​In June of 2014, I drove to New Hampshire to visit old friends and do some camping. On June 27th I climbed Mount Chocorua and made a fantastic discovery: I am incredibly out of shape! My calves hurt for days after. I was slow and passed by virtually everybody, but I wasn’t the slowest on the mountain. I did pass a slug going the same way. There was a lot to see on the way up, such as lichen-encrusted rocks and trees.

​The purple areas on this rotting log are smooth and hard, while all around it is chipping away. It makes quite a design, doesn’t it?

​This tree seems to have been temporarily confused about which way was up:

​The mountain is rather steep most of the way up – much worse than Mount Monadnock – especially at the top where smooth rock curves down to become immense cliffs on two sides. Adding to the psychological intimidation, even after walking forever to reach the tree line, one can look to the left and see the top and just how far it is. The trail never seems to end. Being mostly bare rock on top, the trail is easy to lose and I ended up climbing straight up a wall for the last fifteen feet. The photographs do not at all do the view justice. In my peripheral vision, I could see that the nearest trees I could see were still very distant, giving the feeling that the view wrapped around underneath my feet and I was floating in the sky. It was a bit like standing in an OMNI theater.

The White Mountains are beautiful in the summer. Please comment.

​I visited the Emerson Point Preserve in Palmetto, Florida in April 2014, a peninsula on the border of the Manatee River and Tampa Bay. On the map it is on an island, but this is only because of a small canal. The preserve rules prohibit collecting, walking off-trail, and alcohol. Despite this, it was still pretty fun.

​I saw a lot of warped trees such as these:

​​I also found this tree with the worst sunburn I have ever seen:

​I saw tiny, hard seeds/berries that greatly resembled ladybugs (red with a black spot). There were many cacti and century plants sticking out into the trail. I saw large, purple flowers with pink stripes and large, pink flowers with pink stripes. They were nearly identical. On these flowers was a black butterfly with blue spots and a bluish sheen (likely a mangrove skipper). It crawled so deep into one of the flowers that I was able to briefly trap it inside by gently pinching the flower base shut. I also saw a zebra long-wing butterfly, a duck, a collar snake, a red-thorned spider (possibly Gasteracantha cancriformis), and these mangrove crabs:

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This is a poem I wrote in 2003. I imagine all of my poetry set to music. While I am normally no good at coming up with tunes of my own, this is one of the rare times I came up with a tune I don’t recognize from elsewhere. It has a sort of Paul McCartney sound to it. Tell me what you think.

Hello, I'll introduce myself
I'm the king of the world
Others sleep in my castles
I usually sleep outdoors
My slaves bring me everything
And they bring it for free
And when I'm finished singing
Please hand some bread to me
I carry no possessions
'cause I own everything you see
I'm the king of the world
And the world belongs to me
Some say I'm crazy
When I say the world is mine
Others say I'm lazy
Others say I'm fine
Some say I'm funny
But I know the truth
I'm the greatest there is
And I'm the king of the world

I run it all
I pull all the strings
I get no complaints
Except from some fools
Why don't I stop the wars and strife
If I'm as powerful as I say
Because those aren't worth dealing with
Unless of course they come my way
There are few others
Who accept my authority
But that's perfectly okay
The only word that matters is one from me
I'm the greatest there is
And I'm the king of the world

I own the largest rock collection
It's right under your feet
Though some of my slaves may hide some
I'll get them back again
I keep the largest one
Down under somewhere
I'm the greatest there is
And I'm the king of the world

I'm the king of the world
If only for a while
I'm the king of the world
Now's alright to bow
I'm the king of the world
And you know I'm the king of style
I'm the greatest there is
And I'm the king of the world

​I visited Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida in October 2013. It isn’t that big, but there is a lot packed into it. First, I took the boardwalks through the swamp. I was surprised how few biting insects and how few birds (biting or not) there were. I did see a few wading birds, picking through the submerged vegetation for snacks. There were also quite a few surface skimming insects. The cypress trees I found contorted (or eroded) into some of the craziest shapes ever, but I couldn’t decide which to take pictures of. You’ll have to take my word for it. Anyways, I did not see any lettuce and the “lake” itself is really more of a forest. False advertising?

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​I am a bit disappointed. I saw zero snakes, zero fish, and zero gators. However, I did see about seven turtles.

Following the boardwalks to more open water near the river, I passed by the observation tower. It was closed. I saw what I think was an otter repeatedly stick its head out of the water and swim right underneath where I was standing. I was able to follow it by the subtle disturbance in the surface vegetation. I tried to take a picture, but it wouldn’t hold still.

​After this, I followed the paved and unpaved trails that circle the dry parts of the park. I passed a grassy field, a playground, a swing set (separate from playground), a sandbox, picnic shelters, restrooms, and very strange-looking structures described on the map as “exercise stations.” The area is dominated by palmettos and beauty berry. I also saw squirrels, various flowers, mushrooms, and a green dragonfly. It’s a nice place.

Please comment.

