Skate = Joy

~ Cave_Guy ~ 19 Comments

My blades hit the ice and I am free – even though I am weaving in and out and around masses of inept humanity —

I am free

Even though I am old and rusty

I am free

You people don’t understand – you 4 or 5 better skaters out here that seem to be taunting me

I am free

You can’t contain me – you can’t diminish me

I am free

 

Thanks to my kids for dragging me down to the rink. Something happens when I get out on the ice – my spirit tends to soar, not just a little – but completely. I don’t care what anyone thinks about it—-

And to know it still happens, …. Even now, when I am feeling a bit “relicly” and a bit “used up”.

It is a cold fact that I am beat-up and in recovery mode.

But not on the ice

On frozen water

I am free.

[Disclaimer: I am a 50+ dinosaur from another age with semi-blunt skates that are half my age – I may have a diminished skill set—–but the SWAG —-oh yeah —- that is intact]

Cheers from the ice!

Do you ever yearn?

~ Cave_Guy ~ 10 Comments

I am writing again although it is slow and difficult – so here is a post from a couple years ago to hopefully hold my dwindling but faithful followers over. The flow here is so smooth and unforced – it may take a while to get back to this level.

Cave_Guy's avatarCave of Fame

Do you ever yearn?

Yearn: to have a strong desire for somebody or something, especially when the desire is tinged with sadness.

That is really what all these unrequited love songs are about.

Maybe it is all this rain gently washing away the January snow that has me in this yearning funk.

I don’t know… but the best way to deal with it-is to find some great songs and let them rain in on my soul.

There is something always pure about something that is unattainable-if you can’t get it then it follows that you can never diminish it. It stands there in all its glory and remains just out of reach.

Mix it with talent and music and magic happens.

These songs are all great and I am just scratching the surface.

Howard Jones. No one is to blame

Bonnie Raitt I can’t make you love me

Cake. The…

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Monochromatic and Moi

~ Cave_Guy ~ 9 Comments

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/monochromatic/

I go to this photo all the time – it is special – not only is it my favorite but my wife was on the riverbank with me when I took this back in 2012 –

It was the first time I did any work in manual mode with my DSLR and of course later — some gratuitous and unrefined use of Photoshop

I made it black and white and then hit it with an orange filter to give it that “old time—found in the attic” vibe.

The contrast is stark and extreme because that is how the world looks to me—-everything hits my brain like this.

It will calm down (it’s starting to slowly subside at times) – and peace is back-filling into my absent conscious.

All things change and flow – and there comes a place when a life is not bound by the constraints of time —- all is a flood.

Yeah – it is like that today

 

 

 

See you later Marie

~ Cave_Guy ~ 73 Comments

 

Sad to report that I lost my wife this morning.

We are coming up on three years since she was diagnosed and I refuse to say that she lost her battle with cancer.

She did not lose anything.

She fought, she kept her spirit and she cared for those around her more than herself.

She was an amazing woman and I am lucky to have met her – she took a wreck of a human being and made him happy.

Truly happy and truly blessed.

There is no more that a person can do in this world – and no more can be expected.

She turned the light on in my soul –

 

 

November can be a cruel month

~ Cave_Guy ~ 17 Comments

orange-sunrise45-Recovered

November can be a cruel month, but then again ….can’t they all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOn_v8yRxM

I was dreading the arrival of my least favorite month, and then I thought, why not go with it. Enjoy the season as best you can. It’s all about the orange – orange leaves, orange pumpkins and hunters all flamed up in orange.

So I did a little rework on my favorite orange photograph.

And found a great version of my favorite November song.

Here we go people.

Cheers from the cave!

My Happy Place

~ Cave_Guy ~ 8 Comments

My Happy Place

happy-place-2

classic-river-1

venus-sunset-flatwp-(2)

The top image is from today (drab autumn) – it affects the mood of the shot but not my feeling towards it. This place makes me happy in any season and any weather. Makes me feel like I should be tracking an elk or something.

The second is from last winter – quiet and serene.

The last is where I fell in love with this spot a couple years ago – spiritual?

Seeing the three together is interesting – I need to add a spring photo so I can have the whole set.

All from my own personal happy place on the Hudson River in N.Y.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/

Still Here

~ Cave_Guy ~ 24 Comments

Standing on my grave on a cool fall day while the sun warms my face.

A strange feeling – not sad or fatal – but weirdly calming – none of us gets away with tricking destiny.

We coerce and tempt – we punch and pull – we struggle and scream.

