Looking back Inside our Mind
What’s it like inside our minds? Oh, we all know that our cranial container has all this gray stuff composed of crisscrossing nerves and synaptic tissue.
Political Debates 2016……
Political Debates 2106 Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin. February 11, 2016 Well, you may like Bernie, but in listening to the latest debate in Milwaukee earlier tonight, I found Bernie to be rather nasty in trying to make his point while running Hillary down. He used...Are You Being Bullied?
Is everyone being Bullied? Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin. How does bullying work, anyway? A rational person would think that every big blustering bully would be turned away in every circumstance by the people witnessing obviously bullying behavior. If that was truth...
So what is this about a Cat Named Harvey?
Harvey. My cat of 14 years. There’s been some controversy over the ownership (if it can really be called that) of cats who live at home but also run in the wild upon occasion……
Sunday Morning at Geneva Java Coffee Shop
Dateline: Sunday, January 9, 2016 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Sometimes interesting people are just at the next table. Geneva Java Coffee Shop on Sunday morning. This guy and his female friend (Cal Tech graduate in physics) talking about Larry Niven’s first book about the Pak…….
Harvey, the Grey Cat Rules
Back over one shoulder a crouching human could be seen creeping through the wet soggy grass that led up to the edge of the forest. Harvey waited, standing upright, shifting his gaze from the ungainly man to the forest and back…….
Thumper, A Harvey Adventure, by James Strauss
Movement through the base of the forest isn’t difficult, not if you’re a thirteen-pound cat with fur the color of the darker flora. Harvey moved sinuously inside the brush next to the nearby flowing stream. By sticking close to the water, he could avoid the giant rabbit ………
Bad Taffy, A Harvey Adventure
The pride of humans, to which Harvey had become attached, occasionally required him to sit so its other members could admire him. He sat on top of a not uncomfortable basket for one such session. Sitting up on a basket ………
New Years Observation
Dateline:Lake Geneva Wisconsin January 6, 2016 New Years Observation The real first snow and GSR of the year. I don’t know why but today is the day when the impact of the New Year made its appearance all over Lake Geneva and the surrounding area. I know because...
Good Christ the Fox, A Harvey Adventure
Harvey crouched down near the side of the garage, his long feline body carefully inserted into the slot between the relatively warm wall of wood and the below zero frigidity of the ice bank only inches away.
Arboreal, a Harvey Adventure
There was no special talent necessary for inhabiting the tops of trees. Harvey relaxed to better reflect upon the lower forest below him, as the wind moved the branches supporting his body slowly back and forth with boring regularity. Squirrels from his former territory had taught Harvey well…….
The Coming of Dawn, A Harvey Adventure
Observation. Keen patient feline observation. Not notice, interest or simply seeing. Harvey stared, his ears moving undetectably to take in all sound, the nose of his blackened gray muzzle very faintly sniffing the gentle breeze flowing down the hill not far from Bad Taffy’s residence…..
In the Basement, a New Year!
Dateline: January 2, 2016 Lake Geneva Wisconsin. What is the place you make? Most of life is supposed to be about what we make of what is here when we got here and then what we do with whatever the hell that is. I once asked a nun in fifth grade this...
Night Flight, an Arch Patton Adventure
NIGHT FLIGHT Short Story By James Strauss The air above Africa is rarified. Volcanoes spew up from below to be reported for the first time by overflying airliners. Storms with horizontal lightening that will take any passengers breath away wedge in from all...
New Years Wish List, 2016
Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin, December 27, 2015. The New Year approaches. What changes would you like to see take place within the confines of your culture? How about these:
The Present, a Short Story
The child who was not a child, crouched with his back to the warm window. It was below zero in Wisconsin, but not in the deep window well. A mouse looked up at him, it’s puzzled stare demonstrating no understanding, but also no willingness to back down. The child smiled. ……..
Boxing Day, Political Sparring and such
Boxing Day occurs every year on December 26th. It’s a national holiday in the UK and Ireland. If the day after Christmas falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is designated as the official public holiday…….
Advent Trees and Star Wars…..
