Back to the Blog!

Okay, so, I'm back. Nice litle vacation, albeit far too brief. Was up in the northern country, in Canada and New England. Saw my first ever, real life moose - man, it was huge! I mean, we all know that they are supposed to be big, right? But this thing was enormous. Seeing pictures, or seeing it on television just does not do it any justice. That thing would have towered over me even without the antlers atop it's head, and that's while it is on all fours! It was simply amazing, and like the bears I have mentioned before, it feels like an enormous privilege to have finally seen a real one in person. Don't even remember having seen one in any zoo, or anything.

It was also entirely black, or so it appeared. I always pictured them as brown or gray, but this one looked just pure black. I was driving - this was right around the town of Jackman, Maine, just before crossing the border. Literally, perhaps ten miles away from the border. I was driving, probably too fast, and I saw this kind of strange shadow on the left side of the road, and upon slightly closer examination, was able to identify the shape of a moose - particularly the head. I was the only who saw it, so I quickly turned around, hoping not to scare it anyway, hoping it was still there. It was.

And it was huge! I don't want to keep belaboring the point, but it was just so damn big! It took me by surprise. It was still in the woods, kind of on the bottom end of a dip, when we came back and spotted it. But it began to cross the road, and once it climbed out from the sort of ditch on the side of the road and was fully on the pavement, it took us by surprise, just how enormous this thing was. It moved slowly, and stopped once fully on the road, and just stared at us. Maybe this sounds stupid, but I began to wonder what it would do if it charged.

It did not charge. Unfortunately, it just looked away and headed to the woods no the other side of the road.

No, I will not make any corny jokes about why the moose crossed the road.

But what I will say is that, unfortunately, it went too quickly for any chance to capture it on camera. Ah, well....it was still an incredible privilege to see something like that in person, since I had seen the yellow caution signs for moose crossings for many, many years, but had never actually seen one in person, until now. That alone would have made the trip memorable! An incredible memory!

In any case, the trip went by far too quickly, as stated earlier. But, it's back to the grind, right?

So, here I am. Starting up the old routine again. This is hardly the greatest entry, but I am actually excited about some of the things that are coming up. I have mentioned the continuation of the series of patriotic arrogance, and will specifically be focusing on education. So, I am excited to get that started again. Also, I finished a couple of books - rereads, actually. But these are great books! One is on Native American wisdom, and has some incredible quote and speeches, and goes a long way towards providing a decent length picture of the thinking of the first Americans, at least on an introductory level. The first time I read that book, it blew me away, and I knew that it was likely that I would be rereading it in the near future, and sure enough, I reread it recently. That will likely be a lengthy blog entry- probably a series of entries, in fact.

Another phenomenal book that I am rereading (just about finishing up, actually), and am excited to review, is yet another book by Daniel Quinn. Earlier this year, I reviewed one of his books, and since being introduced to him some years ago, I have had quite an appetite for his work. He is best known as the author of "Ishmael", but this book that I am reading, titled "The Story of B", is actually better on many levels than "Ishmael". It expands on the themes there, taking on a life of it's own. It is exciting on many levels, as a work of fiction. But the best part of it is saved for last, as there is a long essay which is supposed to be a compilation of the lectures presented by "B" in the book. Some amazing stuff there, and I am very much enjoying rereading it. It seems that this is the kind of book where I will find something new in it each time I revisit it. I'm glad to have reread it, and looking forward to writing a review of it. This, too, may end up being a series of blogs, although even if it's not, it seems to be shaping up as a lengthy blog entry.

Okay, well, that's it for now. Nice to be back and making entries again. Hope things have been well on your end (the reader's, that is), as things have been on mine, and I'll see you next time!