​This is a poem I wrote in 2003. I always imagine my poems set to music, but I am not good at coming up with new tunes. I imagine this one as a sort of rap while the chorus is similar to the chorus of Dream On by Aerosmith. Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think.
​

Love isn't all
Peaches and cream
It has a dark side
A dark side, it seems
Watch out for it
Or you'll lose your mind
No matter what the man says
Love isn't kind
I drank love's wine
And found half a worm
What I thought was pleasure
Was really a germ
Just like a peach
The heart has a pit
Beware of its trap
You'll fall in it
Into the pit
You will slide
If you only knew the power
Of the dark side

Dark side of love
Dark side of love
I can't get above
The dark side of love
Take me to the other side
I can't go on
Since we split up
It's been so long

Just like the dark
It can't be seen
It's violently vicious
It's definitely mean
You don't notice
Until the light goes out
It'll make you cry
It'll make you shout
Like a black hole
It will pull you in
That man was lucky
The one made of tin
Love isn't kind
This is a fact
It may look good
But it's just an act
Now I know the eagle
Was hunting the dove
Ruining your life is easy
All you need is love

Dark side of love
Dark side of love
I can't get above
The dark side of love
Take me to the other side
I can't go on
Since we split up
It's been so long

Love has a dark side
A dark side, it seems
It's like the hot fudge
On vanilla ice cream
The pain I felt
When our seperation spread
Helped me to know
I meant what I said
When the shadows are sharp
I know why
It means that
The sun's in the sky
That's what I've learned
It took me some time
To make sweet pie
Takes sour key lime
So when things go bad
When you've had enough
You know about the power
The power of love

Dark side of love
Dark side of love
I can't get above
The dark side of love
Take me to the other side
I can't go on
Since we split up
It's been so long

The Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, New Hampshire is great. I visited in September of 2012. It covers all the major Amerindian groups in North America, such as the Eskimos, the Navajo, and the local Abenaki. I loved the art. I found the simple tools and technologies interesting, such as canoes and the domestication of animals. There is a teepee outside and a garden with information of what plants were used as what medicines, which they learned about through trial and error.

What I really wanted to know was why dream catchers were the shape that they were and why so many of the exhibits spoke of a “circle of life.” The ancients would not have known of the water cycle or the carbon cycle. What exactly did it refer to? The employees thought that dream catchers might be a modern invention based on no particular ancient custom and they claimed that “circle of life” only referred to the fact that all life is connected. Connected in what way? By gravity? Why can’t it be connected in a triangle or a pentagram instead of a circle? They did not know. Nobody ever knows the answers to my questions.

Please comment.

In June 2009 I took a drive through Vermont for several days that included stops at the Maple Museum on Route 9 and the Chazy Fossil Reef on Isle La Motte. At the end of the week, I was off to visit “America’s Stonehenge” in Salem, New Hampshire. It is several acres of crisscrossing stone walls in the woods with a small cluster of stone “huts” in the center, some topped with dirt and moss. There is also a table and associated “speaking tube” through which one can speak through from a hidden place and make it seem as though the table is speaking. At the entrance to the woods is a combination gift shop and very small museum of artifacts found nearby.

The speaking tube is the most interesting. It reminds me of a program on the history channel documenting how the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and others used to use trickery and magic tricks to manipulate the masses into obedience. “Speaking tubes” of some kind were used in almost every major religion at the time.

Nobody knows who built the structures in what is now Salem. Evidence suggests that many groups, from native Amerindians to migrant Celtic priests (who visited the new world before Columbus) to runaway slaves on the underground railroad have used the site at different times in the past. There is also evidence that Scottish Knights were at least in this region in the middle ages, even if not linked directly to this site. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found suggests that at least some sections were being used as early as 4000 years ago.

Among the stone walls are large, flat, pointed stones standing upright. From a central location, these stones line up with the sunrise and sunset of each equinox, solstice, and several other dates important to some ancient societies. Other stones line up with important lunar events.

I myself have some doubts about the importance of these rocks and wonder if they are being interpreted correctly. For one thing, there are actually two central points these rocks line up with. Some rocks line up with one point and some line up with another about fifteen feet away. For another thing, the rocks do not line up precisely. This is explained away as the drift of the Earth through space in the time since these stones were used and the time period these stones would have lined up is supposedly corroborated by radiocarbon dating, but it is believed the site was used over many thousands of years, so that explanation only brings up the question of why the stones weren’t moved since then. Also, I have doubts about the accuracy of all radiometric dating. For another thing, there are several additional stones that are not said to line up with anything of any importance. Since there are so many of them, I believe it possible that any perceived lineup could very well be a coincidence. These stones might not have been used for a calendar after all.

If these stones were used as some sort of grand calendar built by a single group of people, why is it so sloppy? The stones are all different sizes, shapes, and distances from the center(s). Some have V-notches carved into them and some do not. Some are standing and some are not (it is claimed that some fell over). I can’t say that it isn’t a calendar, but nor can I be sure it is.

There is a nice trail through the woods also. The rest of the day was uneventful.

Please comment.