It Rolls 'til It Don't

 

Doing good should just come naturally, right? Far as I know, little boys continue pulling the wings off flies. Hey, kid- good luck if you're absolutely sure that you're gonna live long enough to make up for all your meanness.

Snake oil dealers came up with heaven as a concept just before car salesmen originated the extended warranty. Everybody wants to kick karma down the road.

No matter which of those books you pick up, love is always the answer.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

What Ever Became of Bebop?

Whatever have I done to deserve this? In all my dreams as a kid, everybody got all the things that I had. Every seagull got his share of bread crumbs and every stray in the pound went home with a loving kid.

Oh, I worry about this old world and I'm well aware of how little I've done to make it any better. It occurred to me a long time ago that I wasn't going to improve the lot of the planet with government work or demonstrating in the street. Now, I've done some of both and I have great respect for the folks who have chosen those paths. Ms. Thunberg is the hero of a generation.

War and climate change and hunger and hate haunt us all. If you miss the magic, however, fretting about the tragedy, you've missed it all.

Do what you can. Love hard, play fair and share what you have. Stand up for the ones who can't and speak for those without voices. Enjoy the whole trip, though, while you're at it. It's beautiful.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

 

Go Now!

Funny, truth and grammar are dispensable, it seems. War never goes out of fashion. Who put these bozos in charge? Oh, yeah- we did.

If you can ignore the buzzing around you, there's still a beautiful world to rejoice in. Poetry doesn't have to rhyme and you can combine any colors that you want. No need to wear your skirt the length of the fashion model's. No need to wear your skirt. 

I'll drive the speed limit because I should and I'll pay taxes because I use the infrastructure. 

Kindness brings happiness and love brings peace. It surely ain't rocket science.

 

Castles and Mushy Peas

 

Nobody's shooting schoolchildren. "Sorry," is on every tongue. Road rage doesn't seem to exist and government scandals are like soap opera plots. Honestly, hooligans don't seem particularly threatening when they sound like your favorite Beatle.

There's a gigantic palm tree right in the middle of Easton Park, right down the road. Makes it hard to feel homesick. Dogs are in almost every cafe and pub. I can see the English Channel out the back window and I'm about to walk down the lane out back to see the pigs, who just moved in, and their neighbors, the goats and the llamas.

Oh, yeah- Kate has added cornbread to the menu.

A bloke could get used to this. 

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Will There Always Be An England?

 

Guilt is so overrated. I know that. Nevertheless, nobody should have the life that I have. Oh, I suppose that a better way to put it would be to say that everybody should have the life that I have.

Who knew that paradise would be here, tucked under the mainland of Great Britain. I remember old timers always telling me that I should have seen Key West before it was "discovered." I look forward to telling whippersnappers about Portland, before it was discovered.

Oh, and love- I preached about love for so long that I had pretty well decided that the stuff I went on about was the creation of some Walt Disney or the material of some young girl's dreams. Nope. It's right here. In abundance. It's way too late for bad luck. When this plays out, and we know that nothing is permanent, I will have had everything. Great goodness!

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Peepin' and Hidin'

Can't go over it, gotta go 'round it. Life comes but once, at least in my belief system. Today. Eat the good stuff and read the good stuff and listen to the good stuff. Pet every dog. If he bites you, you will have learned not to listen to the likes of me. 

Every morsel is a feast with the right table setting. I've dyed all our napkins fuchsia and the whole world got better. I haven't solved any climate change problem or ended any war, but I feel like I've done my little part. 

I've forgotten most of everything I ever learned except Elvis' army serial number, my phone number from 1962 and the ending for my nightly prayer. Oh, it's no big deal and it hardly qualifies as dementia. I just never learned much. A great deal of it is not really forgotten so much as I've just changed my mind.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

 

Scenic Routes To Paradise

 

Great gifts seem to arrive when expectations fade. Miracles are everywhere when you're not looking for anything special. The magic in the world is like floaters in your eye. Don't look at it if you want to see it.

All those hokey things you ever read about love are true. Every cornball "moon, June, spoon" rhyme in all of the mediocre pop songs ever written nailed it perfectly.

Of course loss is the other side of this lovely coin. Nothing lasts forever. Don't miss a moment. Don't just tell somebody that you love them. Tell everybody.

Wide Streets In A Ghost Town

 

While the planet sizzles I live the life of a prince in some mystical fairyland with the traffic coming towards me in the wrong lane. Loss visits and leaves that familiar, bittersweet memory that makes up all that matters.

If I could have planned a future, this would have been it. 

I wanted to save the world. Looks like the world saved me. 

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Pirate Graves and Chips

Time drags on until time's almost gone. I suppose I'm glad that longevity tables aren't that easy to decipher. There was a point in my life where I thought that it was obvious that the whole Adam and Eve parable was about sex. Now I'm pretty sure that it's about mortality.

Is it just me or is it kinder over here?

Maybe it's just that the pushy ones don't have six shooters.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

 

What The Heck Is Bubbles and Squeak?

 

You can take the hillbilly out of Alabama but don't let him drive on the left side of the road. Cultural shock comes naturally to the uncultured. I should probably start a list of some sort of the terms that throw me. If John, Paul, George or Ringo didn't quip about it in A Hard Day's Night or Help! I probably don't have a clue as to what is being said right in front of me.

