! WHO DAT?  WHO DAT? Nobody, DAT’s Who All You Hatin’ Couyons!!!  Oh pooh yaille,  I gotta sit down now.

Mais, if you not a Saint’s fan, then I’m sorry cher.  I’m not tryin’ to gloat or nothin’.  Dis long-time Saints fan knows what it’s like to be handed an ass whupping, and it don’t feel too good no.  I’m jus celebratin’ cause I’m happy like a guy who shot a 20 point buck on his wedding day.

Now, I’m not of those guys who likes to take credit for the winning of others, but you should know that me and my old lady and my cuz T-Boy prayed the rosary between plays (and sips of Natural Light).  And when we was down by 10, I started bargaining with the big guy himself.  I was like, ‘Come on Brah, you know we need this.  I tell you what – you give us this one and we promise to give up drinkin’ an cussin’ for Lent’.  My wife and Cuz, they shot me a face, but I told dem that’s the way it’s gonna be.  And not too long after that, the Saints, they come back and the rest is histoire.  Why, dis ole boy got so caught up celebrating that night I even picked up a few crunkin moves.  Things, they got so crazy, I laid a big kiss on Cuz’s lips by accident.  It was a little bit uncomfortable after dat, but then he punched me in the mouth and called me a big sissy and that was that.

Outsiders say dis makes up for Katrina, but I don’t know what these couyons are talking about, cause this has nothing to do with Katrina.  Ain’t no Superbowl fairy gonna come fly down and rebuild all dem houses that got all flooded and stuff.  We all a lil bit happier these days, but dat doesn’t mean it’s all good.

From now on, I’m hostin’ a  Saints Superbowl party every year.  Everybody’s invited!  And if my Saints not in it, that’s ok, we’ll just play dis one again (I got a copy for my video player).  My house, my rules.

Rootless Movies: Without Bound - Perspectives on Mobile Living

There is "....a continuum of people who live in a vehicle." Source: Without Bound: Perspectives on Mobile Living.

I saw reference to this documentary about wheeled "full-timers" over on Good Luck Duck. The film is about mobile dwellers. Well, it's about some mobile dwellers with a certain perspective.

In order of appearance, the full-timers are: 

• vagabloggers dot com (which provokes a warning from my browser when I attempt to go there)
• Randy Vinings at Mobile Kodgers
• Laurie Theodoro
• arizonaexplorations.com
• Chris Carrington
• Steve
• Cheri

Randy Vinings was inspired by Thoreau's Walden: "Why would you work all of your life so you could have a little bit of freedom at the end of your life, when, if  you could live efficiently, you could invent your own life now?"

Laurie Theodoro also drew inspiration from Thoreau:  "[what is] the essential of things .. what [is] the real marrow of life?" 

I like the documentary in that it shows a viable way of living that many Americans may not know about. It's a way of living I could see myself doing some day. 

Some of the most useful information came toward the end of the film - how much it cost to sustain oneself as a full-timer who lives in a wheeled shelter:

• Steven at arizonaexplorations.com --> ~ $500 per month
• Randy at mobilecodgers.blogspot.com --> less than $600 per month
• Cheri --> $630 per month

But sheesh, there's so much smug talk about the people who "don't get it" - who are prisoners of their stuff or their ball-and-chain houses. Overall, the documentary felt very didactic. A pity.

There's also a MAJOR piece of information that is only alluded to - the cost of  purchasing and outfitting one's wheeled home. There was also silence on another important fact of mobile living - maintenance and repairs of one's vehicle-shelter. The cost of living like a turtle will vary widely, depending not only on the complexity and age of one's rig, but on the DIY abilities you have.

But I'll leave on a positive note from one of the full-timers: "Choose your life." Amen.

Flashback: My First Solo Road Trip

I first posted this on January 11, 2011. 

1995

All the stars were in alignment: An Important Birthday. Daughter visiting relatives in Ireland. Vacation time from work.

In preparation for my road trip, I had a cassette player installed in my 1980s-something Chevy Cavalier. I was still pre-CD.

Destination -> Black Hills of South Dakota. For the romance, the mystery, the history, the scenery.  As a child of Carlos Castaneda, it was the next best cool place for me to go in lieu of Sonora, Mexico. I could look quickly over my shoulder for a raven anywhere. Was it a raven over one's shoulder, or a little man? I forget.

Anyway, I told no one where I was going. That was part of the trip for me. To actually be on a piece of the earth without anyone knowing I was there. Freedom.  'Course, I started sending post cards and then it was out, but that was fine.

