Flower Moon ponderings

Flower Moon

Tonight, Sunday morning as I'm writing this, is the full "Flower Moon" of May. Sometimes Sunday evenings can be a good time to get out on a nearby trail, despite the strong feeling of it as a strange weekly transition period. Once you're out there, the environment will create it's own energy with you. A few days ago during twilight, I spoke to a nice family of four whom I ran into on one trail. They were excited because they had just had a close up encounter with a coyote. I saw the animal as well, from a distance. I think there is a need for some simple mystery in our lives. Even if we live in an urban area, there often still is something... such as, perhaps that mountain in the distance. What's going on up there? What creatures roam free up there?


One odd bat story

I recall hiking about a year and a half ago along a mountain trail in the northernmost Santa Cruz Mountain range. It had been a hot day, and it was twilight. It was still very warm and still with no wind, and an orange sky in one direction... which graduated into a small light blue part of the sky. I recall seeing one lone bat leaving the top of a particularly tall tree line on one side of a valley ridge, and towards a taller 1,300-plus foot peak on the other side of the valley in the distance. It struck me as so strange that a bat would just take off towards such a high altitude.. at least for them. I just shrugged it off as just a fluke of nature, and perhaps the bat would turn back towards another nearby grove of trees after I had passed though. I remembered it because it was somewhat eery, and almost ethereal, to see it flapping its wings and aiming for such a lofty summit against that orange sky.

Just about two months ago, as bizarre as it may sound, I saw the same thing at roughly the same location. It had been an unusually warm day, with no winds from the Pacific, and it was early twilight. Again I saw a bat coming from one of those tall tree lines, and start to make its way toward the peak. If it did indeed continue on, it would have been well over one thousand feet above the lower valley in short time. Bats don't sour like a bird, and it would have had to just flap its way all the way across... about a mile. I just wonder what would prompt it to do that? It appeared that there would be no better prospects for insects on the other side. Would it know it's way back?


Old original movies... of remakes

I'm going off topic here, but the other evening I saw the 1941 movie 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan', which was the original for its 'Heaven Can Wait' remake in 1978. I wanted to see it because I remember how, as a young boy, I was emotionally drained by 'Heaven Can Wait'... as it didn't have the overt feel-good ending that I had hoped for. Although, that was part of the intrigue of the film. The original was a little like seeing it again with fresh eyes, as it was very similar. Some time back, I finally saw the 1935 version of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' starring Clark Gable. There had actually been two earlier Australian versions, and a 1984 version starring Mel Gibson. I had been fascinated by the more well-known 1962 film, starring Marlon Brando, when I was a child. The adventure of the high seas, mixed with great characters and cinematography.


 

Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)

For so long I wanted to know the name of this song. It's another one of those great 70s hits. I didn't even realize that it was by The Hollies. It reminds me of the open rural road, as I can remember listening to it while traveling as a child. I think, like the vast majority of Americans, there's "Americana" that I like.. and parts that I could do very well without. That song is very much in the "LIKE" category. It's a song that just resinates with the land, and time. 'The Air That I Breathe' is another one, also by the Hollies, that the same thing could be said about. Timeless. This is why, I believe, there is now a sub-trend of young adults who are discovering earlier music. 

Luciano's "vampire ring"

Although it has not been confirmed, an episode of the reality TV program 'Pawn Stars' featured what one guy claimed had been Lucky Luciano's ring. It looks occultic in style, and possibly in its meaning or purpose as well.


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