This MEMORIAL DAY The Good Life

Today, Memorial Day 2006, I hung out at South Beach-- the beach just south of the town of Crescent City.

There were quite a few folks flying large and colorful kites; hence, the beach scene was as colorful as a Seurat scene along the Seine...except that it was seaside rather than riverside, and the surfers in wetsuits on longboards took the human pageant into a more futuristic dimension.

Only for a quarter hour could I watch the holiday activity with an observer's detachment.

At length I left my gear in a pile on the beach...and I faced the waves, one by one...until I dove through one, then another and yet another...

...all the while cherishing the chill of the surf that was making my ears and head "sing".

As I reclothed on the beach I had the salty satisfaction of honoring the memory of family and friends in a special way...

which was, in feeling the scintillating goodness of being alive...

...indeed, of LIFE.

Magic Thinking Promotes Transformation

When we are children, we are encouraged through fable and fairytale to think magicly (magic thinking).

As adults we are encouraged to forego imagination, fantasy, and magic thinking.

However, in Robertson Davies' "Deptford Trilogy", a Jungian path of personal transformation requires Magic Thinking.

While Jungian therapists might, in concert with the Freudians, warn of the pitfalls of "magical thinking"...

...they possibly could fail to note that MAGIC THINKING is the
sine qua non for personal transformation.

To transform oneself...one must think magicly.

Metamorphosizing

In this darkness, I am drawn to the Light
of the circle of those
Who emit Welcoming Energy...

I am drawn to the subtle energies of those
who move to the changing flows
Of Nature's Dance and her sweet synchronicity...

In eyes-shut metamorphosis,
consuming as my 'fodder' my chrysalis protection...

in utter vulnerability...

I test my wings...

HOMECOMING in 'LALA LAND'

Here in Del Norte County at the Del Norte High School a primitive ritual takes place each Autumn at the HOMECOMING GAME.

It is not the ritual of a cross-burning;

nevertheless, the kerosene-soaked rags draped around the IRON 'W' cast into permanent tarmac suggest
Crescent City, California's

RITUAL BURNING of the 'W'

('W' for WARRIORS)

was initially forged to withstand the vicissitudes of any questioning of the

GROUPTHINK this bonding, rite-of-passage FIRE CEREMONY was meant to reinforce...and, to date, THE FORGE HAS HELD.

It is a FEAR and HATE-based FORGE...and the "authority" of the FORGE HAS REMAINED MOSTLY UNQUESTIONED these several years.

Such is HOMECOMING IN 'LALA LAND'.

MAY THE "FORCE" (not the "forge") BE WITH YOU...

Food For People; Healthcare, Too!

Do you like food the way I like food? Big portions? Indigenous cuisine? Fairly priced?

Check out the Burrito Blog @ http://www.burritoblog.com to discover a reviewer's compendium of burrito venues...and also learn how you can help the SF AIDS FOUNDATION fight HIV/AIDS.