Paint your wagon and come along.
Where are we going? I don't know
Where are we going? I don't know
When will we get there? I ain't certain.All I know is I am on my way.
As much as I like my Ocean View home, I'm ready to Paint My Wagon and be moving on. There something out there waiting for me and I'm ready to go find out what it is. Maybe it's gold I'm after like those 49rs of of the California Gold Rush. Maybe it's nothing but the wanderlust that I've had all my life.
for the Rain and Wind and Fire.
The rain is Tess, The fire is Jo,
and they call the wind Mariah.
Mariah blows the stars around,
and sets the clouds to flying.
Yup, I'm ready to go west, The Pacific Ocean is calling my name. I can hear it faintly in the waves as they break along my Oceanview Beach. But its just a whisper. I long to hear the roar of the Pacific again. I want to hear the grunting of the Harbor Seals. I want clam chowder from Tony's on the pier. I want to ride my bike from Torrance to Venice Beach. I want to see the girls in their summer clothes. I want to go home.Hermosa Beach Sunset
Tag, I resonate with the longing I hear in your words. I think you need to start that journey by taking one small step and then another.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I generally knew "They Call the Wind Mariah", but I didn't know those other names represented the wind and fire. My middle name is in that trio of names and elements. I don't like it, and I'm not coughing it up, but I like what I represent. A just reward for wearing both first and middle names I don't care for.
I understand, I wear a last name that is not mine and I've never liked but somehow has stuck. My sister got rid of it by marrying, My brother disappeared it by taking his wife's name. I should have done the same but now four children with that last name prevent me.
ReplyDeleteYes Limes, I agree one foot in front of the other until I get there.
Uh-oh. Don't get me started on the last name thing. When I married, I didn't do the hyphenated last name thing. I took Ex's name. I was that for 32 years. It's a long, long time in a person's life. When we were hissing and spitting venom at each other during the divorce, I had the brilliantly original idea to spew, "And I'm taking my own name back, too!" Of course he replied, "Good! You're not fit to be an Ex!"
ReplyDeleteI'm a self-admitted nut job about having one's own name. The day I went to Nevada DMV and reclaimed Now as my last name, I nearly cartwheeled out of the building. Our names are a really important part of our identity. I urge my daughter not to surrender the name Ex if she ever marries.
Surnames are important as I know by having mine screwed with. It connects us to family and people in so many different ways. As a child hospitalized for appendicitis, My much older roomate said "Tag, thats an interesting name. Where is that from? Polish?" "No it's Czech" I answered. Grandfather might have punched him had he heard this exchange. I know he wouldn't let it go unchallenged as I did. But in that day children did'nt contradict their elders.
ReplyDeleteI somehow left a sentence out of that last reply. The old guy in the Hospital said "Polish, Czech, Same thing." I didn't reply. But...
ReplyDeleteYes, I get it! And I know which surname you're referring to. You also know my surname and I will tell you it is Welsh to the spine. Sometimes people say, "German?" And my reply is, "No, they spell it differently."
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about how our name connects us to people. Not sure you know Ex is full-blooded Native American. He used to jokingly say, "You white people all look alike to me." But the first time we went to the village in Wales where my ancestors came from, his jaw dropped. He wasn't joking when he said, "These people look like you. This is where you come from."
And of course his people look like him, except for in the old movies. My family on Mom's side, German and Scottish. Father's side is Czech and Irish.
ReplyDeleteActually, it's Slovak.
ReplyDeleteI'm of Welsh, English, Irish extraction. By the way, regarding Ex: we began life together when I was 19. You know what I look like. Pretty average white American girl. I'd never seen or experienced racial bias. I learned about it pretty quickly. And over the 32 year ride, I witnessed people guessing Samoan, Hawaiian, Mexican, you-name-it. Most people were pretty startled to hear "Full blooded Native." In the U.K., many people asked him about it. They were unfailingly polite and respectful, but he looked unusual to them and they asked. When he told them, they always said, "Oh, red Indian." Because to them, with their empire, "Indian" means people from India.
ReplyDeleteAmber is a very exotic looking young woman. From infancy, many people including complete strangers have asked about her ethnicity. Reactions have ranged from "Oh, she's a lovely rare flower" to a withering look I once got that I read as something like condemnation because I had reproduced with the devil. Everyone has an opinion.
my last name is polish, challenging to spell and pronounce correctly. i never changed my name when married. i had invested too much time in training people to start all over again!
ReplyDeletewhen the solidarity movement in poland started, i saw on tv a panning shot of a crowd of workers. it hit me hard-i look just like those folks. a connection was made, a deep connection.
