Virtual-Doug

Then and Now: Same Same, but Different

I love music - I often play music that matches my mood.  I have playlists of songs that suit me at any particular time.  Most people like music, and music is often a lens into a society - we reflect how we feel and react to life through music.  Videos are cool too, especially of stuff that happened a long time ago.

Music can reveal how we felt in the past and how we feel today.  You hear it often: “This country is more divided now than it’s been since the late 60s and early 70s.”  And, I suppose it is very divided these days.  

There are some similarities between the two eras:  the 1960s saw the rise of modern day feminism, a war figured huge back then, many people had a poor opinion of the government and politicians, the counterculture of drugs began in the 60s, the civil rights movement was a major part of life, and the earlier era had a controversial president.

Today there is the #MeToo movement, political feelings run very high, we have an opioid crisis, and there is the Black Lives Matter movement.  Comparisons are often made between President Trump and Richard Nixon.

A lot of good music came out that bygone era, born of our deep divisions.

There are some differences too:  there is no military draft today, and though we still have troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, the numbers - and the casualties - are much lower than at the height of the war in Vietnam.   Dropping acid and smoking pot were cool back then - most decidedly, there is nothing “cool” about today’s opioid crisis. Nor was there a 24 hour news cycle back then - or even social media.  All we had was good ol’ Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News, along with newspapers.

Being an old man, I remember the turbulent times of the late 60s and early 70s.  Hells bells, I lived it, just as I am living the present days. Just for the fun of it, I’m going to be posting some thoughts - and links to music and videos from yesteryear - that reflect how things were “back in the day.”  

I don’t think things are as bad today as we often think they are.  The earlier time was pretty scary. More often, things seem about the same today as they were then.

Here’s an example: today’s “Make America Great Again” was “America: Love It or Leave It” back then.  The song was recorded in 1965 by country music legend Ernest Tubb.  Listen here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsCTrQIX_OM  The lyrics express what many people think today.  In 1969, country music singer Merle Haggard reacted to the anti-war sentiment and the budding drug culture with “Okie from Muskogee”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5K5l89mpV8

See what I mean?  Things are same same, but different.

 

Drugs - In the 60s, we loved to watch (and laugh at) an old retreaded movie titled “Reefer Madness.”  Here’s the trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYHDzrdXHEA   There’s been a bit of a change since we watched “Reefer Madness” in the 60s.   Thirty three states have now legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use. More are contemplating it. http://www.governing.com/gov-data/safety-justice/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html

 

Very different.  No same same here.

Riding with the Daughter

Had a chance to spend a Saturday with Trang last weekend.  I rolled up to the house where she rents a room - and this is what she wore as the bounded out of the house.

 

After buying her a new helmet and jacket the next, we were off to the rolling hills north of Houston where we took a break in the area around the courthouse of Anderson.

 

 

 

New Life

(Note:  TypePad, the hosting service for this blog, was hit with a big denial of service attack and was offline for awhile.  This is posted a bit late because of that attack.)

I write this blog mainly for myself, though I know there are a few folks who never turned off their RSS feeds.  

This is a story of a new baby who arrived in this world as clueless about its history as all babies are.  Her name is Nhiên (say nyee en) and I’ve known her mother for nine years.

Nine years - really that long?  She was a first year university student then - more high school kid than college student.  But she stood out from the other students.  Besides wanting to learn for the pure sake of learning, she did the extra things to keep learning.  She was a regular visitor to our apartment in Huế.  She invited me to visit her parents.  She read books in English.

 

(Click on the photos to see larger versions.)

And that mind was too good to be left to the vagaries of the Vietnamese educational system.  We always saw her for coffee or a meal or conversation during our many return trips and kept up with her life.

And so it was that Ái Nhân became the second daughter we never knew we needed.  We’d brought Trang here to US for graduate school in 2008.  In 2011 we brought Ái Nhân here for her Master’s.  Both of these young woman burrowed deep into our hearts.  That was totally unexpected.  We thought we’d just bring some bright minds to the US to further their education.  We certainly didn’t anticipate adding to our family.

After her first year, Ái Nhân returned home to get married to a truly fine man.  I’d met Kiên before and knew they were a great match.  Of course we went to Huế for the wedding - and it was our privilege to be considered part of the family.   All brides are pretty, of course, but when Ái Nhân stepped into the room in her wedding ào dài (say ow yie), my heart skipped a beat.

Little time for a honeymoon, the newlyweds flew back to the US for her to continue her graduate work and Kiên to start his.  Last May was the time to celebrate her graduation and make plans to work as a lecturer at the university.

Then last fall came the news - the two were expecting their first child.

And this was special for me.  I wasn’t around when my son Keith was born - he was six months old before I saw him.  Ironically, I was in a place called Vietnam when he was born.

