Settling Down

After a whirlwind month of activities, and jumping through my ass to accomplish all that had to be done, I am slowly settling back down, and I hope I will have more of an opportunity to write a few words every now and then. I know this is Friday and you might be asking yourselves why I am posting pictures today instead of Wednesday. I don’t know. Get over it and enjoy them on Friday. If you are wondering, Wednesday, I put the final touches on getting out of Florida, loaded up the little car with 214,000 miles on it, and hit the back-country roads and drove 370 miles to my new locale. I was worried about getting run over if I had taken the interstate, so I risked it all for the squirrelly wet and narrow Georgia back-country roads and reached my destination in one piece.

I’m not as close to the water as I was, but it is still close enough to drive to. So my pictures might be taking on a new flavor as the scenery has changed by driving north a hundred miles or so. So, as usual, take a look, leave me a comment, tell all your friends, (and I mean it – ALL OF THEM!). And if you don’t like them – tell me what you don’t like so I can work on making them better. Make sense?

Love of a Nation

By blood, we are immersed in love of you.
The youth lose their heads for your sake.
I come to you and my heart finds rest.
Away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake.
I forget the throne of Delhi
when I remember the mountain tops of my Afghan land.
If I must choose between the world and you,
I shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own.

Afghan poet Ahmad Shah Durrani

Please Explain

I have been

assaulted

scratched

gouged

hit

cheated on

lied to

abandoned

hurt

bankrupted

accused

But I am still here. Why?

Still Fucked

A little while ago I was chatting with a friend and the subject of my blog’s name came up, or rather the url for my blog, rafifuck. Well, the day I created this blog my life seemed like it was pretty fucked up. I was dealing with some rage issues, as well as anti-social issues and some depression. Bottomline, I was not a happy camper.

But six months later, life has changed. I’m not as mad, I’m still anti-social and on occasion I find myself dragging my body through a bout with depression. I discovered that I could be creative with words and people would on occasion read what I had created. My future has been clarified where it was rather muddy before. And I met an angel who drug me out of the hole where I was sitting. Of course, she might be a figment of my imagination considering my mental state. There are other changes, but I can’t think of them right now.

So, this friend suggested that I start a new blog and name it something different because we all change and there is nothing wrong with starting a new blog.

I pondered this idea for about a month, or was it two months? While some things are good now, others are still bad, and even other bad things have helped fill the void caused by me doing better. So, I guess there will be no new blog anytime in the near future. But don’t worry, if I do create a new blog I will provide a link so y’all can find the sane Rafael.

Wednesday Pictures (redux?)

As I mentioned last week when I posted pictures, I was kind of lazy and did not feel like posting pictures that I had taken with my Canon camera, but instead posted pictures that I had taken with my iPhone. Well, this week I am again a little lazy and am posting the Canon pictures that I took and which are very similar to the pictures I posted last week. However, this will give you the opportunity to compare pictures that I have taken with my iPhone and with my Canon camera.

High Flight

    Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
    And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
    Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
    of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
    You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
    High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
    I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
    My eager craft through footless halls of air....

    Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
    I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
    Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
    And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
    The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
    Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

Flash Fiction Friday #28

The sheriff turned his 4×4 police truck out onto the road leading out-of-town. The rain was still falling as the afternoon light faded with evening approaching. The day had been excruciating and long. His body ached and his muscles were tired. Since receiving the call from Harlan that morning about the dead girl, the sheriff had been coordinating with the medical examiner and the detectives, and of course he had to talk to the reporters and those who just wanted to know what had happened.

He had been in law enforcement since he had come home from the war in Viet Nam. Harlan and he had gone together and come home together. Harlan returned to his family’s farm, and he joined the sheriff’s department. Perhaps it was the opportunity to continue carrying a gun that interested him. For the last 20 years, he had been the sheriff.

This crime was the worst he had ever seen in the town. For the most part the biggest trouble he had to deal with were drunk cowboys. There was the Englishman from Denbighshire that time who got belligerent and kept telling everyone to “bugger off”. But never a cold-blooded murder.

But now he was driving out to Harlan’s place to check up on him. Harlan had been through a lot the last few years, and this morning seemed to have been a severe shock to his system. He and Harlan had grown up together, and he would be remiss if he did sit with Harlan awhile.

Close.

She is close.

My heart feels her.

My brain though won’t accept it until I see her.

But her touch is near.

My body feels her fingers reaching out for me.

Her lips brushing against my lips.

Heart and mind slowing down.

My angel is coming for me.

Another Hump Day Photo Set

Here are a few pictures from my trip to North Carolina. I’m lazy, so you are getting to see the ones I took with my phone. Next week, I’ll show you the ones I took with my camera. As always, let me know what you think and tell everyone else to come take a look.

Hohenlinden

On Linden, when the sun was low,
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow,
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

But Linden saw another sight
When the drum beat at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed,
Each horseman drew his battle blade,
And furious every charger neighed
To join the dreadful revelry.

Then shook the hills with thunder riven,
Then rushed the steed to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of heaven
Far flashed the red artillery.

But redder yet that light shall glow
On Linden's hills of stainèd snow,
And bloodier yet the torrent flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

'Tis morn, but scarce yon level sun
Can pierce the war clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank and fiery Hun
Shout in their sulphurous canopy.

The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave,
And charge with all thy chivalry!

Few, few shall part where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding-sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.

by: Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)