This is the extemporaneous speech Obama gave to union members in Milwaukee the other day. I first saw it over at Balloon Juice, where John C. said everybody had to watch. He scares me, so I did, but this is something really good:

It’s raining manna from the sky right now. Go git some!

I watched the last few hours of the Democratic convention, and of course I heard Obama’s amazing speech. It wasn’t the words — most of what he said was very down-to-earth — but his courage and directness. The intensity of spirit that he showed, the empathy, the honesty — my God, the INTELLIGENCE! I’ve been saying for months that this isn’t about Obama but has to do with something bigger, and damned if he didn’t say just that tonight: “This isn’t about me, it’s about you…”

He also managed to obliterate McCain without attacking his character. (In fact, he praised it.) I haven’t ever witnessed such a deadly serious dismemberment delivered with as much authority. This is outstanding politics. The last few weeks had to be a conscious set-up, too: Obama won’t attack, etc. etc. Hah! We are so damned lucky. The country is so damned lucky. This is going to be a glorious emotional rush with MUSCLE behind it.

Get ready to feel good. Not because we’re “winning,” but because of something else.

I’ve just discovered this new video, which I am told is “going viral.” I hope so, because it’s affected me quite strongly this morning. I hope you like it and pass it on:

Things like this never happen when I have my camera with me.

Yesterday my wife and I took our exercise walk up the mesa. On the way back we saw two baby horned toads! These were two separate incidents, amazingly. And when I say “baby,” I mean tiny, about the size of my thumbnail. I took this relative abundance to be a good sign. After all, how many folks have ever seen a baby horned toad?

A couple of years ago I saw two babies riding on their mother’s back, one of the most astonishing things I’ve ever witnessed. She froze in the middle of the dusty trail, giving me a good long look as I stood right over them. This was extraordinary enough, to see the three of them, but then one of the little ones crawled off and walked a few inches away, onto a patch of sand that was much lighter in color than his (?) mother’s back. And then he changed color to match! I mean, in no more than a second or two. I didn’t even know they did that, but this one sure as hell did.

So today I walked up there by myself, and of course I took my camera. Hah. Nary a horned toad to be seen, naturally.

Run away, run away

But I did run across a piñacate beetle, otherwise known colloquially as a “stinkbug.” I’ve run into these before, and they deserve the nickname. It was the only animal I saw on this walk, but I had a good time anyway. I think I would rather just “be” out in the wilderness than do almost anything else in this world, even if all I see is a stinkbug. It has to do with the universal quality of consciousness arising from no thought.

I worry less and less these days. I know that’s odd, considering my history of apocalyptic rants. And by the way, did you know the Germans are preparing for a huge crowd in Berlin for Obama’s speech?

The red-naped sapsucker rat-a-tat-tats away on the kiva chimney’s metal cap. If it isn’t the chimney, he (?) goes after the transformer on the telephone pole. How long do you suppose the bird will do this before realizing that no sap is coming out?

I could build this into a socio-political metaphor if I had the gumption, but I’ll let you do that. Suffice it to say that after unsubscribing from Obama’s email list over the FISA idiocy and then re-subscribing, I’m pretty much back to my own transcendental self. I’m delighted to see Obama doing so well, of course. It’s just that my own life and those most directly affected by its course are back on center stage, whatever that means.

I’m turning down relatively big money to build an online store for a Hindu ashram and temple, for example. That’s just not what this life is all about, at least for me. We’re walking every day again. I want to hike up in the high country and have to teach my lungs to grab more oxygen. I’m not worrying about my 86-year-old mother and her trailer park dreams. My next Mac will be one for video editing. I want a motorcycle (trail bike) for exploring the thousands of miles of forest roads more easily than in my pickup. We’re going to find another house. I’ll do everything I can to see more of my woman’s smiles and reflect them back. I have to stop eating (!) or be surgically reconstructed. More abdominal exercises! My best buddies are forming a crazy instrumental surfer band (Los Changos del Mar), and I’ll design the website. Things could be worse.

The weather in New Mexico is wonderful, now that the spring gale has subsided. The mornings are cool and crisp, and every afternoon the clouds build up and send a line of thundershowers marching across the plain to crash into the mountains. No, it is NOT “hot.” It’s almost never hot, not up here in the north. In fact, it already feels like early fall again — too soon!

Tomorrow we’ll go visit an old friend from Maryland who’s come to Santa Fe to take a workshop. Whatever will we talk about? Rat-a-tat-tat, ese. And on and on it goes.

UPDATE: For the record, our visit was delightful. See next post (above).

I’m off at ZoukFest and busy as hell, but I wanted to post a quick pick-me-up that I found on another blog. I have no idea where it comes from or who to credit. I don’t even know how recent it is, but I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States:

Please can we vote now???

I just watched Obama’s speech in St. Paul on video. (That link might not work, very heavy server traffic) If that doesn’t do anything to you, you must be made of stone. Pure campaign gold, too. He even has them roaring to “heal the planet…” This is what I felt when I finally paid attention. What a gratifying change. What a class act. He makes me feel good about myself. So far I’m not hearing much bullshit at all.

Usually when politicians declare an issue, you can see the lies written on their faces, and you know right away whose pocket they’re in. With this guy, you get the feeling you’re part of the process, like we’re all in this together. This is strong medicine, because it’s the truth.

That’s what I can’t stand.

As soon as someone comes along who offers to do things differently, who speaks to me like I’m a grownup, who’s tapped into a universal desire for positive change, then come the killers of hope. Every so-called “realist” comes out of the woodwork, saying things like:

It’s a dream!
You’re naive!
The world is SHIT!
You have to FIGHT!
What makes you happy is IMPOSSIBLE!
Etc., etc.

This is horrible and spiritually corrupt. This is like locking your children in the basement for 20 years. (No, no, you can’t have a president who makes you feel good, because it’s bad to trust your feelings.) Where do these people come from? What mother abandoned them on an ice floe? Have they no souls? I’m serious. That’s very bad boojum. One has to stay centered and not be sucked in by the fear.

What makes me happy is possible, because I’ve felt it. The hope killers make me feel dirty inside, and I will certainly never vote for them.

Speaking today at a rally in North Carolina:

I just looked out the window, and New Mexico is still here. There’s a mountain thousands of feet high without a single condo on it, and there never will be, because it’s sacred to the Pueblo. I’m not assaulted by golf or 24/7 grass mowing. The closest Interstate highway is over an hour away. I froze all winter, but I’ll never be hot and sticky. My wife loves me even though I’m a jerk. I’m almost 63 with the ambition of a 30-year-old. Call me a “senior” (except when I buy a movie ticket) and you get shoved into the gorge — hey, there’s a gorge! Over 600 feet, straight down onto rocks that are BILLIONS of years old. I saw a hummingbird yesterday, three bright yellow goldfinches this morning. It’s going to be 75 degrees today, and the wind won’t be blowing over 45 mph.

Is this heaven, or what?!

Oh yeah, vote Obama.

Must walk and breathe today.

Courage!