and then WAR starts, so much hype. madness. and the situation here. seeing hospitals again. and mortality. why do people want to kill? to add to the misery of living that already smothers so much life on this planet.

whole seasons peel away, onion skin, how many left. Black Elk speaks, through his transcribed words. loudly, clearly, and with no fear for his own idiosyncracy. and full of knowing relevance and wisdom.

re-arriving simultaneity: with a black and ragged squall line ripping across the wide San Luis Valley, dark, bigger than most summer thunder storms that migrate east across from the San Juans to the Sangre de Christo Range, and much closer to the ground. a fast, obligatory slow-down at the Center of the Universe, one of the fastest visits yet. and by the time we arrive at the Sand Dunes campground, well, it starts snowing right about when we start setting the tent up. setting up on two feet of packed snow. hard as heck to get the pegs in firm. thinking of getting a stand-alone tent these days. though the North Face I got way back, well, 21 years ago is still doing quite well. seen action all over the West. Sierras, Rockies, Mojave. and so on. what else. hadn't tested the stove yet, either, so, no warm food. warnings from the ranger about the mountain lion that had been recently sighted. rendezvous with the ranger later to get some firewood. Loki and I are alone except for one other pair of hardy campers. cold nights fitful sleep that brings an additional foot or more of snow on top of the tent.

possibly en route soon. nature steps in. dumps a couple meters of snow. the easy transit turns into a logistical gamble... the trees along the creek crack and groan under the weight of the wet spring snow, many fall. traversing the parking lot, there is a sedan trying very unsuccessfully to park. I approach the car and ask if I can help -- the guy, Mohammed, turns out to be from Egypt, hardly knew snow, this was clear. nice to make that transcultural mapping, given this fuckin' war looming.