Tour with Judi & Roy

The Sentinel broods over August clouds

One of my favorite ways to earn a living is giving personal tours, usually with a couple, who allow me to take them out on a whimsical loosely structured journey through the natural world. I just had the priveledge and great honor to conduct what is probably my last personal tour of this area as a local guide with Judi & Roy, who were a very cute and loving couple from Los Angeles. I easily got as much from being with them as they could've ever gotten from me.

As I embark upon my own journey of union with another I could not help but see this encounter as anything other than a strong testament to the incredible power and sweep of love over all odds and circumstances. For exposing me to this exquisite joy and assurance I wish to earnestly thank you both very much.

This particular tour was a scenic circle from Zion Canyon up to the top of the Markagunt Plateau (11,307 ft.), through high mountain woods & meadows (sometimes on dirt roads) and back down to Springdale by way of the Kolob Canyons. My Blue Light Special with SUV.

Enjoy the shots-----I loved takin' 'em (click on 'em, they get bigger).

Roy frames Judi


Checkerboard Mesa


Entrance to a mysterious lava cave


Judi joins the herd


Cedar Breaks


South Fork of Taylor Creek

Sooner than I thought

Utah below

I had mentioned in an earlier blog that I would be moving to the Sunshine State sometime in the fall, but have moved it up to September 16th (still summer). Several obligations have been erased including my employment with the Bit & Spur which will now terminate at the end of August instead of October. (Thanks you guys, it has been a great run with lots of laughs and fond memories.)

My last interpretive production as a local naturalist will be given at the Desert Pearl on September 10th. Be there or be square.

I'm pretty excited about this trip, with Connie as co-pilot, because the route I picked out for the shortest journey was exactly the same when I checked on Mapquest.com. Am I good or what?

First we'll drop down to I-40 at Flagstaff and travel east for 610 miles, over the Continental Divide and across the High Plains, to Amarillo (home of the Cadillac Ranch and the free, if you can eat it in an hour, 72 oz. steak at the Big Texan Steak Ranch). From here (burp!) we'll head southeasterly on U.S. 287 for the 300 mile journey to Dallas. After a quick sightseeing excursion to Dealey Plaza, it's on to I-20 for the next 150 miles to Shreveport (home of the Louisiana Hayride) where we'll take our last great plunge southward on I-49 to Alexandria, LA (200 miles) and join up with I-10 (the Santa Monica Freeway) eastward for the last leg home to Santa Rosa Beach.

Total Est. Time: 31 hours, 30 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 2056.01 miles

YEEEEE-HAAAAH!

Welcome home

The latest on Divine Strake

An editorial from today's Daily Spectrum:

Keep tabs on Divine Strake

The latest delay to detonate the 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb, Divine Strake, until the early months of 2007 is a strong indication that not all was well with the planned test.

Suspicions about the environmental safety from the low-yield nuclear simulation at the Nevada Test Site, 150 miles west of St. George, stemmed from questioning instigated by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and later by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. A lawsuit from the Western Shoshone Indians and Downwinders from Utah, in addition to public outcry, rightfully influenced the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Site Office to withdraw its "finding of no significant impact" in an environmental assessment of the proposed test.

The biggest open-air chemical blast ever proposed for explosion at the Nevada Test Site should not be forgotten; its intended objective as described in Department of Defense budget documents is to, "develop a planning tool that will improve the warfighter's confidence in selecting the smallest proper nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground facilities while minimizing collateral damage."

Though the federal government has since denied the claim, it is evident the examination into developing new weaponry to destroy deeply buried, underground structures is the direct course of action it wants to take and means Divine Strake is not entirely off the boards, whether it is set off in Nevada or another location. Vigilance dedicated to its testing will not relent, which means neither should the local contingency with its legitimate outcry of opposition.

It is important the public keep this issue at the forefront with fearless tenacity - as if lives depended on it - because they very well may be. Holding the government accountable for its actions is a duty not to be negated, especially when it comes to the health, safety and welfare of Southern Utahns and the state as a whole.

Changes to blogsite

Fifth Florida Infantry flag (CSA)

I felt the need to tweak my blogsite profile to reflect the changes I'm undergoing in real life. The astute reader will notice that my geography has changed and reflects where my heart now resides. The rest of me will soon follow, probably in the late fall, after I tie up loose ends and such, after nearly two decades of residency in the Utah desert. It is time to go home, at last.

Sweaty Elvis Alert

There is now in effect a general Sweaty Elvis Alert for the upcoming month of August in the Zion Canyon/southern Utah area. There are vague rumors of August 10th or thereabouts for a temporary return to his old stomping grounds.

Please be vigilant in your lookout for this character and report his whereabouts as soon as a positive sighting is made. The sooner to know where there's a Sweaty the better to avoid ever coming in contact with one. Networking is a MUST!

