Part 2 –Seven shades
of brown
The desert
southwest is something for every Ohioan to visit and observe to fully
appreciate all we have here in terms of rain and water sources. I would walk
the river or creek as I call it here and I believe most of the water in it came
from the condensers in air conditioning units, anyhow this creek would trace
its way through downtown Roswell and I followed it one day through a
residential neighborhood and I came across what appeared to be a Nazi symbol
embedded in the stonework of the canal , and after checking it out on the internet
found out that during World War 2 , German prisoners were housed in barracks at
the military base and would routinely allow prisoners to participate in work
gangs and one gang was attached to the river project at the time which involved
bringing in hundreds of tons of rock and hand placing it on the slopes of the
stream , and at one point were allowed to establish in the rock a symbol of
their native homeland . Together the group of prisoners elected to emblazon a Nazi
iron cross symbol in the stonework. A historical marker placed in an
observation position told the story of which I retold to my dad who was a gunner
on a battleship in World War 2 and to this day I can remember his reaction as
if I was untruthful as to the story. He couldn’t believe that Germans would be
allowed to deface a project like that and get by with it. He was very adamant
about his position and went so far as to call me a liar, as if I had purpose
for making up something like this.
Dad and Mom
went out west to extend Dads life as he had bronchitis and emphysema, and were of
the thinking that if he went out west where the air was better that it would
extend his life and in a lot of ways it did. Well for one thing, if he would have
stayed here I am sure we would have got into it more often and soon enough I would
either kill him or he would me. We never seemed to get along that much. I would
have to say that the ten years they spent out there was good for him as he
finally developed an appreciation for people in his life that had over the
years tried to help him. That and Alzheimer’s led him to a life where I too
finally appreciated our relationship, hard as it may have been at times but in
years seems to have mellowed us both out. Occasional flare-ups of temper was
expected from dad at times with me , even when he had Alzheimer’s as sometimes
he would look at me real mean and be withdrawn . I finally come to the
conclusion he was pissed at something and knew I had to be the reason, except that he couldn’t remember
for what or when. I would just ignore and move on. Two minutes later it would
pass and he would have a smile on his face.
Spending the
month out there with them was a nice break, as it I had never lived outside the
state of Ohio for so long in one place in all my life as I have always been a lifelong
resident of the state. This was a radical break from the norm and at the time was
something I needed in my life. My eyes were wide open and it was interesting
noticing all the differences between the two places. Things I would notice
while out driving around, or doing a walk about of town would translate into
stories by mom and dad as they would have noticed it before me and would tell
me stories about it and make suggestions as to where I should go next. The one
month I spent there was interesting to say the least. It was nice to stay in a
spot long enough to get a feel for living there in real life. I liked staying
there and would like to revisit but still would long for home eventually. I know
there are times when the desert blooms and grass grows green but in the last
part of February all I saw was seven shades of brown and an occasional green watered
lawn. Most were brown or were just plain dirt and dust.
Dust would accumulate
in corners and crevices along with bits of trash, where it may make a haven for
something to grow. In most cases it wouldn’t and depending on the wind
direction move on to somewhere else always trying to find a chance at making
it. Much like the tumble weeds do when out on the prairie. I couldn’t imagine
trying to deal with this daily and worrying about venturing to far from town
without water, or ‘to be lost in the desert on a horse with no name’. Instead
would gladly choose what I have right now, gray or anyway it comes to us.
I have come to
the conclusion I have a tendency to underestimate my storytelling abilities and
may have to drag this blog down this road for a while to cover all I had seen
and done while travelling to New Mexico. The sixteen shades of green comes from
all the shades of beautiful green I have seen here in Ohio as bright sun green
is different than stormy blue green and along with it comes the mood. Having a night
of rolling thunderstorms, and near misses by tornadoes bears an understanding
of appreciation how it is to have missed the bullet again. That green in the
morn in first light, heavy with dew is much different than high noon green. Maybe
someday I can express in words all the different shades and the moods that
correspond with the different shades of green, but feel I am venturing to far
away from what I had intended .to contrast two different environments in an
effort to understand unique and different we are. But is still life , outside
my little world of norm.
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