Photo from National Park Service

I played Vivaldi's Four Seasons on my newly-installed cassette player really, really loud while I got lost on a gravel road through the Badlands.

Umm, not this version, though. But I love it.

I got a speeding ticket on my birthday, on Interstate 36, before I even left Missouri. An inauspicious start.

Got a flat tire in Nebraska, in the Sand Hills, which I changed myself. This gave me the chance to enjoy a hotel room the size of a studio apartment (including the amenities) in Broken Bow, Nebraska, for about $35.

Stumbled on the great fur traders' museum in Chadron, Nebraska. One of the best museums I've ever visited.

Saw Carhenge.

Visited Mount Rushmore, about which, upon arrival, I thought, "Oh. Hm. Looks just like the postcards."

Learned that a little Sand Hills scenery is sufficient to get the idea, notwithstanding the inches-long progression of black dots on the AAA map to designate "scenic route." 

The wonder of trains that seem so long as to never end.

Noticed how the light is different in Nebraska. 

Saw that the beauty of the Black Hills didn't have anything on Missouri.

I concluded that solo road trips were fun and I'd do them again, which I did.

I don't remember if I saw any ravens.

Relocation 2015

So here I am in Missouri for my usual interregnum between annual migrations.

You may have noticed that I haven't yet announced where I'll be living in 2015.

I can announce that my original plan was to move to Oaxaca (city), Mexico. That was my plan all the way up to, maybe, September, and then I surprised the hell out of myself and decided instead to

The Camera Sitch

The three rechargeable batteries I've been using for my two identical, used Canon Powershot SD600 cameras, are in the terminus of life. I've been relying on my Android phone camera, and that's OK, but it's not entirely satisfactory. I just received a replacement battery that goes by the name Canon, but frankly, I'm questioning its paternity and thus its efficacy, so things are up in the air til I see how it performs. At which point I'll decide if I want to invest in another battery and therefore keep the two used cameras (that I bought for about 55 bucks apiece) or do I rev up the research engine and buy a new camera?

While this story unfolds, I present for you an article I first published in June 2012.   

5 Secrets of Great Travel Photography

Rustavi, Georgia. Rotting watermelon on landing. 

1.       Take your camera with you at all times, even if you're only walking to the corner market from your base. If you've got a big-buck camera that you hesitate to carry with you everywhere you go, fine, but in that case, also bring along a point-and-shoot that fits into a pocket.

Lost Creek, Missouri.

2.       Have your camera easily accessible. In other words, not at the bottom of your bag, making you think twice about taking an impulse shot.

Rustavi, Georgia. This woman gave me this loaf of bread. Just because.

3.      Have duplicate batteries, chargers, and SD cards in case of theft, loss, or sad demise. Carry an extra battery with you, always. It’s damn frustrating to run out of juice just before some potentially great shots present themselves.

San Francisco, California. Hayes Valley.

4.       Like the big fish that got away, your fantastic travel photographs didn’t happen if you never uploaded them to an external source (i.e., laptop, tablet, Facebook) before your camera got ripped off, dropped into the pit toilet, or was stepped on by an elephant. Upload photos regularly, by which I mean at least every 2 or 3 days.

Nazret, Ethiopia. English Alive Academy. 

5.       Set the review time for your camera to “off.” You want to be able to take photos as quickly as possible, not wait for interminable seconds before you can catch the next shot.

Travel Resolutions for 2015

Highway 3, New Mexico

Here is my tiny round-up of travel resolutions for 2013. Salt plays a prominent role.

An even tinier round-up of travel resolutions for 2014 is here. Greg Kohl's list remains solid.

A common theme for 2015 travel resolutions is to unplug. As is local travel, a model I've long espoused.

I especially like two of Pauline Frommer's 2015 resolutions: 

1. Connect with some of her social media's "friends of friends" on her travels - what a keen idea to arrange a meet-up with someone who is a stranger to you, but with whom you share a friend! 
2. Use an outlet multiplier at public venues so nearby strangers can still get plugged in. Open source in a  literal way - love it.

I also favored two of Wanderlust's resolutions for 2015: 

1. Remember to look up. The Wanderlust author refers to the heavens, and I agree. Looking up also applies to treetops, surrounding hills, ceilings, and rooftops. 
2. Call on local guides to get more local back-story. I have smiling memories of a local guide in Harar, Ethiopia, who took me to see the hyenas.  

After dipping in and out of dozens of lists, what I've got above is the best of the lot.

Revisiting My Portable Gear

It's been a few years since I bought some of my portable gear.