Hey BABY!! What's hapnin'??

They're coming after you Steve!

In response to the last blog post my good friend Steve wrote: I don't know whether Big Brother will come after you for this or not. But I wouldn't blame him much. Just in case he's watching, though: I hereby affirm that I rarely agree with Mr. David Rachlis's political sentiments. (By the way, Mr. Rachlis plays with dolls. And I can tell you more.) SKD

Well Steve my little friends don't like being made fun of one tiny bit. I'm afraid your Big Brother will be of no use in protecting you from their righteous wrath.

I'd watch out if I were you!

We no like Steve!


I have powerful friends Steve!

No status for you buddy, just permanent termination.

Besides, when I actually worked for Big Brother he was okay with my little friends. I was even allowed to bring them to work. They were just one more small facet of the bread & circuses approach to ruling the masses. Remember Steve?

My friends are angry at you!

The Defeat of the American Imperium

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah

We are witnessing a pivotal moment in world history as the forces of the American and Israeli military are being soundly defeated by a more mobile and spiritually dedicated enemy. Population demographics and the ability of common people to obtain effective weapons against tyrannical super power armies has leveled the playing field in the fight against Leviathan.

This defeat is already one of the most expensive military adventures, in life and treasure, ever attempted by this government. Not only has it been an utter failure tactically but has destabilized a whole region of the world and earned, for each of us, enmity and hatred from the rest of humanity. Can anyone blame them?

Jihad is a spiritual battle that has been resurrected in the 21st century to avenge the evil crimes committed against God by the Infidel. This vital component of faith and righteous belief gives them an edge in battle over the soft and lukewarm secularist invaders who thought this was gonna be as easy as playing a video game. How wrong they were.

I earnestly pray for the defeat of the American and Israeli armies. I hope that it will be a first step in returning this country to a humble republic, not an Empire bent on controlling the lives and resources of those who inhabit distant shores. Let us again be a beacon of freedom and liberty to the rest of the world.

If this is truly a Christian based country how can we condone death and destruction in our name, as they use our confiscated wealth to kill and maim the innocent? A Christian country? Yeah right.

"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues!" - Revelation 18:4

Let's hear it for Hezbollah! Sic semper tyrannis!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/world/middleeast/28arabs.html

P.S. I wonder if this blog will be detected in a data mine owned by Big Brother? Hello Dad!

On the Beach

I just got another roll of film developed from Florida and wanted to share more vacation shots. (You can click on them and they grow bigger).

Beach walk


Gulf of Mexico


Beach town, USA


Out in the boonies----yeeeee-haah!


Florida fun

Yertle the Turtle

Today after watching King Shrub on TV, during lunch, I was immediately reminded of a poem by Dr. Suess titled Yertle the Turtle, which symbolizes, for me, the current American Imperium and its bloated ambitions of Empire.

I obtained several beautiful hardbound copies of the good doctor's books recently, at a Florida thrift store, which included Yertle the Turtle and then proceeded to read some of them to Connie, curled up on a couch. A very romantic evening indeed for me, sharing the canon of Suess with the one you love. What could possibly be better?

On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.

They were... until Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough.
That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

You'll love the ending. It will be ours too.

Mountains of Florida

On a recent fossil hunting trip, in far northern Florida, we stumbled upon the highest point in the state, and, of course, I needed my picture taken there. This mountainous region was rural and rolling country, a most pleasantly quaint corner of Dixie. The barbeque in nearby Alabama tasted smoky sweet and slightly burnt with corn on the cob that was the soggiest I've ever encountered. I highly recommend the place, just order beans and rice as your side instead.

At 345 feet Britton Hill is the lowest high point out of all the 50 states. The next lowest high point is owned by Delaware with a staggering peak jutting 448 feet above sea level. The other three states with high points below 1000 feet include Louisiana, Mississippi and Rhode Island. Happy Mountaineering kids!

Living With War

I just picked up Neil Young's new album Living With War and must say it packs quite a wallop. I was especially moved by the opening words to the title track, which reflect much of the turbulence in my soul concerning this evil war and the tacit complicity I share in murder and mayhem.

I'm living with war everyday

I'm living with war in my heart everyday

I'm living with war right now

And when the dawn breaks I see my fellow man

And on the flat-screen we kill and we're killed again

And when the night falls, I pray for peace

Try to remember peace (visualize)

I join the multitudes

I raise my hand in peace

I never bow to the laws of the thought police

I take a holy vow

To never kill again

To never kill again

I'm living with war in my heart

I'm living with war in my heart in my mind

I'm living with war right now

Deep Down in Dixie

I've just returned to the baking heat of the Utah desert after a wonderful and enlightening trip in the CSA (Confederate States Of America). It was long overdue. I was reconnected with so many fundamental things that I hold dear to my heart including a profound sense of fellowship and belonging amongst my fellow Southerners. I am now, at this moment, making plans to return.

