Editor's Log
September 29, 2009
Greetings from Yamamoto Central!
I was the first one up this morning in a house full of folks who don’t seem to feel the need to stir before ten-ish. I just pop up anymore, not like how I used to be, and find myself with an uncomfortable amount of down time.
If I were home – I’m visiting friends in Southern Utah – I’d be dressed and pressed and out the door. Who has time anymore to watch the sun rise? But I’m a go-alonger this trip and not wanting to bang around and wake up the neighborhood I thought I’d take advantage of the early morning stillness to write and reflect. Sans coffee, I might add.
I’m in a good place to write and reflect. I’m watching a neighbor tend to his horses and it’s comforting to watch something reliable and old as time play out. Having spent the earlier part of this year unable to get out much (that’s a long story and it bores even me) I seem to be obsessed lately with all things outdoors and getting out of town whenever possible is paramount. I think this last trip even the dog was pushing me out the door.
I was lucky enough last weekend to spend time with great friends in Northern New Mexico; my mentor, friend and much-missed editor at large, Jerry “Bubba” Puckett and his lovely wife, Peggy. Bubba loves to cook and I love to eat and by-god I can’t think of a better match than that!
Peggy and I visited a winery outside Farmington, NM where we spent a leisurely “girly” afternoon sipping wine under huge cottonwood trees. We dodged the hungry advances of tame turkeys, crashed an outdoor wedding and before leaving, got up close and personal to some horses for a good scratch.
Perhaps it’s the onset of autumn, the introduction to summer transitioning into fall, that’s responsible for my need to be out and about. One last hurrah before the nip in the air becomes just plain cold. This year’s probably been rough on a lot of us. We apparently seem to be rebounding from this recession but I’m guessing a lot of us still feel apprehensive about the future.
We’ve been going through a lot of changes and even though change is supposed to be the hallmark of American people, the abrupt shaking of some of the things we’ve come to rely on may have left some of us a bit unsettled. Hefty issues are on the table for discussion and it seems everyone wants it to be his way or the highway. I have a feeling we’ll work it out.
Later today we’re taking the scenic route home through Zion National Park. Experiencing the beauty and strength of nature always makes me feel more grounded. Whether or not Global Warming is a fact or something made up by those crazy liberals isn’t really the point. I want this stuff – Zion National Park, horses, tame (and wild for that matter) turkeys and my next five-pounder – to be around so when I’m feeling apprehensive and cooped up and stressed out from the stressors of change, I can experience them and feel grounded again.
Get on out there while the getting’s good, but before you go, hang around a bit and catch up on some good reading material.