And some Hungarian.
ReplyDeleteRight Kirk, Slovak, Not Czech, Grandfather was very proud of being from Czechoslovakia. Of course this was mid 50's about the time the Russian tanks rolled in. I'm not as familiar with this as I should pehaps be. Standing, I understand that connection you made. I look more like the Scottish side than the Slovak/Hungarian side. Limes I'm sort of surprised by the reaction to EX in Britain. It's only been 400 years since Pocahontas was there. Did They forget?
ReplyDeleteWell, their empirical co-opting of India is so much more recent, it's fresher in their memories. Everyone there who ever asked Ex about himself seemed absolutely fascinated by him. Also, he wore his hair really long (WAY down his back) until about 2000, so he gave them something to LOOK at.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to say I look like many 8-year-old boys in the village of Blaneau Ffestiniog in northern Wales. I didn't say I'm wonderful to look at. I said I like to look like what I am.
Your last sentence confuses a bit. You like looking like an 8 year old boy from Blaneau Ffestiniog? I don't believe you are an 8 year old boy from Blaneau Ffestiniog. You look like a competent adult of a certain age. Should I throw an LOL in there someplace.
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry! When I stepped out of the car into the village for the first time, there was a group of small boys playing soccer near where I had parked. They were all dark-haired, blue-eyed and very fair-skinned. My haircut is approximately the same as they were wearing. They were the group who made Ex exclaim, "These people look like you. This is where you come from."
ReplyDeleteThank you for e-mailing me the link last night. My elected representatives have now heard from me. Michael Moore can always stoke my fire to the roaring point.
And no LOLs, please. You know how I get!
ReplyDeleteThe thing I really liked about "Paint Your Wagon" was that it featured polygamy but with a twist. The WOMAN got to have more than one husband! Yeah!
ReplyDeleteOH, hell, Kass I had the one for a very long time. I don't want any more in this lifetime. You may have my share.
ReplyDeleteAddendum: My daughter Journey got her orders yesterday. She is going to be stationed here in Norfolk. That puts a dent in my plan to go to California soon.
ReplyDeleteKass I'm not sure that any woman would want more than one.
I certainly do NOT! And I think I count as a woman, even if I look like an 8-year-old boy.
ReplyDeleteYay, Journey! Tag ~ SORRY you won't pass our way so soon.
Actually you have a certain Elfin quality I noticed from your your new photo on yesterday's post. You share that with Pema Chodron and Fred Astaire. Barack Obama and Dr Oz also have that same quality.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that she is coming here, She wanted to explore Europe. This may give her the opportunity. As much as I would like to be traveling west. My OV neighborhood is fine.
Hmmmm. Elfin. The word takes my head places. I've had some version of a pixie haircut for 34 years. This week I was dubbed the Official Solstice Fairy of Past, Present and Future. So it makes me wonder if there isn't a thread of that through my fabric. I'd like to be an elf/pixie/fairy. More, I'd like to share some of the material that makes up the personages you name.
ReplyDeleteI think my advice under all the circumstances, Tag, would be to stay the course for now and encourage her - do everything you can to help her - see Europe. A woman needs that. You know.
I do know and you know that every American needs to experience Europe Limes. I'm sure that Europe doesn't need every American. I'm thinking about the behavior of some of my shipmates on the beaches of Costa Del Sol and Cote D'Azure. (And my behavior in Malta).
ReplyDeleteOur kids have grown up with mine and Shari's stories of our adventures in Europe and the Pacific. I've always encouraged all of them to travel as much as possible. Understanding other cultures is important to understanding the world we live in and knowing the culture we grown up in from another's viewpoint. I'm glad she has this opportunity. I thought I was done with the travel bug, but I now realize that I will always want to see new horizons. There are still many places to experience.
Is there a ceremony that goes along with being the Official Solstice Fairy of Past, Present and Future? How about a tiara of silver and emeralds?
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm CERTAIN we'll devise a ceremony on our solstice outing. Maybe something at the top of the dunes, taking care not to fall into one of the deep, sandy caverns. A tiara sounds intriguing . . .
ReplyDeleteI have hurt my arm patting myself on the back for all the gifts of travel we've given Amber. I think she is a true citizen of the world. We always took her out of school for trips on the boat and trips that were simply trips. YES, we took lesson plans and she had a RIGOROUS curriculum to follow and fax or e-mail. Some people raised their eyebrows about it. I know we did it right.
ReplyDeleteThe Ugly American isn't fictional, Tag. Sometimes while visiting another country, I've cringed at the behavior of Americans and wished that when I next spoke, I would not be identified as one.