Dubuque is a fascinating old city with lots of character perched high on the limestone bluffs overlooking the mighty Mississippi. (The river is quite high now, too.) In the image below, you’re looking north from Eagle Point Park. The opposite bank is Wisconsin. While we were standing there, we saw three pelicans fly by. Yes, pelicans. They migrate through here, and on other visits I’ve seen large flocks of them.
That is one BIG river, folks!
The only “incident” of the day occurred while I was out to dinner with my wife, her sister and brother-in-law (the superintendent of schools in Dubuque), and her brother and his wife, who’d driven up from Atlanta. In response to a perfectly innocent question from the brother about whether “Santa Fe is still growing” — he works for Georgia Power loves to go on about such things — out of my mouth came:
“GROWING?! Growth is OLD. It’s finished. Growth is so… so 20th century!!!”
[silence]
No one said a thing for a good 20 seconds, I swear.
Maybe I was speaking in tongues, receiving a communication from the Universe, or maybe it was the alcohol. I’m not even sure what I meant, although I admit that the frequent references to how this or that place has “grown” so much tends to drive me bonkers, because they’re never delivered with regret. I can’t help it, I guess. Whenever conventional wisdom starts looming over me like a giant wave about to break, I just snap and have to fight back. He didn’t mean anything the least bit aggressive or argumentative by asking me that, of course, but my buttons got pushed. THE COLLECTIVE IS INSANE, you understand, or maybe you don’t. More power to you, though, if you’re immune to the perception — living with it all the time as I do is something of a chore.
My own fault, ultimately, but this came after a detailed discussion of my wife’s nephew’s new home in Georgia. Why any two people need a two-story, four bedroom house is none of my business, but it grated on me. It’s always a shock to get out into the world (America) and find that normal people think nothing of living in homes the size of aircraft carriers. At this very moment I’m sitting in a living room with three big sofas, four upholstered chairs, a baby grand piano, desks, coffee tables, and I don’t know what all. I swear it’s bigger than our entire house in Taos. Hell, the storage room here in the basement is bigger than where we live. I’m not jealous or envious in any way, but it seems so crazy.
The awkward moment at dinner was very telling, of course, because I violated orthodoxy. How dare one utter a dark, sarcastic word about the American Way! No harm was done, fortunately, and I soon regained control. But welcome to Dubuque, you might say.
(I really do need to get out more, too…)
Comment by K.J. Webb
1 May 6, 2008, 10:28 am o'clock |
There used to be an expression - “the old lady from Dubuque” - used to denote a narrow-minded church-going sort of widow or spinster from the hinterlands. I’m not saying it was fair, and I don’t recommend you try it out on your in-laws. I reckon it’s just one of those snearing things that snobby Easterners like to say about the folks who inhabit fly-over country. Like “Babbitt” for a smug small-town booster, or “will it play in Peoria?” for “is it sufficiently dumbed down?”. Like Thomas Frank’s book, “What’s wrong with Kansas?” - meaning “Why are they Republicans when they ought to be Democrats?”
–All very unfair, no doubt.
Comment by Number 6
2 May 6, 2008, 10:41 am o'clock |
right on, John!!! scare the shit out of the normals!
make them feel as confused and inadequate as they deserve to!
violate that creaking ossified orthodoxy as much as possible!
they don’t Get It, and never will, so fuck ‘em!
(and i’m sure after the dinner on the drives home there must’ve been various bemused shakings of heads and disparaging comments about “that weirdo hippy” and “Taos has made him even WEIRDER!” (AHHH! MORTAL SIN! MUST BE NORMAL AT ALL COSTS!!!), not to mention “why did our dear sweet sister marry such a maniac loser anyway?”)
and i know what you mean about the chore of perception - i have always been aware of the Collective Psychosis for most of my life on some level or other; never understood why i never could “fit in” (as every various Authority in my life was coercing/ordering me to do in one way or another) until i realized long ago “i” wasn’t the problem - it was what i was being told to fit in to that was Wrong and Off and completely Out Of Whack Insane. and of course everyone else thought i was the “insane” one for daring to follow my own path in my own way with no reagrd whatsoever to The Way Things SHOULD Be Done.
oh well… it could’ve been a really cool planet, this little Earth, if only the stupid hairless monkeys didn’t fuck everything up for themselves and everyone/-thing else. who knows, once the majority of the global population gets culled away by various natural/manmade disasters and some balance is restored it still could be. like The Dead sang: may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least i’m enjoying the ride……….
