Even Now I Still Crave That Salt Water at OBX

Every once in awhile I think about how great it is to let the waves on the Outer Banks, NC, bounce you back to shore. If you aren't careful you can get rolled and rocked like crazy. With very little effort you can just let the wave carry you in, or you can just bob around. There is something just right about the temperature, texture, salt level, waves, the whole experience. I've been to some nice beaches, but I always feel like the NC coast is the best when it comes to jumping into the waves.

How great to go back in time and see how the pirates lived there.

Where Was I?

It feels a little odd not to be in motion, darting from place to place, covering lots of ground. I've been told I should write more in depth about the journey but I find I am almost a blank slate when I try to think about it.

I know I am not and that I am constantly thinking about it deep down. One thing is very clear to me, people view the world differently and find different things important and interesting. I'm more interested in the people aspect or just the lay of the land rather than the geological history or extinct animal fossils. I think it is cool to imagine those creatures roaming the earth, terrorizing one another and all that, but I find the human cultures that were wandering around terrorizing one another more interesting.

Of course, there are many who don't want to believe that Native Americans ever made mischief on others but those things happen. If not for severely twisted and aggressive mischief, the Aztecs would not have been so famous today and powerful or technologically advanced in their day. Most of their cleverness was brought in by conquered peoples.

Anyway, my particular level and state of survival demands different things than some. I often need reminding that I have anything worthwhile to offer anyone, or that I have a brain or any ability in any area whatsoever. It is a curse, but I am not unique in that way. I'd blame George Bush, but only someone like Chris Matthews would buy it. I could blame Obama but that would be equally off the mark. Darn. I guess I'll either blame you, or just let go of blame altogether.

It was good for me to cruise through the last college I attended in NC. That is where a pattern of behavior really took off which did not serve me well, but the place was as idyllic and perfect as I remember. I went there with good intentions when I was almost 23, I think. Those intentions lasted not even one full day. My intent was not to drink, drug and waste the opportunity. Oh well. Maybe it took that in order for me to have more empathy and compassion. Now, like then, I do not consider it compassion if I use your resources by force in order to exercise my benevolent desires toward those I feel need the boost. That is what separates me from much of our civilization philosophically.

Somehow the trip has made me less inclined to consider involvement in such public issues. I'll continue to vote against every tax or increase in anything governmental, and leave it at that. Or try to. Maybe I'm right, maybe not. Hard to figure. A lot of the bankrupt places in the country are the nicest places. Of course it could be like the people who drive cars they can't afford and live in houses beyond their means---as soon as there is a little ripple in the cash flow, they go under and either pull some fancy legal antics that allow them to live well in bankruptcy, or they end up with an old Dodge Dart and set up house in a tent under a bridge.

It is interesting that the most polite, respectful people, culturally, live in towns far from major urban areas. Like one friend pointed out--people crave the society of their fellow man, so they end up in cities then they don't even say hello as they pass one another on the sidewalk and they do all they can to avoid direct contact. And they kill each other. Strange species, humans. Only species on earth that will place land off limits in order to ensure that other species will thrive, and only species that includes a large number who hate their own kind to the point that they would kill them in the name of protecting some obscure creature. Or just the vague concept of "saving the planet".

I figure no good books have ever been written by the planet or bears or any of those other things so I can't discount humans that way. Besides, though I often feel we must have been dropped here from another planet, I do not think we have less right to be here than those other things with sharp teeth and claws.

It was a little bit of a shock to see Greensboro traffic had become more congested and the driving more peculiar. I also sensed more racial animosity which seemed kind of gangish in nature. Memphis, on the other hand, seems to have toned down. Regardless of anyone's rationalizations, I know how I treat people, and I do not respect or appreciate being given the cold rude attitude due to the perception that I am a white male. You only get that in certain places, usually when any legal minority is in the majority. Facts are facts.

Excuses can be given, but the truth is, until people stop, racial tension will continue. That is where merit and civility come in. Until the culture figures that out, you are going to have punks of all races playing their games when they think they have the upper hand. Idiots. And playing the game of calling anyone a racist if they call it honestly is actually the real racist response. That's why I give up on that. I blame government, religion, and people who love to exercise power over others. Doesn't mean all government or religion or people are to blame but the evil thrives where it thrives.

Seattle is still got a unique character that is politely irreverent and fun loving. Though I did not explore it a lot, I honestly do not think Austin is as cool as it thinks it is. Which is the thing. Places that work too hard at being cool become less hospitable and eclectic, fostering a sort of rigid conformity in their self proclaimed non-conformity. My quick impression of Austin was that they are headed that way, and Taos is there. Cool places which tend to become uncool just because they were cool and got a swelled head.

Hopefully these observations are controversial enough to elicit angry rebuttals.