I took a look at my gear in 2012, and it's time for me to do it again.  

Jewelry bag

I bought this zippered jewelry bag in 2010 and I use it every day. I still wish it were a brighter color so it would stand out more clearly in a suitcase or offer better contrast against a dark-colored motel bedspread, but other than that, it still gets five stars from me.

zippered jewelry bag

Mini flashlight

Photo from onebag.com

I still love my flashlight.



Yeah, I know everyone's gone over to the headband thing, and I am sometimes tempted, but being able to tuck my light into a pocket, in a small bag, or hang it around my neck - all excellent qualities. I've lit up an entire room when the power has gone out in Ethiopia, in Caucasus Georgia, and I don't even remember where else.












Laptop

I bought my laptop in 2010. It's showing some age: 

• The fingerprint scanner doesn't work anymore; 
• The optical drive is cranky and unreliable; and
• I'm on my second battery - an after-market brand, as the HP replacement battery was prohibitively expensive. 

I know I'll have to replace it in the next year or two. Assuming I'm still working online, I'll replace it with another laptop (versus a tablet). And I'll still want various ports, although I may give the optical drive a pass.

  
Electronics case

Still use the red Ethiopian Airlines "case" to keep my small electronic paraphernalia.

Ethiopian Airlines case for my electronic paraphernalia

Ethiopian Airlines case for my electronic paraphernalia

Rain poncho 

I've got the rain poncho I bought while on a break from Caucasus Georgia, and I've used it on a few occasions since I bought it, but my earlier conclusion still holds - an umbrella is handier and lighter. I especially crave an umbrella on brutally sunny, hot days. Some day, when my decrepit black umbrella bites the dust, I'll replace it with a lighter-colored new umbrella (to offset the sun's hot rays). 
 
There's a good bit on umbrella v. ponchos on onebag.com here.


Kindle

I went with the basic Kindle in 2012.

I think I'm glad I made the choice I did, though I feel a little sad I don't have the paperwhite version. The basic Kindle does what I want it to do, even though it's rather clunky to get from some points A to some points B.

I've downloaded quite a few library books to the Kindle. Nice. 

Also, my reasoning about not wanting to feel too much of a financial loss if it were lost or stolen remains valid.



 

Trekking poles

A great purchase in 2012! They collapse into a size that fits into my backpack. So lightweight. I love to have them on trails with uneven surfaces, just for the balance.

 








Portable speaker

Yup, I still use this! I attach it to my laptop for better sound. I hook it up to my mp3 player. To my Android phone. To my voice recorder for playback.





My "puppy"

I bought an Android in July, 2014. Glad I bought it. In addition to serving as a backup to my online work in the event to a wifi or laptop failure, I find it a quality-of-life enhancement. I have not introduced it to social media or games, and I don't intend to do so.

The Creative Life: Brain Space

Mmmm, brains a-sizzlin'. Kutaisi, Georgia.

Years ago, the Atlantic Monthly (before it devolved into the pseudo-intellectual organ it is now) ran a riveting article about how religious faith and ethics are two entirely different biological operations. An individual might have both in spades, or neither, or be rich in one and poor in the other.

I bring this up because the same idea is probably apt for the creative process. That is, a person's vision is separate from the discipline one needs to give light to the vision - to give birth to it.

There is a lot of raw creative material in my head or, in the case of photos, in my hard drive awaiting distillation. I'm not at all happy that 2014, especially the second half, saw so little creative output, notwithstanding tremendous amounts of input. 

It seems that my brain can focus on only so many things at once. My year in South Louisiana was filled with new things - both good and not-so-good - that sucked great swaths of brain energy. Learning to dance! Starting a new job! Car troubles! A wretched bout with backache. And more, some of which is none of your beeswax.

If I now know that I can only barely chew gum and walk at the same time, what does this mean to me and my creative life?

What it means is that if I want to push stuff out, then I have to set up the physical time and the brain space to produce. To effect the latter, I've got to divert my brain-energy flow to creative thinking from distracted thinking. Otherwise my creativity is just the snap and crackle without the pop.

A Doozy of a Makina

and I climbed down from the gleaming spacecraft, and stood on solid ground - nay, literally the Earth - for the first time in more than six weeks. I waved goodbye, as per Pergelliac custom, with my forearm at a 90-degree angle from my upper arm, and my hand down and fingers flapping, to my rescuers, as they soared back into the heavens.

So much had happened since that night when I was snatched from my deep sleep and taken into The Cloud. But I don't want to bore you with the details.

Now where am I? Right, back in Missouri for a bit.