Comment by david
3 May 6, 2008, 7:12 pm o'clock |
I knew some snobby Easterners once… and a poem that started, There was an old lady from Nantucket….
John, I’m enjoying your weather and natural descriptions - have a nice drive back to NM. David in Maine
Comment by John H. Farr
4 May 6, 2008, 8:11 pm o'clock |
K.J.: Always thoughtful, as usual…
Number 6: Actually, scaring the normals is not my trip. It was once, but that never got me anywhere. The collective IS insane, of course, though by definition it can’t be educated. It’s really a matter of grace, of the spontaneous arising of expanded awareness. I think all each of us can do is influence others unconsciously by virtue of the love we feel for ourselves. I’ll have more to say about this shortly.
David: I know my best moments are NOT my emotionally-driven political posts, but those that reflect the true nature of our world. I haven’t been able to let go of politics, but maybe soon. And I realize you weren’t necessarily complaining, either, but commenting on what you enjoy. It’s just that I felt something speaking in me in response to what you said.
Comment by Number 6
5 May 7, 2008, 10:51 am o'clock |
yeah, i know - i’ve actually given up long ago on “spooking the drones” as well, especially these days, when some of the drones will actually kill you for daring to challenge “normality” (a month or two ago in Chowchilla, Calif. a 15 year old transgender high school student (he just liked to dress like a girl) was shot and killed by a 14 year old fellow student at school, just for daring to be overtly “different”. the 14 year old is being charged as an adult with a hate crime). trying to “freak the people out” is really just banging your head against a very thick brick wall. it’s just that i was in a typically raw emotional state (from dealing with my two terminally ill parents who are here at home) and your story just struck a raw nerve with me; the deep, desperate desire to finally have a chance to be truly free, and the circumstances of my life conspiring to prevent that. my personal situation in microcosm kinda reflects the larger whole in macro- (”trapped in The Village”, on all levels), and for a few seconds i was really feeling that “Mojo Of True Freedom” wanting to bust out, and i took a nanosecond molecule of joy in your relatives being stunned by your Truthful audacity. also, it’s not like you were TRYING to “scare the normals” (when you consciously force such, it comes off as merely obnoxious), it was just one of those completely spontaneous, natural emergent moments that highlighted just how Out Of Sync everything is in our Human Existence, and it triggered a bit of a verbal spew on my part.
onward……
Comment by Number 6
6 May 7, 2008, 10:55 am o'clock |
oh, and i forgot to mention: you DID see this week’s Brezsny blurb for us Leos? very relevant and to the point.
Comment by Carmel
7 May 7, 2008, 7:42 pm o'clock |
Hmm … one could discuss this ‘growth’ thing for a long time. If things stop growing they die (which is sometimes a good thing). But growth certainly isn’t old or 20th century. It just is. I guess the important thing is to ensure the best things grow and don’t let the ‘weeds’ take over. Trouble is ‘weed’ is such a subjective term too, isn’t it.
Uh-oh, I’m going into one of my endless analytical cycles.
For my part, I’m trying to be less judgemental of ‘the locals’.
Comment by John H. Farr
8 May 7, 2008, 10:44 pm o'clock |
“Locals” in this case are just about everyone, but being less judgemental would definitely be cool for me.
Comment by david in maine
9 May 8, 2008, 8:14 pm o'clock |
john, no complaints here - some of the comments above reminded me of on of the senior associates i used to work with used to say. he was 40 years older than i was and always had interesting stories to tell. one poem started with, ‘There was an old lady from Nantucket….’ and when someone mentioned a remark about someone snobby or a whore etc, he woud say, ’some of his best friends were wh…’ it was a sad day when he passed away. it is a pleasure to read your blog and browse through your creative photos….. thanks john - david in maine