But it comes anyway.

perspective-2

Wait, … hang about …..  hold on a minute……

We are still here

This not over – the struggle part continues – the dark days – the drama – the conflict – yeah, … all in there.

But the ink is not dry.

We are skipping ahead and reading a few lines.

We get what we choose or we take what is left —- there is no third way.

This will be the end – but damn it – let’s make the remaining pages something special.

Let’s leave nothing undone.

Let’s live!

These are my thoughts after meeting the caretaker at the cemetery and picking out the resting place for my wife and I. As you may know if you follow me – my wife has been battling cancer and it has not been going our way. The diagnosis was dire two years ago – and nothing has stopped it from progressing.

Here we are– making final arrangements. Not because we want to put them into action, but more so we can clear them from our minds.

Anybody who faces this comes to this – this point of “giving in” to all the possibilities that are coming at you.

It’s not “giving up” —– giving up means waiting around for the bad to happen…….we are not waiting , we are doing.

We are looking this bastard right in the face and not turning away.

We are still here.

Blood Moon and Change

~ Cave_Guy ~ 11 Comments

blood-moon

We had this awesome eclipse last night at the cave. I took a picture as it started with clouds and a picture nearing the peak without clouds…..Why not put them together? There are no rules to photoshop—there are no rules to blog posts—-Just two honest pics combining to make it look more like it felt.

The truth is out there.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/change-2015/

And then something happened:

Change

The moment you look at something and it is different

The thing itself is the same but as the Dude would say:

“new shit has come to light”

Dodo

~ Cave_Guy ~ 11 Comments

dodo1

The Dodo

I followed this blog from Mauritius because it seemed such a cool and exotic place — in the middle of nowhere — out past Madagascar (which seems like the true edge of exotic).  — No — keep going, there is more.

I looked and looked and gave up trying to re-find this blog that I am pretty sure I still follow —- sadly— I can’t get back. So this country in the middle of nowhere has a blog on it that is lost to me right now.

If you see this, nice blog person – please click me a like or something and I will visit.

Anyway

I just finished “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson (excellent book! — A cave 5 star rating!). And it has a bit about Mauritius because that was the home of the infamous extinct dodo bird.

So – I did a sketch.

I wanted to show the respect I have for this animal — not cool that it got screwed over.

Sailors just clubbed everything in the 1600’s — I know there were no resorts that served cold drinks with fancy straws in them at that time… but …. Seriously—– you just wipe this creature off the face of the earth?

And to add insult to injury – you gave it a name that makes it sound stupid.

This is not cool.

This bird was just chillin’ on a nice exotic location. It was not bothering anyone.

Why does history have to be so cruel?

This is my part to right that wrong.

I aim to make it more detailed and add color.

I also want to make it look respectable.

I feel some connection to this bird that is based on absolutely nothing – but is there nonetheless.

Squeeze-fest 2015

~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

The best country/western band to ever come out of England.

“The past has been bottled and labeled with love“

Squeeze was new wave because the band was born in that era.

That is the only reason – at heart they are pure country.

Take out the cornfield and put in a semi-detached cul de sac neighborhood.

Replace sweet tea with hot tea.

Remove the coyote and add a confused and malnourished stray cat.

These guys sing about where they are with humor and fatalism like no band before or after.

And (just like great country music) – they are not singing to us – they are us.

Us amplified in a poetic and tragic way.

Yeah, right in your kitchen

Jools Holland banging at the keyboards almost looks like he is ready to get his own show!

His talent is great but his real gift is getting the best out of those around him —Yes, I am talking Difford and Tilbrook here. One of my favorites* (I almost spelled it favourites) of all time is ArgyBargy

ArrgyBargy is not a perfect record – it has flaws – but like an old friend that you are always happy to see – I love this record.

Love and hate sharing an awkward bath together – with bubbles!

This band works on me on a few different levels.

They always cut through to the humorous core.

Mostly, they make me feel better – and feeling better is what this blog thing is all about, so one more and cheers from the cave!

Did you notice the western theme? Huh?

*Favorite – I often feel sorry for kids from other countries with a different language who come to America.

As an English kid – it was: Favourite is now Favorite and watch out for Colour, drop the u there too. Also——don’t ask where the toilet is, ask to use the bathroom —America is a land of many toilets but they don’t like the word—-also, forget about getting a good cup of tea anywhere and drink cold soda—–Any Questions? Good — Go get ‘em!

Note: If you keep reading my blog, you will get my whole life story- which is reluctantly doled out in tiny scraps here and there.