February 27, 2022
The Golden Isles, Georgia (2016)
From FB:
“Me and my Michael Myers yard work coveralls. I like to sneak up on people while wearing them and then stand deathly still at the corner of their peripheral vision. With a machete…”
Havana, Cuba (2009)
From FB:
“Warball is a game our old Coast Guard Attaché introduced to Havana several years ago. It’s a combination of water polo, wrestling, and rugby.
People have been known to get their teeth knocked out, as well as suffering the obligatory scratches, bruises, and twisted fingers. I myself had my eye busted open from an errant elbow.
I finally got to play with the new Marine Detachment. It was 7 AM, the air temperature was about 65, but the water was fine.”
SDSU
From FB:
“San Diego State University, probably sometime in the mid to late 50s. My Dad was the first person from his family to graduate from college, thanks to the G.I. Bill.”
The Chess Player
“His queen sits aloof near an unoccupied square
A sole remaining pawn is out of position
Unable to provide any protection
While an ebony knight hovers
Catty corner
As if in amused observation.
He stares at the computer screen
And hears the sudden metallic buzzing
As the air conditioner comes to life.
A small fan blows cool air on his forearm
And then he hears
Rather than feels
The cool air
Push its way through the duct work.
He rubs the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb.
And contemplates his next move
But he has none.
In the quiet
In the dark
On a small island of silence and order
Beneath the turmoil and derangement above
He feels
What he imagines
Is a small approximation
Of happiness
Alone
By himself
He can think
He can be
He can conceal himself
From the pandemonium
Of life
Beyond he stairwell.
Empty vodka bottles
Orange plastic cylinders with white caps
Unread hardcover books stacked upon hardcover books
White plastic bags filled with clothes
Credit card receipts with charges
He doesn’t recall
Or doesn’t understand
From places he has never been.
He ponders the board
But has no next move.
This place was once called Terminus
The end of the line
Yet
Truth be told
He doesn’t even live in Terminus
Merely outside
On the perimeter
Like some exoplanet
Circling a star
Of terrible power and heat
That consumes all
Who are drawn
Too close to its orbit.
He stares at the board.
But he has no next move.
He thinks of what his neighbors say
About the enclave in which he lives:
“All the pain that money can buy.”
He recalls hearing that once
In a song
Or album title
And mirthlessly sniggers to himself
As if wishing
He could have warned
His younger self
Of the misfortune
That awaited him.
He stares at the board
But he has no next move.
When all is quiet
And footsteps and voices
No longer resound through the house
He climbs the steps
Out of his covert
And into
The outer air
Into
The world
He has fastidiously shunned.
Climbing another flight of steps
He quietly enters the room
Where she lies
Sleeping
Or not sleeping
Or pretending to sleep
(He is never certain.)
Crawling in
And lying in silence
Next to her
He stares at the ceiling
And calculates the odds
To the most precise point
Of how he has ended up
Here.
And after so doing
His mind drifts off
And he sleeps
And dreams a dream
Of being a young man once again
With the world in front of him
And he dreams
He has just won a great prize
And all are amazed
At what he has done
Most especially himself
Who has never believed
He would ever hold such a thing
Of astonishing power
And beauty.
Yet
As he looks down
At the prize he had thought he’d won
What he sees there
In his hands
Is nothing
But wisps of acrid black smoke
That leave him only with
The ephemeral feeling
Of having lost something
That he’s not even begun
To comprehend.”
Terminalia
From FB:
“Terminalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated on February 23 in honor of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. Terminalia was celebrated on the last day of the old Roman year, from which it derives its name.
The statue of Terminus was merely a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between properties. His worship is said to have been instituted by Numa who ordered that every one should mark the boundaries of his landed property by stones to be consecrated to Jupiter Terminalis, and at which every year sacrifices were to be offered at the festival of the Terminalia. On the festival the two owners of adjacent property crowned the statue with garlands and raised a crude altar, on which they offered up some corn, honeycombs, and wine, and sacrificed a lamb or a suckling pig. They concluded with singing the praises of the god. The public festival in honor of this god was celebrated at the sixth milestone on the road towards Laurentum doubtless because this was originally the extent of the Roman territory in that direction.
The central Terminus of Rome (to which all roads led) was the god’s ancient shrine on the Capitoline Hill. The temple of Jupiter, king of the gods, had to be built around it (with a hole in the ceiling as Terminus demanded open-air sacrifices).
Terminalia involved practices which can be regarded as a reflection or “yearly renewal” of foundational rituals. Neighboring families would garland their respective sides of the marker and make offerings to Terminus at an altar. Ovid identifies these, again, as crops, honeycombs, and wine. The marker itself would be drenched in the blood of a sacrificed lamb or pig. There followed a communal feast and hymns in praise of Terminus.
Those authors who gave the credit to Numa explained his motivation as the prevention of violent disputes over property. Plutarch further states that, in keeping with Terminus’s character as a guarantor of peace, his earliest worship did not involve blood sacrifices.”
February 21, 2022
From FB:
“February 21st marks the Roman public festival of Feralia when the spirits of the dead were believed to be abroad in the world, hovering above their graves. Citizens were instructed to bring offerings to the tombs of their dead ancestors which consisted of at least “an arrangement of wreaths, a sprinkling of grain and a bit of salt, bread soaked in wine and violets scattered about.”
Ovid tells of a time when Romans, in the midst of war, neglected Feralia, which prompted the spirits of the departed to rise from their graves in anger, howling and roaming the streets. After this event, tribute to the tombs were then made and the ghastly hauntings ceased.
To indicate public mourning, marriages of any kind were prohibited on the Feralia, and Ovid urged mothers, brides, and widows to refrain from lighting their wedding torches. Magistrates stopped wearing their insignia and any worship of the gods was prohibited as it “should be hidden behind closed temple doors; no incense on the altar, no fire on the hearth.”
The Golden Isles, Georgia (2017)
From FB:
“When we were looking at homes before we moved down here, I said I wanted a house with either a pool, creek/river access, or a marsh view – in that order. We got an amazing house with an amazing marsh view, but I spent hours studying ariel views of the house and property trying to determine if there was some way to get to water. Today was the culmination of all of that study and preparation, that’s been developing for the past week and a half.
I had finally been able to see what the creek behind our house looked like, both a low tide and high tide. The tides down here are extreme, with differences in 6′ to 8′. I knew high tide today was around 3 PM and it’d be 6’9″. I figured that was plenty of water for me, especially since I’d seen it float some heavy boards I’d laid down to get across the marsh and creek.
Having been unable to get a good deal on some used kayaks through Craigslist before today, I decided the paddleboard would have to do.
Success. I am content.”
Fort Benning, Georgia (1994)
Taken this day 28 years ago.
Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry (Training)
The Drill Sergeant on the right was an E-7 who was hardly ever there. When he did show up, I could smell booze on his breath.
The Drill Sergeant on the left was an E-6 named Staff Sergeant Mudd. He was pure evil. Reminded me of Freddy Kreuger.
Song Of Ajax 