Jack the Artist at the Bunkhouse

After we returned from the pheasant hunt this year Kadizzle suggested to his friend the journalist she do an article on Jack who stayed at the bunkhouse we hunted from.

A small town in the Old West.

Our little encampment along the Salt River is like a small old western town. Wagons come rolling in and randomly they roll out. This morning we were awakened to a home made rig chugging into the parking lot. Looking at the various home made, and modified desert schooners is fun. The one that just rolled in is a truck camper mounted on the back of a two ton truck.

Tucked here and there is an ATV, a motorcycle, and several solar panels. In the southwest everyone likes to harvest the sun. A lot of the modern day drifters are obsessed with tinkering. Each guy has to have as many little inventions sprouting from his outfit as possible.

Suddenly our campground seems to be filling up. We hope it is just the weekend, but it will probably last thru the week. The guy that just pulled in said he was gone for 16 days to meet the requirement of the Forest Service. This year they seem to have a new sneaky policy. To keep hard core bums out there is a requirement you leave after 14 days. You can apply for a 28 day extension after your 14 days is up. It seems the way this really works is if they don't like you, you are voted off the island. If you have been a gruff, noisy, rude, inconsiderate neighbor, your permit is not renewed. This is good in several ways. One problems with these encampments is people who move in and accumulate crap.

Wilderness Adventure

Lord Kadizzle, and Jasper Littlebottom, AKA, The Commander took off yesterday on an off trail hike. After the Kadizzlites know an area pretty well we often like to strike out on our own into unexplored territory away from the trails.

Our choice was up a creek bed toward the Superstition Mountains. Obviously going back the way we came is the simple solution, but it is no fun. As usual the two people who can never agree on anything cannot decide how to bush whack our way back.

The Commander insist she knows a simple short way back. Kadizzle had a different plan in mind. Navigating is fun in the desert and if you play your cards right it is almost a certainty you can get to a known trail. One big if is the unknown factor of hitting a canyon or cliff you cannot cross.

As often happens when two stubborn mules butt heads each of the Kadizzlites struck off in different directions for a brief period. Fortunately The Commanders route did no yield any good prospects very quickly for the direction we needed to go. We needed to go NW, but Kadizzle's stream bed seemed to head NE. Kadizzle thought the stream bed would bend to the NW, but was not sure. Either by luck or good navigating Kadizzle turned out to be correct and the route back was not too difficult. However, The Commander insist that given a little more effort her route was much quicker.

The argument has not been settled by official documentation, but Kadizzle realized as the crew hiked back that we would have got back eventually on The Commanders route, but it would have been a long hard arduous hike.

The Commander likes to hike in shorts, and she tried to persuade Kadizzle to hike bare legged. Back at the Earth Module The Commander's legs looked as if she had been clawed by a mountain lion from the cactus scratches. Had the crew taken The Commanders route we could have used her legs for hamburger.

It is always an adventure. Make sure you take a GPS, some matches, a flashlight, and a beacon. It would also be very wise to let someone know what you are up to and when you should be back. Someday Kadizzle suspects The Commander and Kadizzle will spend a cold night huddled under a space blanket, because of an adventure gone aery.

One last important word of advice. Most of the time we start hiking about 9 O'Clock. Kadizzles rule is to turn around and head back between one and two in the afternoon. Many times The Commander insist we keep going, but that rule has worked well for us. Running out of daylight and being lost is not good. On occasions when it looked as if we were in a bind, we started hiking faster to get back before dare. This leads to several bad possibilities. Going too fast leads to injuries, and if you are going in the wrong direction, you are going the wrong way faster.

Small community of content people

Yesterday the Earth Module settled into an old familiar spot. Luck was on our side and we got our favorite place. Our backyard is the vast desert and no one is near us. The old regulars are here. Bud is over in the other corner. Probably will see him out dumpster diving for cans this morning. A morning ritual is going over and standing by Bud's fire to warm up in the morning. The regular camp host are here. The executive suite ( Vault Toilets) has been freshly painted and is spit shinned fit for a king.

For some strange reason the place is devoid of campers. Johnny from Canada is here waiting for his wife to join him, and the guy that travels around fixing RV's has his big outfit off to the North. The wild horses went through yesterday. Down along the river Kadizzle heard a strange noise while taking a walk. Thought it was a horse, but turned out to be a heron. The river is way down.

The plan is to take a hike today. Old Kadizzle has not stretched his legs for awhile, so it may be hard getting the engine going.

The Sun Also rises

A coyote just wandered down the road in front of the Earth Module. Sunshine is spilling over the Superstition mountains.

After breakfast the Earth Module will head down the mountain to the Salt River campground. Kadizzle and The Commander made a prelanding check yesterday. The old gang is there and the place is practically empty. Being weaned from electricity will be difficult. All power will not come from God, but from the Honda 2,000 generator. God will provide sunshine and other amenities.