I missed the birth of my first grandchild too.  We were living in Albuquerque at the time Dani arrived in Orlando.  Strangely, we were living in Albuquerque when Brie was born - but I was on a trip to Orlando, of all places.  Both Zach and Elie were born in Orlando while we were a long ways off.

I wasn’t even around for the birth of my first great grandchild.

But finally, at age 70, I could be “Grandpa”, relegated to the waiting room, but knowing a new life was arriving just a few yards away.

My sainted wife knew just how to make the introductions.  She was in the delivery room and as Nhiên gave her first cries, Cindy sent it to me via her cell phone.

I’ll let photos tell the rest of the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a very blessed man.

Christmas 2013

Snow - they’d never seen snow, nor had they met my brother Russell and his bride Patty.  The fall semester being over, it was a good time to put Ái Nhân and Kiên in the back seat of the car and head north to Colorado.

The first 625 miles were pretty boring, but in Lubbock, the weather seemed out to get us.  Refueling in heavy rain with a wind that seemed determined to blow the cold wet on me, we checked the radar and saw we could make Amarillo that night, albeit with rain the whole way.  We checked into our motel, then went to eat in Cindy’s favorite dining spot - Waffle House.

Morning light showed only dark clouds, but as we were packing up the car, the first snowflakes fluttered down - much to Kiên’s delight.  But by the time we got to Dalhart (almost into New Mexico), the snow was heavy and the roads very slippery.  Lots of accidents.

A stop at Mickey D’s for a burger and wi-fi - and a chance to walk around in the snow - a chance taken, but soon followed by getting back inside for some warmth.

(Be sure to click on this and the other photos to see a larger size image.)


Radar showed the snow ended at Clayton, New Mexico - a fact confirmed by a traveler who’d just come through that road.  Once past Clayton, it was clear until Colorado Springs.  Going through the city, the snow started again - the long climb up Monument Hill in ever-increasing snow had me a bit worried, but we soon arrive safe and sound in LIttleton.

Even with a nice blaze in the fireplace, Ái Nhân and Kiên felt a bit chilly.  The Sriracha-flavored jerky helped a bit, though.

Way back in the late 50s, my parents moved to south Florida.  They loved living there, but I remember them both saying they missed the four seasons.  Because I had teenage dementia, I didn’t understand.  Today, I live in deep south Texas, and I too miss the four seasons.  Most of the time we spent in Colorado were bright shiny days, perfect for a nice walk alongside the frozen creek.  The daily walks gave me a chance to reflect on how very blessed my life has been.


Christmas morning broke late - (there weren’t any kids in the house) - but we couldn’t start opening gifts until we had a mimosa under our belts.


And, of course, we had to have something to eat with those mimosa, eh?  Some fresh-baked cranberry bread is perfect on a nippy Christmas morning.


Lots of ooohs and aaaahs as wrapping paper was torn away, but Ba Cindy got kinda of misty-eyed at this gift from Ái Nhân and Kiên.


There was a punster named Patty who decided to give a pair of multi-colored socks to Ái Nhân with the brand name of Hue - which, of course, is Ái Nhân’s home town.  Good one, Patty.


And, Aunt Patty, doing her Michael Jackson impersonation with one glove,  had her  new toy to play with.


It was good to see Kiên loosen up a bit - he got a bit playful with the spoons he received.




Even Rufus got into the act - he was right in the midst of things.

But there were only so many gifts to open - one can eat only so much Christmassy food - one can take only so many naps - before the boredom sets in.  With a little help from Russell, Ái Nhân spent over twelve hours working on this puzzle of an English castle.


But the picture I didn’t take may have been the best one - the picture of all of us around the table, holding hands and thanking God for the gift of His son.  
It was a great Christmas - great indeed.

Winter Wonderland

I remember when my parents moved to Florida back in 1959. I was just starting high school, and I remember them saying they were happy to move to Florida, but they missed the seasons. I thought they were a little loopy. Who needs seasons when it is warm year round?

But now I know what they meant. There is little difference in the seasons on south Texas - it merely goes from warm to hot, but that's about it. Now that I am spending a few Christmas days with my brother and his wife in Colorado, I appreciate the beauty of a nice winter day.

My walk took me down a small trail next to a creek. No wind and the sky so blue it was sharp to the eyes. The snow crunched under my shoes as I puffed on my cigar.

 

 

 

Life is good.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Snow, Cold and Other New Experiences

Weather - always a thought in the winter. The drive from home up through the Hill Country of central Texas was the usual, but then we ran into rain - heavy rain - as we approached Lubbock from the south. Though I liked the price of gas at $2.79, I didn't like the blustery wind blowing cold rain on my back side while I was refueling. We had a chance to fire up the smartphone and see it was just rain all the way to Amarillo, so Cindy made motel reservations while I drove - and Ai Nhan and Kien stayed bored in the back seat.

And Amarillo delivered. Ai Nhan and Kien saw their first snow, even though it wasn't much at first. Packing up the car, a few flurries settled on Kien.

