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This is where I will be working / living for the foreseeable future (certainly Dec. 1 ~ Mid-Mar. or so.)

On The (Other) Road ~ 1

Dear RSVP Group,

I've long had a notion (probably common) that one of the things one

can do in the 'After Life' is review one's Earth Passage . . .

celestial Tivo or something.

The problem, of course: it'd take 58 years to (re)view 58 years . . .

unless there's fast forward.

"On the [Other] Road" is kind of like that.

This is posting from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In an hour or so, I depart

for N. Miami Beach, FL / Adele's.

I composed what follows yesterday . . . but it cyber-vanished moments

before I was ready to send. No time to retrieve . . . AmTrak departed

in about 1.5 hrs. and the walk back to the station was approx. 3 mi.

So, back to YESTERDAY . . . while NOW unfolds.

* * *

I'm reading / writing this from the Library / Learning Center of the

Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL.

At 12:45 p.m. I board AmTrak for Ft. Lauderdale. I intended to take

the train to Adele's tomorrow, but seats for Friday were sold out. I

don't want to arrive a day early, so will overnight w/ an old friend -

Valerie Ong and her longtime partner Tony (Reggae drummer from

Belieze.)

Val is THE reason I found Bar Harbor . . .

Graduating early from Vanderbilt to join her in Aix-en-Provence (doing

her junior year abroad), I traveled for days . . . to discover Val's

French teacher had fallen for her. My presence was not entirely

welcome.

Back then, I had NO idea what 'feelings' were . . . much less what I

might BE feeling. After a very brief . . . 'so what do I do NOW'. . .

in Paris, I returned to the USA.

February 1972 . . . limbo . . . I did not want to return to Nashville

or Florida. Why not hitch up the New England coast, see what I might

find to occupy myself for 6 months until I make the turn to Law

School.

It was one of the snowiest Winters in memory (MY memory at least . . .

) Still, I traveled easily, circling one community on the map and then

another. After reaching Eastport, Maine (arbitrary destination), I

planned to return to 3 or 4 circles, pick one, and settle for a bit.

When I got to MDI / Bar Harbor , I felt as if I had found THE place!

A job and place to live in the middle of Winter '72 was another matter

. I backtracked to Ellsworth, rented a small apartment next to St.

Joseph's Catholic Church, got hired to clean the church (a.k.a.

janitor), and began to draw / paint one of the post-Christmas

poinsettias every day until it died from lack of water.

The poinsettia NEVER died.

I never went to Law School.

* * *

9.4.08

In addition to adjusting the Adele visit, I'm making other adjustments.

- Weekend w/ Grandma.

- Monday morning, I visit Sherri's Mom and take the car for delivery

to Maryland.

I'll pause to visit Doe's best friend Margie (she now resides w/ her

daughter in a very small, off the beaten trail, town in Georgia . . .

approx. 6 hrs. N. of West Palm Beach.)

Then, instead of visiting 'sites of interest / potential futures

(i.e. Beauford, SC, Wilmington, NC, the Redeveloped Baltimore

Waterfront, the Holocaust Museum in D.C., Burlington, VT / Sassaman's,

etc . . . )

- I'll visit w/ the Clixby-Crains for a couple of days / stop to see

Cheryl + Chris Corson (33 miles away. They purchased one of the LARGE

Polaroids from the DoeGlow Show.) Then,

- Book it to the Rockies as quickly / cost effectively as possible!

There are a few things I'd like to do in early-October (Midwest / VT

in particular), but can be more present then / there if I have a job /

place to live FIRST . . .

I'm not entirely vagabond-ish.

* * *

'Color' (stories from the road so far), musings, and commentary should

fill the NEXT chapter . . .

(Did you see / hear Palin's acceptance speech last night?! "What's the

difference between a bulldog and a hockey mom? . . . )

I think Conservative Talk Show Host Glenn Beck . . .

(http://www.glennbeck.com) . . . "The Future of Talk Radio: Where

Entertainment Meets Enlightenment"

. . . wrote her speech?!

As they say in Peanuts: "Agggggggghhh . . ."

PeaceOut,

Bob

P.S. If you have ideas about, contacts with, suggestions for my Rocky

Mountain Ski Search . . . thank you in advance.

Gandhi

Gandhi came to believe that the Gita's "cardinal teaching" was that human beings must resolve to do the right thing without thinking about or considering its fruits or rewards.

"He who broods over results," Gandhi would later write, "is ever distracted, he says goodbye to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and he therefore resorts to means fair and foul to attain his end."

In Gandhi's mind, detaching ourselves from results was an act of renunciation as spiritually powerful as any form of self-denial, the moral equivalent of renouncing worldly possessions or sexual desire. It brought holiness to man and peace to his soul.

"Man is not at peace with himself til he has become like unto God" in renouncing worldly reward for his actions.

<http://www.amazon.com/Gandhi-Churchill-Rivalry-Destroyed-Empire/dp/0553804634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219771323&sr=1-1>

Excellent history. Got to pg. 337 of 609. Wish I could take it w/ me. The library would not be happy. I'll have to wait until I settle near a new library.

Pond ~ Thuya Garden ~ Mt. Desert Island, ME