Travels With Susan

Here are my first research results on Maryland law concerning the surreptitious use of cameras:

As you will note-- what is prohibited here is surreptitious use of cameras INSIDE PRIVATE RESIDENCES.  Acorn offices are not a private residence.  MORE TO FOLLOW

This story just reeks of the disdain and contempt that the liberal elites in this world have for the ordinary people.  A New York Times Reporter WAS TOLD, WAS WARNED-- Don't go there -- in Afghanistan.  It's Taliban country he was told.  It's dangerous, he was told.  But like Daniel Perl, he knew better.  He went, he was captured.  And now a soldier is dead who helped to rescue him.   Pardon my presumption.  Pardon my prejudgment,  But actions speak louder than words.  This effete snob knew better than all the people who warned him.  And then some people risked their lives and several lost them, to rescue him.  The reporter didn't deserve it.  He deserved to die.  The soldiers do what soldiers do.  They risk their lives to protect us.  And for that we must give them undying respect.  But the rest of us have to say, if you ignore the warnings, then live with the consequences.  You thought you could have a nice rational conversation with this group of barbarians, you were wrong.  Our soldiers are there, not because they are unruly thugs, but because the Taliban are unruly thugs. And our soldiers are there to protect us.  What garbage it is for a liberal effete snob to ignore their warnings.  Where are the thank yous from this guy.  I didn't see any.  We salute the bravery and the courage of the soldiers who rescued even a liberal effete snob.  

However many million mega web hits her youtube videos have acheived, Susan Boyle's sudden stardom is more a reflection of the uncertainty, confusion and chaos in which we live than her own considerable talent.  Nearly every one us probably knows someone who is equally talented ( like my friend Tina Meeks) who still hasn't hit the big time.  So the strangeness of her story is not in her talent, but in the world's reaction to it. 

It betrays many of the flaws of modern culture.  Susan, unlike my friend Tina, doesn't look like a hit star.  Susan has apparently elected a life without sex.  For those who think her life is a result of her looks, think again.  With very little effort I can show you dozens of women less convenitonally beautiful than she, women with few teeth, grossly overweight, hair so matted it can't be combed, who manage to find male companionship.  If Susan Boyle lives alone, it is because she has looked at her other choices, and, so far as we know, wisely rejected them.  In this sex and money-obssessed culture, many find her choices bewildering.  Yet her ability to have made those choices, which seems to be linked to a devout spirituality, may be what so many find appealing.  She seems to have taken her sudden fame in stride.  I would guess that she can do this because she may have a better and more accurate idea of what it is than many who have spent their whole lives courting it. It is, I suspect, precisely her ability to see fame and money in the proper perspective -- she seems to value family and friends more-- that allows her to handle her sudden fame and remain down to earth.

There are those also who doubt her genuineness.  Maureen Callahan of the New York Post is quite suspicious that somehow the whole thing was really planned.  She wonders how a virginal 47 year old could display such depth of feeling.  Ah, Ms. Callahan, you greatly underestimate the power of the human heart entwined with the human imagination.  Johnny Cash never did time, but his rendition of Folsom Prison Blues made him a huge hit with prison inmates.  If Ms. Callahan listens to Ms. Boyle's first recording, Cry Me a River, she may be stunned to hear such depth of feeling from a woman who has never been kissed.  It is Ms. Callahan who lacks the empathy with ordinary people who perform every day acts of love and kindness, who seems to lack in depth and understanding.  Ms. Boyle has apparently confessed to a few crushes.  She has loved, perhaps not as Ms. Callahan would define it.  She has friends and supporters in her village who have valued her.  We haven't heard much from her family, but she has her mom's house.  Most probably they have valued her also.  The media surprise at this woman of virtue and values who took care of her mom, stayed in her village and lead an ordinary life is a measure of the condescension and contempt that the media elites have for ordinary people.  It is not a measure of the ordinary people, like Susan Boyle, who, it appears, has lead a satisfying life in its way up to now.

In September of 2007 I accomplished a dream I have had for a while-- I bought a cabin in Bouquet Canyon. I fell in love with Bouquet Canyon the first time I saw it maybe 15 years ago. The upper part of Bouquet Canyon is in the Angeles National Forest and is topped by a reservoir known as, yes, the Bouquet Canyon Reservoir. The part that is in the Angeles National Forest is lined by old cabins. These cabins are owned by the individuals but the land is leased from the U. S. Forest Service.
Shortly after I purchased it, I was evacuated-- on the same day as the first big Malibu fire of 2007. The fire raced from Agua Dulce, on the East side of the Antelope Valley Freeway up Sand Canyon, Vasquez Canyon and Bouquet Canyon. From what I can tell, I -- and the other cabin owners whose cabins survived, owe a great debt of gratitude to the water dropping helicopters and the brave firefighters of the Santa Clara and Gilroy fire departments. If you are not familiar with Southern California-- those fire departments are about 350 miles away. In California we have a disaster preparedness system where fire fighters from all over the western states drive in to fight wildfires whereever they are. And, some of you may recall, we had a lot of them all at once in October of 2007. Since then we have had rain and more rain and more rain. For those of us with homes in the mountains, we are most grateful for the rain, the fire danger has dropped substantially. And the rain was timed nicely not to cause much in the way of mudslides, so -- thank you God or Nature or whatever powers control the weather. I have previously posted pictures I took two days after I was allowed back to my cabin but I had not put in a blog entry. Here are the pictures. Literally thousands of acres were burned, but the hills are already turning green again and it is looking like a fabulous spring wildflower season.

Joshua tree spring flowers 2005To those of us who are hard core wildflower hunters December rains mean February blooms.  Hooray.  Yippee.  We are expecting another storm.  I've even added Death Valley to the weather reporter on my iPhone, just to make sure that it is raining there too.  It is.  Yes, yes, yes, there could be many a slip et cetera.  Maybe there will be a freeze or unseasonable warmth or -- whatever.  But at least this year step one-- rain in December -- is happening. 
Get ready for wildflowers.