With a bit of apprehension, we went back on the road - the weather web sites showed we wouldn't have far to go before we outran the snow. Actually, I can handle snow - it's ice that kinda feaks me. As we went northward through the panhandle, the snow got heavy and then even heavier. As we appraoched Dalhart, I discovered ice under the snow. Hmmm - time to reasses the situation, so we pulled into a Mickey D's in Dalhart to grab a burger and use the wi-fi. Besides the radar, a fellow traveler told us she had just come through the area we were going to travel. Seems that if we could put up with another thirty minutes of snowy driving, we would find clear weather in Clayton, NM. We were glad to leave the snow behind.

 

Ah, New Mexico, we miss you. As we prattled on about the glories of the Land of Enchantment, it did not disappoint as we pointed out herds of pronghorn, explained a mesa and saw the looming Rocky mountains in the distance.

When Ai Nhan asked me if we would see bad weather again, I said no, but we ran into snow again at Colorado Springs and had it all the way in to Russell and Patty's.

Life is good!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Blogging with an iPad

On my little motorcycle venture, I was more than irritated that my laptop refused to read my camera's memory cards - and I had tried before to post to this blog from an my iPad, only to find it didn't work. Now that I have found an app, I'll try the iPad again when traveling. Its much better on a bike because it is smaller and lighter.

But right now, I'm not on a motorcycle. Ai Nhan and Kien are with us in the car on the way to Colorado for Christmas with Russell and Patty. We're in Amarillo, and we may be stuck here awhile as the snow is coming in and the temps are at freezing. Its the coldest Kien has ever been. He was a bit awestruck when I broke off an icicle and handed it to him.

No photos - yet. That will be the next trick to learn.

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Pulling the Trigger (New Toy)

My rationale is this: I was riding the Burgman scooter past its design limits on the trip to Las Vegas.  Therefore, I needed a new machine.  Ergo, I signed the papers on a new Honda NT700 motorcycle at a dealership in Dallas, and rode it home.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

And yes - though it is a 2010 model year, it is new.  Honda still makes the bike, but stopped importing them to the US in 2011 after only two years of trying to sell them here.  I literally bought it at cost.

 

Trip Map

This is in answer to Paul's question about my routes on the Las Vegas trip.

The top map is on the way to Las Vegas, and the bottom is the way back home.

Homeward Bound

Ah, bliss.  The morning I was to leave Albuquerque, I headed to the the Owl Cafe.  I had to use my last opportunity to get huevos rancheros New Mexico style - in other words, with lots of green chile.  I wish I had remembered to get a photo of the place on the way out - the architecture is distinctive - but I did remember to buy a black Owl Cafe t-shirt.

There was a nice nip in the air as I headed east on old Route 66.  At the town of Tijeras, I turned south along a comfortably bendy two-laner.  Ah, delight - riding through old towns, some of them land grants from the days when Spain owned the area.  Old churches in decaying villages as I rode on nice curvy roads along the side of the Manzano mountains.

Too soon, I came back out onto the eastern plains of New Mexico.  The landscape flattened out and soon oil rigs appeared.  Southeastern New Mexico is atop part of the big Permian Basin oil fields, which are being awakened from decades of decline by the advent of new technologies.  Before the trip, I had wondered why motel room rates were so high - and now I knew its because the demand for rooms from the many new oilfield workers.  Simple supply and demand.

I arrived in Artesia much too early to end the day, so I cancelled the motel reservations and rode on.  I disliked crossing into Texas - I enjoyed the “ooo and ah” as people saw the license plate on my scooter that placed me far from home.  Once back in Texas, I was just another bike.

I had a bit of a hard time finding a room in San Angelo. It seems the fracking oil boom has hit there too, and most rooms were taken by oil field workers.

I wanted to make it home the next day, so Saturday morning, I was up before the dawn and on my way.  About an hour down the road, I found a bakery in Eldorado.  Two things about Eldorado:  first, the bakery was run by an Asian couple.  When I asked the woman “You aren’t from around here, are you?”, she replied with a thick accent that she had just moved from Pennsylvania.  I was to find out later that she and her husband are Cambodian.  The other prominent note about Eldorado is that it is the home of the Yearning for Zion Ranch  - the headquarters of the fundamentalist and polygamist break away Mormon sect which was raided for child abuse awhile back.  

I cut across the southern end of the Texas Hill Country, then into the border city of Laredo.  Mistake in doing that - way too much traffic.  But Laredo also meant I was getting close to home, and as rain clouds threatened, I boogied alongside the Rio Grande until I saw the home fires burning.

So - was it a great trip?

Hell yes!  I loved it - meeting the challenges of riding 3,600 miles on a 400 cc scooter. From the subfreezing morning in Portales to the Mojave desert, from flat plains to mountain twisties, it was a lot of fun.

Wonder where I’ll go next.