We celebrated the New Year with our kids and six
grandchildren. It was a blast … and tiring. Great start of a new year, but this morning, when I had an
opportunity to catch my breath, I realized I had already burned a month of the new year.
Wasn’t it just a little while ago that computers threatened Armageddon at the
turn of the century? Time flies, especially when you’re having fun. If slowing down
time requires staying bored, I guess I’ll opt for a mad dash to the finish
line.
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| Death Valley 20 Mule Teams |
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| Our home for the next week ... minus the ocean |
Speaking of staying busy, we head out Friday for a week of camping
in Death Valley, although it seems a stretch to call it camping when we'll be living in a friend’s 40+ foot diesel pusher motorhome. Our transit and sojourn will be
considerably more comfortable than the twenty-mule teams that used to haul
borax across the valley to a rail spur. Those hardy teamsters thought a fringed
whorehouse pillow positioned between their buttocks and the wood bench was the lap of
luxury. I have to admit that I enjoy investigating frontier lifestyles with
modern conveniences close at hand … especially flush toilets.
It’s been years
since I visited Death Valley National Park and I’m looking forward to it. But planning the trip brought a thought to mind. Cattle drives, 20 mule teams, and the Pony Express are iconic
imageries of the Wild West, but none actually lasted long. Although ranching and cowboys
exist today, the great cattle drives had a relatively short lifespan of
about twenty years. 20 Mule teams lasted only six years. The Pony Express
operated for only eighteen months. All three of these frontier enterprises related
to transportation, and all were obsoleted by the American penchant for speed. Our
hell-bent for leather culture demands that we get stuff faster and faster.
Nothing lasts unless it figures out how to deliver goods or services quicker tomorrow than it did yesterday.
For the most part, speed serves us well … except for passing through life. In that particular case, I think scrubbing off a bit of speed would be beneficial. Come to think of it, I’ll make one more New Year’s resolution: stop on occasion to
smell the roses.
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