Den I wish I was in Dixie,

Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!

In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to lib and die in Dixie;

Away, away, away down south in Dixie,

Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

I would like to thank my God above for revealing the varied ways of my nature and how to better use them to serve His purposes. I know in my heart of hearts that returning home is a big first step.

I also wish to thank Connie, the love of my life, for hosting this journey and opening her arms so wide.

I'll be home soon dear-----you just keep the porch light on, ya heah?

Cypress swamp

Gaskin, FL

UGA attacks an Auburn player

Confederate Monument in Marianna, FL

Fern floored Florida forest (say that fast)

Or as Muddy Waters once sang:

Yes, I'm goin' down in Florida,

where the sun shines damn near every day

Well, well I'm goin' down in Florida,

where the sun shines damn near every day

Yeah, I'll take my woman out on the beach fellas 'n,

and sit down on the sand and play

Yeah, well I think I'll go down in Gainesville,

just to see an old friend of mine

Well, I believe I'll cut down in Gainesville,

oh, just to see an' old buddy of mine

Well, you know if we're not too busy,

I believe that I'm gonna drop over in Uberry sometime

(spoken:Let's go back to Florida

Let's go back down to Florida,

where the sun shines)

Yeah, I believe I'm gonna leave tomorrow,

well, I'm gonna be on my way

Yes, I'm gonna have a plenty of time,

well, I don't wanna make myself late

Well, you know I believe I'll go back down in Gainesville,

and this time I'm goin' to stay

Let's rise, let's rise

Yeah, deep down in Florida,

well, well that's the place I long to be

Well, oh deep down in Florida,

well that's the place I long to be

Well, oh let me take my baby out in the backyard, in the backyard people,

and sit down under the old orange tree

Life is good!

Vacation time

This blog will be going on temporary hiatus as I am taking my summer vacation next week, back home in Dixie, along Florida's beautiful northern Gulf coast. I plan to do many fun things, like eating fresh fish, pink grapefruits, backwoods barbecue (maybe in Alabama) and lots of boiled peanuts.

Since the Sunshine State is really just one large piece of misplaced African limestone I have bought a guidebook on where to fossil hunt and plan to bring home magnificent specimens of prehistoric mammals, reptiles and sharks.

I will be sending some of you postcards from the many alligator farms and snake-i-toriums I plan to visit and promise to bring home salt-water-taffy and sea shells for my desert dwelling friends and neighbors. Happy July ya'll!

The lowdown on Divine Strake

Let's keep the desert QUIET!

The following link is to a detailed article about the bomb testing that is proposed to begin again in the Nevada desert west of here. It also lays out the strategic, social and environmental implications of the recent Divine Strake controversy and the U.S. government's insistence to push on for more testing.

This is very important reading for those of us living directly downwind of these proposed explosions. Very important indeed!

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt204.html

Tyranny is here

The following column by Chris Floyd echoes what I've been saying to my intimates of late, that we here in 'Murica have crossed the Rubicon and now live under a clear and unabashed tyranny. It is Germany after the Riechstag fire.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/floyd/floyd12.html

Dusk in Zion's

It's an ominous sign of the evening to come when you see the Roto-Rooter truck parked in front of the restaurant where you work. Add to that a state law that forbids the serving of alcohol until the polls close at 8:00 (Who knew it was an election day?) and I was more than glad to volunteer to leave early when it proved painfully slow and one of us had to be let go. Instead I stayed awhile and took some pictures of what I call Bit & Spur moments.

Genevieve's wings were a flapping.

Squeezin' by Ten Bears to give her papa a flower.

Carlito and brother Christopher, who live on the grounds of the Bit & Spur, wanted to show me how big their prize rooster was getting, which they've raised from an egg. They are natural born hams, who always make for good photos which I then give to their madre. They named him Rogee.

Carlito & Chistopher

Smoke & rain

Christopher & Rogee

Dog daze of summer

Unsettled skies over Zion's

There are three major fires burning here in southern Utah that have made the skies murky and smoky tasting in the 100+ degree heat. A monster high pressure cell is slowly moving eastward and sucking Mexican tropical moisture northward, which could well splatter us with mud filled droplets intermittently for the next few days.

Hooray, we'll take what we can get!

It is time to be grateful for such inventions as air-conditioning and ice machines. I hope ya'll are staying cool as well, 'cause we're coping quite well......in our fiery hell........for the moment.

That is as long as they don't turn the power off again, lawd a mercy---cain I git a witness?

Dog dazed.

Global warming has its doubters. For real?

Uh-oh Mr. Gore!

