la jornada del Muerto

 la jornada del Muerto

fiction

edward w pritchard

Occasionally my dreams will allow me to take la jornado del Muerto [ the journey of a dead man]  in the White sands desert in New Mexico while I sleep. Once vacationing I visited and walked about the White Sands desert viewing the gypsum blown sand dunes and trudging across the ridges and dunes in the extreme heat. Unfortunately I missed the majesty of the Milky way galaxy at night in the desert as I left the National park before dark. 

Whatever part of myself there be which arranges dreams to present to mine self at night there is; it  is stingy with allowing me pleasurable dreams more than a few times. 

After we are dead and our self is no more what better place to spend eternity than walking about the White sands desert at night contemplating and admiring the night sky and Milky way galaxy as our feet sink into ten inches of warm sand as we dodge stickers and sharp objects. 

the dogma of the ghost in the machine made me mistake the hospital for a benevolent institution

 the dogma of the ghost in the machine made me mistake the hospital for a benevolent institution

fiction

edward w pritchard

It wasn't until I got a bevy of bills from groups of Medico's who didn't look in on me while I was recently in the hospital that the dogma of the ghost in the machine made me realize that for years I had mistaken the Hospital for a benevolent institution. 

Smiling I came to realize that John Lennon was right; we are all just f/ing peasants. For more confirmation please ready Carlo Levi's " Christ stopped in Eboli" description of the lives of peasants in Italy's region  of the South post WW2. In Levi's excellent novel neither the peasants or minor gentry can manfully survive the poverty and demise that evades their lives and the place they inhabit.  

Keep yourself doped with religion, sex and TV and if I may add to John Lenin's observations watch out for that ghost in the machine and don't get Old.

we the people

we the people

fiction
edward w pritchard

We hope that no statue of Thomas Paine currently displayed in America will be toppled by persons demonstrating against police violence and excessive government hindrance and interference in the everyday activities of the American people. 

In my youth I read several articles and pamphlets written by Thomas Paine and believe that Paine would be sympathetic in principle to protests currently occurring in American cities.

Thomas Paine may his bones rest in peace where ever they may be. Like us he was misunderstood
and judged more for his faults than his contributions.

I don't protest. Being alone have I now accepted my fate. We the people merely endure.

modest rain storm

 modest rainstorm

fiction

edward w pritchard

Sleep with the bedroom window open in a modest rainstorm to enrich your dreams. Once extremely tired from walking on the Appalachian trail sleeping on a shelter platform dodging mice I dreamed of being in a cave peering through the opening at the rainstorm softly pounding the surrounding forest. The drizzling rain seems to me to be an archetypal memory as does sleeping in a cave. 

Having officially entered old age I treasure rain storms at night, distant train whistles and archetypal memories of being in caves. Gradually the rain slows, the seasons change and the Moon changes shapes noticed or not as I strain to remember my youth and if I am still the same entity who had so many recollections of previous times before. 

I spent a few hours with the grand children at the park

 I spent a few hours with the grand children at the park

fiction

edward w pritchard

I spent a few hours at the park today {sunday] with  the grand children at the park today and at the end of a long day took a nap and when  I woke up at two Am I notice that the American stock market futures are negative tonight in anticipation of tomorrow's opening in New York City. Quelle Domage!

Just wondering and fretting how it will effect [ or affect] hungry children in India or Africa if New York wall street  stock market futures are down on the day of the fall time change in America? What can we do about it?

Maybe,  tonight if I listen ever so  intently - "Angels we have heard on high". 

follower or subscriber of Jesus

 follower or subscriber of Jesus

fiction

edward w pritchard

With all the modern Science and no one really observing a bona vide miracle in the sense that philosopher David Hume discusses in his essay " on Miracles " we must ask are you a follower or subscriber of Jesus?

If someone you knew and trusted had watched the crucifixion and objectively described the proceedings would you continue to believe? The point being watching a man slowly tortured, die suddenly by a spear through his side to his heart,  is important stuff. Why would somebody who was an eye witness lie about 

that?

it's a shame we don't have the perception of Hubble[ that's Mr. telescope to me]

 it;s a shame we don't have the perception of Hubble [ that's Mr. Telescope to me]

fiction

edward w pritchard

It's a shame we don't have the perception of the Hubble telescope, floating out there in space finding fabulous distant galaxies that some second assistant NASA scientist programs him to spend fourteen days staring  at across the universe. If I did I wouldn't worry about how many trillion distant galaxies there were.

instead I would wish I could understand Iris Murdoch's book "Metaphysics as a guide to Morals". 

First off before I introduce you to Iris you should know she ended her life with Altztimers disease. Too, too

bad for what an ironic way for one of histories most intelligent women writers to die. C'est la vie I suppose. 

While you go to the internet and look up Iris Murdoch and her book [ skip the novels I am sorry to have to say] I am going to look on you tube tonight and spend a little time with my pal Hubble on the internet and explore what he has surmised from his work about the true nature of Time and the distant universe. Of course I have been having a few beers and am out of sync with time here on earth because of the October time change in 

America. Why must we do that each year?

So I walked outside tonight at about 2AM and looked up at the stars and planets for a few minutes. What happened to the new Moon I saw about five hours ago?

Back on Iris Murdoch I like the last chapter of her book mentioned above " Metaphysics  a summary". If you have time please read it. She says' people will use such devices as they have for survival". Who said there were no monumental female authors?

whose simpatico

 whose simpatico

fiction

edward w pritchard

Whose simpatico with youse? and more importantly when will the great invisible change occur that dissipates that simpaticability? It can't be repaired. 

Pink Floyd the band said " and when the band your in starts playing different tunes , I'll see  you on the dark side of the moon.

 I'll sit under the grapevines in the rain carving a curved knotted chipped  branch into my missing souls invisible original face while I wait. Sometimes I run and run across  endless plains of burning grasslands helping the others drive panicked buffalo herds to their deaths at the bottom of the canyons. Sometimes I sit in my cave and assist the storms to abate while I pray for the dawn. 

Words, words, words they can't repair lost time. Despair, hopelessness and the endless void. 

great American paintings

 great American paintings

fiction

edward w pritchard

A great American painting is " Edward Hopper's " Early Sunday Morning, 1930". To me it's a study in loneliness and hopelessness. It reminds me of a Tennessee Williams memory play without the characters. 

world's greatest painting

 World's greatest painting

fiction

edward w pritchard

Our tastes change over time. But for me, since I first saw Rogier Van Der Weyden's " Descent from the cross" at the Prado in Madrid, Spain, Rogier's masterpiece is to me the greatest painting ever made. 

The painting grabs the casual observer and drags them into the pathos. Mary faints, turns very pale and St John rushes to support her. Each character in the painting is all to human in a moment of extreme stress.