Four days in between me and Christmas. I must finish the fourth and fifth Advent trees today so the fourth will be up tonight and then the fifth I will light up on the 23rd. The first four are all white lights, except for that weird yellow…………
Christmas Pueblo, Arch Patton Adventure
Christmas Pueblo An Arch Patton Adventure by James Strauss Arch Patton found himself inside the confines of the Pueblo of Santa Fe County jail, Christmas Eve, on some vague trumped-up barroom brawl charge. He was in the “drunk tank,” which is what they call the cells...Flight home from Santa Fe
Boy was I wrong. Not about Starbucks in Santa Fe. On a quiet day you can hear that Starbucks suck all the way in Oklahoma. No, I was wrong about that shop being the only coffee joint located near the Plaza of downtown Santa Fe……..
Final Sunday Evening, Santa Fe
Evening was just about to come on when the sun burst forth and blasted the side of the La Fonda Hotel with brilliant light. The snow, the people, the sun, the buildings, all of it making things appear like there were a hundred or more years ago……
Reflections of Sunday Morning in Santa Fe
Really early Sunday morning. The snow came down in the night and I awoke with surprise. The heavy soft blanket is everywhere and treacherously beautiful, as the snow removal equipment owned by Santa Fe……
Slow Sábado in Santa Fe……..
I walked out to see how the snow was doing. A lot of it seems to be evaporating right into the air. I walked up the sidewalk toward the Catholic Church at the top of San Francisco and then turned to look behind me……
Friday, Friday…..Fun in Santa Fe
John Tittle and his friend Coaster. John wears his shoes without laces because he says they don’t return your laces when they let you out of the ‘facility’ when they pick you up for not having enough money on some nights. Hmmm……..
Santa Fe Going to the Dogs?
What is it about dogs and me in Santa Fe? Now here’s a dog that was laying down this morning and waiting for its owner to wake from street side sleep on San Francisco just across from the main Plaza
Wednesday in Santa Fe…….
Downtown Subscription, the coffee shop I almost got thrown out of last visit, but fled when I saw it coming (for discussing whether ISIS and Al Qaida really exist, too loudly). The place is thronged, as it’s about the only coffee shop left in town……..
On My Way to Santa Fe
Berghoffs. Concourse C. Gate 21. United Awful Airlines. Waiting. Salvio gets us all into the Christmas spirit by putting up the decorations, laughing a lot while singing the strangest Spanish version of Silent Night I’ve ever heard…..
Bed and Breakfast in the Heartland
Hicks, country folk, rural people. Have you been to the outback of America and really circulated and spent some time with the locals who don’t often venture into the larger urban areas
What Cost, the War on Terror?
War on Terror? Dateline: Lake Geneva Wisconsin. The world. What happens when the military industrial complex gets threatened? Not by outside forces. It wants that. No, I am talking about inside forces. The forces inside western borders that deny funding. It’s...Application of Intellect?
The application of intellect. The public cannot be brought into the light unless it can be made to understand and observe what light is. At one time most of the world depended upon systems of hands on education to accomplish….
Alone in the Forest, a Short Story by James Strauss
The hike was not a real challenge. Though it would’ve been impossible without his mom’s last gift; the special aluminum snowshoes. Thomas floated across the top of the pure white surface, even though his backpack weighed more than half as much as his own ninety pounds…….
Possessions Top to Bottom?
Did you really think that some of the population, mostly those that possess most everything, would ever be willing to part with some of what they’ve got? Origins of possession mean nothing at the top end……
Do you “Like” Me… and is it Important?
Like Me? Does it Matter And how does Facebook play into this? Facebook is not about you talking back and forth to lots of people. That is the way it started but then the people who own and operate Facebook met with the bean counters and figures something out……
Sunday Morning, November 29, 2015
I love Sunday morning. I used to love going to Catholic Mass every Sunday morning when I was very young. I used to love to look at the girls and women who got all dolled up…
Black Friday and the Green Bay Packers
Yeah, I know that the phrase came out of Chicago from the police there and it was all about the traffic and congestion mess associated with day after Thanksgiving shopping. Now, it’s not such a negative thing, except for some of us……
The Deer are Here……
Deer hunting season from the 21st of this month until the 29th. They’ll kill 200,000 deer before the 30th. Whatever. The deer have figured out over the years that they need to go ……
Christmas Canyon, Santa Fe, New Mexico
It was late December, and the Santa Fe River was little more than a half-frozen stream. Darby sat down between the water and a large lump of rumpled brown cloth that contained his friend Albert.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone
Thanksgiving morning. Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving day parade. There are no notables I recognize in the booth in front of the parade on television anymore……
More Turkeys to Contend With
Turkeys and other sundry items Dateline: Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Let the pre-Thanksgiving work begin! The turkeys have been killed, thankfully by some distant house in some distant land where the thought of chopping turkey’s heads off isn’t something...Thanksgiving Turkeys and the Holiday
As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches. Two turkeys, as is the custom here in my surroundings every year. One turkey done in the oven with regular stuffing and cooked at 350 degrees until done. Well basted……Second turkey?????