Just another set of opinions on the unknowable. Thought I'd throw it into the ring for your amusement.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/harris061206.htm

We have 150 years of temperature records to base our assumptions on, which for a planet that is 4.5 billion years old, a statistical sampling so miniscule as to be utterly laughable. I personally think that the behavior of the sun is the most important component in climate change, but also admit that I haven't a clue as to the scientific method required to arrive at the truth of what I think. It is UNKNOWABLE!

Why can't humans be humble enough to realize that there are many things, in our known universe, that we can't predict or control? To know how the atmosphere of a planet is going to behave in the near future and predict with certainty what this will do to human life is nothing short of arrogant hubris pure and simple. I refuse to scare little children with this nonsense.

It is kinda like trying to describe what God looks like or as Shakespeare so penetratingly wrote 400 years ago:

But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.

Well said bard.

By the way, the most excellent Utah Shakespeare Festival, held annually in Cedar City, starts this coming week on June 22nd. Ya'll come see a play or two if you get the chance.A very cool dude.

Trouble in Paradise

Roadside bombs in Springdale?

The front page of today's local newspaper featured an article about our local police chief here in Zion Canyon, the beloved Kurt Wright, who recently attended an Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings training. It was sponsored by the Dept. of Homeland Security at an Orwellian sounding place called the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center in New Mexico. The article opens:

SPRINGDALE - If you asked Springdale Police Chief Kurt Wright two months ago what he thought of a backpack left on a shuttle bus bench, Wright would have replied that a tourist went off and left it.

Now, after going through incident response bomb training, Wright said even in quiet Zion Canyon, a backpack left behind should be handled with caution as it could contain a bomb.

So this is what we've come to here in our earthly red rock paradise: bombs posing as backpacks on national park shuttle buses. The very thought of it keeps me gripped with terror. Now even on your peaceful vacation a hostile horde of potential "enemies" may be lurking just beneath the surface of your placid recreation, waiting for the chance to blow you sky high with an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).

It's beginning to sound like a ride on the Zion Canyon shuttle could now be as deadly as a trip through Baghdad or Jerusalem. No wonder all the cops I see are sweating in the 100 degree heat under heavy protective vests. It is amazing to me how such a violent and hostile situation could have spread all the way up into Zion Canyon from the Middle East in no time flat. What new threat will these dastardly "terrorists" cook up next? Put on the Bat-signal!!!

I say thank goodness for Chief Wright's training. I felt so much safer once I put the newspaper down, and took another sip of coffee, reflecting on just how much I want and need their protection to save me from "the enemies" of freedom, justice, truth and democracy.

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060606/NEWS01/606060308/1002

Where are the Christians?

Would He approve?

As many of you know I have been on a tear lately about the unwavering support shown by the majority of Christians in this country for the unjust warfare being waged by the U.S. government. I found a great talk given by Laurence Vance last week which addresses this issue in a very informative way. A key passage:

Politics or no politics – the war in Iraq is an unconstitutional, unnecessary, immoral, senseless, unjust, and unscriptural undertaking. It is unconstitutional because only Congress has the authority to declare war. It is unnecessary because Iraq was no threat to the United States. It is immoral because it was based on lies. It is unjust because it is not defensive. It is senseless because over 2,400 U.S. soldiers have died in vain. But this war is also unscriptural, and, because I am a Christian – a conservative evangelical Christian – I intend this to be the focus of my remarks.

The percentage of Americans who identify their religion as Christianity is higher than that needed in Congress to pass a constitutional amendment or override a presidential veto. The percentage of members of Congress who identify themselves as Christian is even higher. But as we have now passed the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, support for the war among Christian Americans continues, funding for the war by a Christian Congress continues, and justification for the war by a Christian president continues. And we wonder why Muslims hate us?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance81.html

Amerika is as free as a prison

The good guys. On our behalf. God love 'em.

Today as I went to my local credit union to deposit checks and cash from recent tour activity I noticed a sign on the counter from the Department of Homeland Security declaring that henceforth all established accounts would now require a valid photo I.D. to qualify for acceptance, and that all previous accounts not complying with this new requirement would soon be asked to do so. Failure to produce government required photo I.D. would result in the forfeiture of said account. The sign went on to state that the credit union strongly believed in the sanctity of my private information and a securely safe military dictatorship to keep me protected from terrorists and illegal "aliens". Reading that sign gave me the deepest sense of relief and comfort. Thank God for your help massa! Oh lawd thank ye massa!

What would we do without these guys? I'm so glad that they are fully inserted between me and the financial institution I've chosen to do business with. I really won't be satisfied until they start sleeping with me. You know, cuddled up close. Spooning with Alberto Gonzales. Hoy, hoy, HOY!

Oh Mr. Chertoff!!!!

I love you too Beamis!