{"id":438,"date":"2017-10-27T03:24:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T03:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/?p=438"},"modified":"2017-10-27T14:22:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T14:22:00","slug":"14-you-musta-gone-crazy-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/?p=438","title":{"rendered":"14. You musta gone crazy out there"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the high deserts of New Mexico<\/p>\n<p>Night rider\u2019s lament:<\/p>\n<p>Why do you ride for your money<br \/>\nWhy do you rope for short pay<br \/>\nYou ain&#8217;t a getting&#8217; nowhere and you&#8217;re losin&#8217; your share<br \/>\nYou must have gone crazy out there<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jerry Jeff Walker - NIGHT RIDER&#039;S LAMENT (LIVE 1993).MPG\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f7xw1Q7hwco?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There are some things I just can\u2019t explain. Like &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><em>Why did you leave the Bench, your role as a Judge? Why would you walk away from a secure position that paid very well, with incredible power and prestige?\u00a0 Before retirement age, long before the big benefits kicked in? You didn\u2019t have to go! Why would you get rid of everything and ride around the country, alone, in an RV?\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you go back? You can make good money doing mediations!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where do you live?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When are you coming back to Florida?\u00a0 Where are you going next? \u00a0Where will you be in February? Where are going when you leave here?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A motorcycle friend had a T-shirt with the emblem of a Goldwing.\u00a0 Under the Wing, it read \u201cIf I have to explain, you wouldn\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is the best I can do today to \u201cexplain.\u201d Right now my RV is parked in western New Mexico at City of Rocks State Park, south of Silver City, NM. This is the view from my kitchen window.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-439\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2413-e1509073230287.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2448\" height=\"3264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2413-e1509073230287.jpg 2448w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2413-e1509073230287-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2413-e1509073230287-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2448px) 100vw, 2448px\" \/> Early yesterday I saw several jack rabbits; the low rays of the sun illuminated their ridiculously large ears that rotated like large radio antennas. (Very Large Array on not so large rabbits). This morning, as Misty and I were out walking, we visited with a delightful Canadian couple who had stopped here for a few nights as they travel in a conversion van.\u00a0 Gordon and Ginny are close to my age (I\u2019m 70).\u00a0 They are bright-eyed, engaged with life, and enthusiastic about their shared passion for birds.\u00a0 And they are respectful, humorous, and gentle with each other.\u00a0 Still &#8211; after 20 years!\u00a0 Gordon volunteered that they share \u201ca great partnership.\u201d Shortly after we talked, they rode away, heading to southeast Arizona to look for more birds, as they amble back to British Columbia. \u00a0We swapped contact information, and I hope to visit with next summer in British Columbia. Check out his amazing photography at his website, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.f8at125.com\">www.f8at125.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy do you rope for short pay? \u201c Why do I prefer to ramble, observe and listen, instead of being fully engaged in the legal world?\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019ve gone crazy out here.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a good crazy.\u00a0 Sunshine to saunter in, in this forever-changing \u00a0wide-open world of the high desert.\u00a0 A world in which I can see forever. \u00a0Further than my eye can see.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-445\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0193-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3872\" height=\"2592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0193-2.jpg 3872w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0193-2-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0193-2-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0193-2-1024x685.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3872px) 100vw, 3872px\" \/> So from the mesa top, I look southward til my eyes get tired; then I like to pretend to mark that furthest spot.\u00a0 Take a break, then begin looking southward from there. Each morning I sit to watch the sun rise behind the mountains out the rear windows of my small motor home. The west side of the mountains is black\/purple as the sky behind it begins to lighten.\u00a0 Soon above the mountain peak, there\u2019s a subtle plume of blue in the orange\/pink sky.\u00a0 Something like a cloud wisp in the cloudless sky.\u00a0 As the sky gets brighter with the sun inching closer to the edge, the blue\/purple plume undulates slightly.\u00a0 It looks too magical to be real, but I can\u2019t blink it away. Then the plume disappears as the sun pulls itself up over the mountain, throwing light daggers and quickly changing everything, But I have another appointment tomorrow, just before sunrise, to see that the plume reappears.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, I spent time with special friends, Marion and Jamie Newton as they worked on the annual fund raiser for KURU, the small, local radio station in Silver City, NM. \u00a0Jamie interviewed on the air a fascinating couple &#8211; Phil and Kathy Dahl-Bredine &#8211; to discuss their book, <em>Milpa, from seeds to salsa<\/em>, and their vital work of sharing with the world the wisdom of the indigenous people in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico.\u00a0 Like the book, the interview was bilingual \u2013 Spanish and English.\u00a0 Marion and I listened to the interview on her car radio, parked in the shade with the windows down. Yesterday I rode back into Silver City to meet with Phil and Kathy.\u00a0 They have lived in southern Mexico for 17 years, and their respect for the people and the culture is palpable.\u00a0 \u00a0Over a glass of iced tea at a restaurant known as The Toad, Phil and Kathy talked of their work with the team who wrote <em>Milpa. \u00a0<\/em>Their book, of coffee table size, <em>\u00a0<\/em>explores through a blend of essays, recipes and documentary photography how the ancient agricultural knowledge and the wealth of 1000 year-old seeds and planting practices still in use among the Mixtec peoples of southern Mexico can help meet the worldwide ecological and food crises of today. I&#8217;ll do a separate post with more details about the book. This is their Facebook page <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/milpafromseedtosalsa\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/milpafromseedtosalsa<\/a> and their blog is at <a href=\"http:\/\/sustainablemilpa.blogspot.com\/\">http:\/\/sustainablemilpa.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Like me, Phil and Kathy are no spring chickens.\u00a0 They have seven grown children state-side, and they have lived primarily in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico for 17 years. They leave the U.S. in two days, going back to southern Mexico, near the Guatemala border.\u00a0 They will travel by bus.\u00a0 Not a big motor home or a chartered bus.\u00a0 They will take the ordinary bus that ordinary Mexicans use to travel across their country.\u00a0 Like the people they will travel with, Phil and Kathy are both ordinary and extraordinary.<\/p>\n<p>City of Rocks State Park is one of my favorites and I return here almost every year. The views are varied \u2013 long vistas across rolling plains, punctuated by mountains.\u00a0 Nightly, there\u2019s a jaw-dropping star party in the ink-black sky.\u00a0 Silver City, a 45 minute drive to the north, is a fascinating, eclectic place with a wide range of people. \u00a0I have close friends in the area.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-447\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2446-e1509074529551.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2448\" height=\"3264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2446-e1509074529551.jpg 2448w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2446-e1509074529551-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2446-e1509074529551-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2448px) 100vw, 2448px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-449\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2449-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2449-1.jpg 3264w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2449-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2449-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2449-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3264px) 100vw, 3264px\" \/> The Gila Cliff Dwellings can be a day\u2019s outing. \u00a0Yet as I sit in the quiet, writing, I hear rocks crunch under the tires of a lone truck heading out. The sounds of leaving piqued my interest \u2013 where are they going? My intrigue with the sound suggests I\u2019m getting ready to go, too, to see what\u2019s around the bend.<\/p>\n<p>OK, but &#8211; really, \u201cWhy do you rope for short pay?\u201d Every day I speak with kind people and experience Mother Nature. Every day I have time to sit, without words, and look out the window.\u00a0 I write and most days I take a nap. Misty and I spend time outside, exploring.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-453\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2479-1-e1509113903285.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2448\" height=\"3264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2479-1-e1509113903285.jpg 2448w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2479-1-e1509113903285-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2479-1-e1509113903285-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2448px) 100vw, 2448px\" \/> Yes &#8212; expensive things break, I get stranded, I get lost.\u00a0 Some days I get down on myself for not \u201caccomplishing\u201d something. \u00a0Yet life is good, people are kind, and Nature is awe-inspiring.<\/p>\n<p>She asked him why does he ride for his money<br \/>\nWhy does he rope for short pay<br \/>\nHe ain\u2019t getting\u2019 nowhere and he\u2019s losin\u2019 his share<br \/>\nHe must have gone crazy out there<br \/>\nBut she\u2019s never seen the Northern Lights<br \/>\nNever seen a hawk on the wing<br \/>\nNever seen Spring hit the Great Divide<br \/>\nAnd never heard Ol\u2019 Camp Cookie sing<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-446\" src=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0325.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3872\" height=\"2592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0325.jpg 3872w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0325-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0325-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/DSC_0325-1024x685.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3872px) 100vw, 3872px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the high deserts of New Mexico Night rider\u2019s lament: Why do you ride for your money Why do you rope for short pay You ain&#8217;t a getting&#8217; nowhere and you&#8217;re losin&#8217; your share You must have gone crazy out &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/?p=438\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gypsyjudge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}