Greg came home again this weekend. It was good to have him here. The only bad thing about the visit is that I had to drive that road to nowhere twice this weekend. His dad was supposed to take him back yesterday, and then backed out. That meant that I had to take him back. I noticed though that while there are no homes on that last part of the trip, there are buildings, and burnt out shells of buildings along this road. Not many, but a few. It can be amazing what is in a desert when you take the time to notice it, and sometimes all it takes is repetition to see it.
Anyway, Greg and Kyle will be back in March for the Ren Fair. That will be fun! Greg will either be picked up by Kyle or will be getting a ride with one of his friends in the Marines, this means I don't have to drive! There will be a bunch of their friends and hopefully a couple of mine going to the fair.
Live fully....
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
The road to Nowhere
I now know where the road to nowhere is and where it actually leads to!
Greg had come for a quick visit this weekend, he came to pick up his computer. Well, he needed to get back to his barracks at 29 Palms. When someone tells you they live out in the middle of nowhere, unless they live at 29 Palms, they are living near somewhere. The drive is about four hours long, not to bad really. From Phoenix to Parker, there are the usual little towns and homesteads, places to stop, sights to see, things of that nature. Parker is a little town just inside the Arizona-California border. Once you cross the border into California there is an Agriculture check point, this is where you stop and are asked if you have any fresh fruits or live plants that you are bringing with you, they also ask where you are coming from.
Across the state highway from that is a gas station/convenience store, with a sign near it that states that there are no more services for 100 miles. Even when you see a sign like that you think that there should be homes, farms or some sign of civilization along those miles even if you can't get gas or something to eat. Most of the vehicles that have crossed the state line are either turning left or right to other towns, few keep going straight. The state highway that goes straight leads to the highway that leads to 29 Palms, it goes through the high desert. There is absolutely nothing on this road. There are no houses, no farms, no signs of civilization of any kind, the only other sign that it isn't totally empty are the railroad tracks. There weren't any trains either. There aren't even any billboards, no advertising of any kind for anything.
As you keep driving down this road, you have to marvel at the number of people that are also travelling down the road. After quite some time, you finally arrive at another road, this is the road that you have to turn down. This is the only turnoff since leaving the little gas station that there is, no other roads or driveways were passed along the way. Once you turn down this road, there is still nothing to indicate that you are anywhere that people have been or could be other that the road you are on. After a while you begin to wonder if you missed a turn or if you are really going to see a town or any kind of civilization ever again. Then just as you think that you're lost, you go around the last foothill and you finally see in the distance a few man made structures.
Then as you get closer, there are a few abandoned homes, some homes that are actually being lived in, a sign that says you are entering the Joshua Tree National Forest. When you finally get to the town that is next to the base, it is actually a very busy little town. A lot busier than the surrounding desert would lead you to believe.
This is truly the road to nowhere, and it leads to 29 Palms. Yes, there are palm trees there, there are none anywhere else, just there. I drove this road on Sunday, I will be driving it again on Friday when I go to pick Greg up for the three day weekend. It is roads like this when a car that can drive itself would be really great.
Live fully.....
Greg had come for a quick visit this weekend, he came to pick up his computer. Well, he needed to get back to his barracks at 29 Palms. When someone tells you they live out in the middle of nowhere, unless they live at 29 Palms, they are living near somewhere. The drive is about four hours long, not to bad really. From Phoenix to Parker, there are the usual little towns and homesteads, places to stop, sights to see, things of that nature. Parker is a little town just inside the Arizona-California border. Once you cross the border into California there is an Agriculture check point, this is where you stop and are asked if you have any fresh fruits or live plants that you are bringing with you, they also ask where you are coming from.
Across the state highway from that is a gas station/convenience store, with a sign near it that states that there are no more services for 100 miles. Even when you see a sign like that you think that there should be homes, farms or some sign of civilization along those miles even if you can't get gas or something to eat. Most of the vehicles that have crossed the state line are either turning left or right to other towns, few keep going straight. The state highway that goes straight leads to the highway that leads to 29 Palms, it goes through the high desert. There is absolutely nothing on this road. There are no houses, no farms, no signs of civilization of any kind, the only other sign that it isn't totally empty are the railroad tracks. There weren't any trains either. There aren't even any billboards, no advertising of any kind for anything.
As you keep driving down this road, you have to marvel at the number of people that are also travelling down the road. After quite some time, you finally arrive at another road, this is the road that you have to turn down. This is the only turnoff since leaving the little gas station that there is, no other roads or driveways were passed along the way. Once you turn down this road, there is still nothing to indicate that you are anywhere that people have been or could be other that the road you are on. After a while you begin to wonder if you missed a turn or if you are really going to see a town or any kind of civilization ever again. Then just as you think that you're lost, you go around the last foothill and you finally see in the distance a few man made structures.