All I know is that I'm supposed to react positively to, "Alright, Mate?"

They call this English?

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Land of Guns and Honey

Far be it from me to criticise, whine, complain. Oh, wait- that's what I do. You don't turn your back on a friend, though, especially when they're down. Somehow the good guys are gonna have to get some kind of control of the US government. 

The majority of Americans are fine, decent folks. A vast majority. I grew up with kind, fair people who shared their good fortune. 

Oh, we frequently had it wrong. Indigenous people. Slaves. The environment. I could go on but I don't want my little blog banned in Florida.

Maybe the old girl has just had her day. Empires rise and empires tumble. It surely seems to me, however, that if the majority made the big decisions again for awhile, that there's plenty of life in her.

Meanwhile, the weather is lovely in Dorset. I'll see you in October.

 

Shot Who?

 

We got a new king, you got another massacre. Sick and sorry as I feel, I have to admit to some small degree of validation. My definition of quality of life has never had much to do with GDP or stars, stripes and steeples.

I've had so many friends wish me well with some version of, "I'd go, too, if I had the nerve. I wish I could get out of here."

Well, I've had a hankering to go since Please, Please Me and She Loves You. I never left, probably because I didn't have the nerve. I still wouldn't. I fell in love.

People are people everywhere. If you're reading this, I probably miss you.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Yeah, But Wait 'til The Sun Shines

 

Well, sir, I'm back in the UK, legally and all and not a minute too soon. Cable news in the States was about to get the better of me. Oh, I could have turned it off. Walked away. Wait- no I couldn't. I would have if I could.

School shootings and indictments. Sinking states and skyrocketing insurance bills. Half the country hates the other half and one of those sides is armed to the teeth. A Supreme Court that is reviled by pretty much everyone.

More than once I've had friends tell me, "I don't blame you. I would leave here, too, if I had the nerve."

I presume they think I'm leaving for a calmer political climate. Of course that's merely a side benefit in my case.

I left for love.

One Chased Gold

Three months apart. Could have been brothers. Deep South, good times, charmed lives, different paths. The first-born kept his nose to the grindstone and Jesus in his heart. He shook more hands and climbed more ladders. The other one found rock'n'roll, or maybe rock'n'roll found him. He thought saints whispered in his ear and took good care of him.

They still do!

Does everybody live happily ever after?

Everything sounds like Song of the South mixed with A Hard Day's Night.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war. That's what Lottie taught both of them.

 

Purple Puzzle Pieces

 

Sometimes I just want to be sure that nobody accuses me of taking the easy way. My brain learned a long time ago not to argue with my heart.

For fools like me, there's only one way. Honestly, I feel sorry for those others.

I'm almost home, Sweetheart. Break out the Champagne and the monkey nuts.

Angel Breath and Radar Guns

 

Well, sir- I've come this far and I never believed in rearview mirrors. All the rolltop, bebop travel guides in the western world ignored Portland, Dorset for too long. Far too long.

We've discovered the centre of the universe. Did you notice how some spell-check doolollie changed the spelling there? I feel like I've blundered onto the set of A Hard Day's Night.

For some time now I've been suspicious that life would present itself. That opening act was alright. Fine, in fact. This, though, is sublime. It's Tecnicolor©. Maybe it's the set of Help!

My trusty pack is waiting for me. Not patiently, I hope. As soon as the Home Office determines that I'm fit for UK soil, I'm off again. I pray, in my way, for kindness to return to these shores.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Gonna Get Along Without Me Now

 

Heroes fall and I'm humbled to be reminded that the world will get along just fine without us when we're gone. I've been in the UK for about three and a half months now and somehow the good ol' U.S. seems to be holding together, somewhat, in spite of the ravings of that lunatic blonde from Georgia.

In a few days I'll be flying back to Florida to await a visa. It's ludicrous to fret that England might struggle to get by without me for a couple of months. I do.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

R.I.P. David Lindley.

Who's In Charge Here?

 

The bureaucracy is always lurking, a reminder that you're never in complete control over your destiny. With my fate about to be in the hands of the Home Office, I relish every moment of bliss. 

My greatest wish is that every living being knows something of the joy in the measure that I have known. I'm awash in new adventures and new holidays. They're all holy, buddy. They're all holy.

Play some Little Richard and drink some Ovaltine. Pray for peace and search for truth.

The Stars Are Still There

In case you've been wondering, all the stars are still in the sky. From my second floor landing, here in Dorset, I see them all, all that I remember, when I get up in the middle of the night. We've plastered those little glow-in-the dark ones all over the bedroom ceiling so that I don't have to get up.

Now I've lived like an adult and I've lived like a child. I remember when folks referred to having fun as a grownup as a "second childhood." 

If I tie a silk ribbon around my neck, it won't be to impress my boss or my banker. I eat cake for breakfast and play on the floor with dogs.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Keeping Portland Weird

When I'm not worrying about freezing to death, I'm thinking that the roof might blow off at any minute. It rains pretty much every day, usually for the better part of the day. I love it.

We're sticking stars on the ceiling and we're drinking Ovaltine like there's no tomorrow.

The dogs are happy and the shed is up. I guess life is about perfect. I wake up and see her face every morning.