Thought for the day: Prayer, What do You Pray for?
What are you praying for? If you were to pray for someone, other than yourself or someone you love or know really well, then whom would you pray for? If prayer is something you might consider, given that there are so many versions of praying and so many beliefs about...Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Settling in for Winter
“Settling in for the Winter” November 20, 2015 The land abides and waits the welcome covering of snow to sprinkle down on all fall debris, farm distributed dust from late harvest and all manner of accumulated summer related discards.
What’s Normal? To be Kind?
Is being Kind Normal?
How do we find it somehow in our best interest to be kind?
Is it the coming wintery storm making me so deeply reflective this evening? How do we make it so that compassion, understanding and generosity become the normal staple ruling all communication and conduct……..
Finishing the Visit, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The first blizzard of the winter strikes deep into the heart of Santa Fe. The snow came down for hours, dumping an unexpected six inches on the city and making everyone (except people from Wisconsin and other northern states) skate for cover and the pinon-fired indoors……..
Monday, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 16, 2015
Monday Morning, Santa Fe New Mexico. It can’t always be nice. If it was always nice then we would have little real appreciation for it being nice at all. So I am sitting here waiting for a break in the rain to go to breakfast…….
Late Morning/Afternoon, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 15, 2015
Here’s a very typical New Mexico breakfast. You simply order the breakfast burrito with green chile and wait for the results. Then you eat it and wait for the results. This one was served at the Plaza Restaurant for ten bucks not including coffee……..
Sunday Morning, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 15, 2015
DATELINE: Santa Fe Sunday Morning, November 15, 2015 by James Strauss 6:40 AM Santa Fe New Mexico. Really early. At seven thousand feet, being old, not drinking, finding raucous nightlife to be raucous nightlife and having a television in my room not intended to be...Saturday, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 14, 2015
Saturday 8:45 AM, Santa Fe, New Mexico The clock on the wall in the Plaza Restaurant in the center of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the loveliest capital city in America by far. A real beating heart, the central plaza. Real native adobe architecture and construction styling. Nothing in the city is taller than the church steeples…..
Friday, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 13, 2015
Santa Fe Friday Morning Cold but hard driven sun, enough to make you wear something light but warm and then too warm and not light enough. Layers are fine as long as you don’t have to carry the cast off layers around with you……….
Wasn’t My War, a poem
It wasn’t my war, Not that stuff going on, Not where it is or where it was.
It’s not my war, Not now and over there, For me it was right here………..
Ulaan Baatar, a Poem
It’s twenty-eight in Ulaan Baatar this day, And it’ll be ten tonight. Mongolia bridge, no bridge at all, Leather tents gone…….
Merchant Marine, a Poem
Taconite moving atop the waves, Lackawanna bound with iron ore pellets, Marble sphere strewn heaving decks.Guantanamara plays lost revolution…..
The Speed of Life and Knowing Superman
The speed of life, Light moving maximum, Quantum travel, Reality through the mind. The speed of life, Quantum theory, Quantum physics,
Causality’s measure misunderstood……
Names Have Meaning, a Poem
Magnolia,Lobos Marinos,Flowering sea wolves. Cabrillo, Capistrano, Avenues of cheese. The roads, Names in my life, Meaning of my world…..
Make Believe?, a Poem
Light bouncy bright, I don’t even drink, But I make believe.
Drugs and booze…..
Arch Patton, Thunder Marine, Chapter Nine
4:00 a.m. slammed down like a guillotine blade; bringing Arch’s eyes open to full wideness with a jerk, his head swinging up off his pillow to stare at the now open bedroom door. The door swung back toward the frame. It had been the sound of the old solid wood slab hitting drywall
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