Then as you get closer, there are a few abandoned homes, some homes that are actually being lived in, a sign that says you are entering the Joshua Tree National Forest. When you finally get to the town that is next to the base, it is actually a very busy little town. A lot busier than the surrounding desert would lead you to believe.
This is truly the road to nowhere, and it leads to 29 Palms. Yes, there are palm trees there, there are none anywhere else, just there. I drove this road on Sunday, I will be driving it again on Friday when I go to pick Greg up for the three day weekend. It is roads like this when a car that can drive itself would be really great.
Live fully.....
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Book update...
I have taken out the red pen and have started the editing/rewriting of this past years NaNoWriMo novel. This is going to take a while, have only managed a page and a half so far. I only started last night, so I figure I'm doing pretty good. When I get this first editing done, I will send a copy to you, Dad, for your help and suggestions. Thank you for offering your expertise.
Live fully....
Live fully....
Sunday, February 04, 2007
A visit from the boys
Greg and Kyle came for a visit this weekend. They are doing good. Kyle bought himself a car. It's a 2004 Ford Mustang. It's so cool!
They managed to hang out together, and with a bunch of their friends. It was really neat to see them all together. Some of the kids don't really like each other, but they all wanted to hang out with Greg and Kyle, so they put aside their differences for the weekend and behaved themselves. All of them had a lot of fun together.
It was great to see them.
Live fully.....
They managed to hang out together, and with a bunch of their friends. It was really neat to see them all together. Some of the kids don't really like each other, but they all wanted to hang out with Greg and Kyle, so they put aside their differences for the weekend and behaved themselves. All of them had a lot of fun together.
It was great to see them.
Live fully.....
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Another step to being published.....
I have taken the next step in possibly getting a story published. I'm still a long way from even submitting it to any publisher. I printed a copy of the rough draft of the 2006 NaNoWriMo story that I finished, I then mailed it to myself. That way I can prove that I wrote it myself, not that I took it from anyone, and so no one can take my ideas from me. Now I'm going to start the long process of editing and rewriting.
At some point in time I may even have someone else read it, and help edit it. I'm not sure when that will happen, though. This is a big step for me.
Live fully.....
At some point in time I may even have someone else read it, and help edit it. I'm not sure when that will happen, though. This is a big step for me.
Live fully.....
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Ramblings....
Quiet is good.....just makes for boring posts.
Maggie's job is sending her to California temporarily. They are opening new stores there and need people that know what they are doing to work until they can get others trained. She is very excited about going, and she likes that she will only be there for a few months.
Kyle bought himself a car. Both boys will be here next weekend. Kyle will be picking up Greg on his way here.
I keep calling them boys, they are no longer boys, they are young men. Young men that I am very proud of. Young men that are starting their lives serving their country.
I taught my first class on runes and ogham sticks last Saturday. Everyone seemed to enjoy the class, and maybe even learned something. Next week is my next class. When I first thought about doing these classes, I had set them up to be very organized with little room for surprizes. Thankfully those plans got tossed, the classes are now very free-form. That works out very well. I have even started putting them on the Pagans Lounge website. Just go through the divination page, then through the runes section. My pages start with Runic Oracle Introduction. I'm still working on adding more information to these pages, and adding pages to the ogham sticks pages as well. I know that I have enjoyed these classes and have learned more myself while putting these classes together. Look at the pages if you want, don't if you don't want to.
Live fully......
Maggie's job is sending her to California temporarily. They are opening new stores there and need people that know what they are doing to work until they can get others trained. She is very excited about going, and she likes that she will only be there for a few months.
Kyle bought himself a car. Both boys will be here next weekend. Kyle will be picking up Greg on his way here.
I keep calling them boys, they are no longer boys, they are young men. Young men that I am very proud of. Young men that are starting their lives serving their country.
I taught my first class on runes and ogham sticks last Saturday. Everyone seemed to enjoy the class, and maybe even learned something. Next week is my next class. When I first thought about doing these classes, I had set them up to be very organized with little room for surprizes. Thankfully those plans got tossed, the classes are now very free-form. That works out very well. I have even started putting them on the Pagans Lounge website. Just go through the divination page, then through the runes section. My pages start with Runic Oracle Introduction. I'm still working on adding more information to these pages, and adding pages to the ogham sticks pages as well. I know that I have enjoyed these classes and have learned more myself while putting these classes together. Look at the pages if you want, don't if you don't want to.
Live fully......
Friday, January 12, 2007
Hhhmmmm.....
Ever have the feeling that there is something that you should be doing, yet can't quite figure out what it is? I've been working on some pages that I'm putting together for classes that I'm going to teach, and put on the web, I've even worked on some crocheting of sock edgings for grand daughters and niece, even been looking at stuff online. Yet none of it seems quite what I should be doing. So I sit here and write this hoping that maybe I'll figure out what it is I should be doing instead of this or anything else I have been doing. Oh well, it's getting late, I should be getting to bed, then again that may not happen either as I'm not sleepy.
Live fully.....
Live fully.....
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