Temperatures could be improved, but 60 in AZ beats 12 in Hazen, ND. The Earth Module wine cellar was stocked at bargain prices yesterday, along with other supplies, so this morning it is just a matter of filling the water tank and hooking up.

Although usually a fairly shy person The Commander quickly becomes super Commander when she wants to see another camper layout. Yesterday she cajoled some people with a small camper into a tour. RV people are like sailors, always checking out all the options on other models. The camper The Commander spotted was an Oliver, this is a rare bird. First one either of us has ever seen. The Oliver is a copy of the classic Casita. The Oliver stole most of the Casita ideas and improved on them. A very well built and nice little camper, but very expensive. The Oliver has plenty of ground clearance and would be perfect for going way back in the boonies. Time for the second cup of coffee in the sunshine north of Mesa.

Muppets turn out to be Communist.

Just when you think it cannot get worse Fox News informs us the Muppets are communist. After the Christian fundamentalist told us the Tele Tubies were gay, it did not seem there could be any bad news. Fox now says the Occupy Wall Street movement was caused by Muppets turning our kids into communist.

Kadizzle has always feared sharing could lead to communism. It is just like drugs. You start out with something mild and next you are hooked on cocaine. The evil Muppets, and I am sure Mr. Rogers was in on it, suggest kids share. Well sharing is nothing but socialism. How far is it from socialism to communism? Yup, you see how the Muppets, and Mr. Rogers suck the kids in. What we need are cartoons that show greedy little kids who want it all. Thank God Fox has exposed PBS and what they are up to. We would not have a Kenyan president if Fox had been listened to.

The high price of recycled trash.

Don't ask why, but Kadizzle and company shopped all the thrift stores in Cottonwood yesterday. One cannot help but be amazed at the market for junk. The Commander picked up five license plates that Erin is going to use in some goofy project for one dollar per plate. Of course the junkyard would give them to you for ten cents. Railroad spikes were going for $3. You can walk down any rail line and get all you want for free. Telephone pole insulators took the cake, $25, are you kidding. One exclusive junk store had everything marked at three times what an idiot would pay for it.

There is no doubt you could go to the dump in Hazen, fill a tractor trailer with trash and sell it in Cottonwood for a nice profit.

On interesting thing about the Cottonwood stores was the smell. The thrift store in Hazen, and in all North Dakota thrift stores smell like pickle canning took place or too much sausage was fried around the clothes. In Cottonwood the store have a better smell that my sister says is desert dust mixed with sweat.

It is always interesting that things given away elsewhere are sold in thrift stores. All the silly cups, pill boxes, and other advertising give away items are sold to idiots to dumb to go next door and ask for one for free.

Sister Patty came very close to buying a framed poster with Cowboy sayings. The best and my favorite was " Don't get mad at people who are smarter than you, it is not their fault". There should be a sign in these thrift stores " It is any wonder you are in here broke, if you have been buying junk at these prices your entire life".

Functionless junk seems to market very well. There are hundreds of broken and worn out things you can buy at a dear price to just sit in your house and take up space. One good deal are the 19.95 items sold on TV. They are usually marked down to half price.

Dog VS Helicopter in Cottonwood, AZ

The World reduced to a penny jar.

At my sister Patty's house last night a crisis arose. The last bottle of St. Pauly Girl beer was empty. Patty instructed Lord Kadizzle to run to the local refreshment establishment and replenish the supply. As Kadizzle paid for the beer he noticed the little jar that held pennies for customers short a penny or two. On the jar were the rules as follow:

1. If you need a penny, take a penny

2. If you need two pennies, take two.

3. If you need three pennies, get a job.

Being a socialist Kadizzle would add number four. Don't take more pennies than you need, or leave enough pennies for those who really need them.

Only the Super Rich can Save US

In the cozy den of the large but modest house in Omaha where he has lived since he started on his first billion, Warren Buffett watched the horrors of Hurricane Katrina unfold on television in early September 2005. . . . On the fourth day, he beheld in disbelief the paralysis of local, state, and federal authorities unable to commence basic operations of rescue and sustenance, not just in New Orleans, but in towns and villages all along the Gulf Coast. . . He knew exactly what he had to do. . ."

So begins the vivid fictional account by political activist and bestselling author Ralph Nader that answers the question, "What if?" What if a cadre of superrich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation? What if some of America's most powerful individuals decided it was time to fix our government and return the power to the people? What if they focused their power on unionizing Wal-Mart? What if a national political party were formed with the sole purpose of advancing clean elections? What if these seventeen superrich individuals decided to galvanize a movement for alternative forms of energy that will effectively clean up the environment? What if together they took on corporate goliaths and Congress to provide the necessities of life and advance the solutions so long left on the shelf by an avaricious oligarchy? What could happen?