Escape the Okie Zone

You could call this a personal creative non-fiction journal about a world traveler and his evolving life. He saw the warmth of Americans vanish with the once large friendly middle class. Was there a Camelot, when we thought of ourselves as a good nation? The powers that be have been holding our country hostage since Reagan took away the power of the unions and Neoconservatives took over the Republican Party! Will we ever stop our declining ways? (sorry for typos!)

Saturday, April 30, 2011

wish I was at the wedding! Maybe Ill go for a swim in the flooded river!

posted by Garvald # 4/30/2011 11:46:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Thursday, April 28, 2011

it's a gorgeous day in the Ozarks and im makin peace with the inlaws...
instead of me being an outlaw with them...
took some nice pics of the river that was almost flooding...
it's been the first nice day since arriving into this hemisphere...

I worry about whats happening to america where the journalists allow such blatant racism continuing to harp on Obama's birth certificate...even when he shows it to these racist "birthers" they give him a hard time and then the racist Trump questions his school credentials ...
who ever questioned George Jr. when he had a low C average at Yale??

I am scared about the very rich 1% continuing to bankrupt our nation...at the poor and middle class's expense... we are heading to becoming a banana republic where the corporations will own us and we will be paying taxes to benefit them and bail them out when they need help!

posted by Garvald # 4/28/2011 04:37:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

April 27, 2011, 11:29 PM

It is really scary what is happening to our country… I have come back from Oz where there is a govt. that takes care of the people.. I can see it from living there for a couple of years on and off…

I see a well off country and then I come back to a country struggling to stave off poverty…
I could worry about our family and I could worry about the country falling down the tubes...

or when will we have a revolution to decide to not the republicon totally fuck us over!
with the Ryan bill to take care of the deficit...
the rich will pay little in taxes and our social security will no longer be in existence...
... and then donald trump is now showing himself as an egotistical racist!

posted by Garvald # 4/27/2011 11:00:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

u want an autograph??

posted by Garvald # 4/26/2011 10:45:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Im already missing living on the beach... seeing the ocean on a warm sunny morning...

my mate had an epiphany about ADD and how perhaps the adderall will help her as it helps me when we find that we have lack of focus... but perhaps I've had moments of being hyperfocused...

for my chess club, my surf club, my desire to do to win that magical surf swim race...

now settling into a pattern of dealing with the jet lag here in this little town in the Ozarks... reclimatizing to have a better outlook on it all...

Colin was up till about 3 am which is about 7pm in Oz... and so I took him to bed and he woke up comfortably next to me in his new surrounding and home for the moment... he looks up and sees me and then goes back to sleep... and it can be good where my honey has a chance to rejuvenate in her Ozark home...and I learn to make peace with the family..

as I need to do with others ...

and forgive..

or u can let it get to u like Charlie, Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson and others that endure the rages of middle age... and perhaps coming to terms with their mortality

Is Nic taking a cue from the Mel Gibson school of drunken outbursts? The actor was arrested in Louisiana when a cab driver saw him push his wife, Alice, during a heated argument. The reportedly drunk Cage challenged officers who arrived on the scene saying, "Why don't you just arrest me?" They did. Ironically, he was bailed out soon after by Dog the Bounty Hunter. But now Cage is being investigated for a whole new ballgame: child abuse. He reportedly injured his son, 5, during a drunken ragey...

posted by Garvald # 4/26/2011 08:58:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I have a chance to write at the Microtel lobby computer... wow.. it's a lot easier than
the laptop that misses an o and has a mistake every time that I write some eloquent pieces...
it was wonderful seeing LA,s family...
I am so indebted to their kindness
and I just have to learn how to play it forward...
I guess the key word is play...
and learning how to play with patience
I love to play but I have to teach my other half to play with patience also!
so many things to chat about and I was worried that we'd have to drive back to hillbilly country
when I could have visited them more...
I need to call Crow Mac and ask him to visit us again at our little home away from home
as I learn how to take care of business
and relax
and especially my wife to relax... but their points where we need to escape just momentarily for the good of the relationship
when everything we say gets twisted and doesnt ever come out the way you want it!

I saw this beautiful pic of Petra and wanted to add into my blog...
there are so many worlds with new places to visit in this short...
I hope my family will carry on this nomadic gene that we humans carry in us...
I already miss the ocean
and Ive been noticing how much I've been eating at the Microtel Buffet...

Unfortunately, we are trying to live our fast paced lifestyle in what is naturally a slow paced world. Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, once told the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree. It seems that this tree when planted, watered, and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn’t outwardly grow as much as an inch. Then, after the second growing season, a season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn’t sprouted. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for all of their labor trying to grow the tree.

Then, along comes year five.

In the fifth year that Chinese bamboo tree seed finally sprouts and the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season! Or so it seems….

Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond? The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew. The same principle is true for people. People, who patiently toil towards worthwhile dreams and goals, building strong character while overcoming adversity and challenge, grow the strong internal foundation to handle success, while get-rich- quickers and lottery winners usually are unable to sustain unearned sudden wealth.

Had the Chinese bamboo farmer dug up his little seed every year to see if it was growing, he would have stunted the tree’s growth as surely as a caterpillar is doomed to a life on the ground if it is freed from its struggle inside a cocoon prematurely. The struggle in the cocoon is what gives the future butterfly the wing power to fly, just as tension against muscles as we exercise strengthen our muscles, while muscles left alone will soon atrophy. My problem with exercise is not getting instantly stronger after each work out! I pray for more patience every day and I pray to get it right now!

http://brownbagchats.com/archives/14

I suppose the best listener is myself when I read all of this a few years later...
and I wish that I could go back in time and try to teach myself the patience
and nurture the seed that grows inside of me...
and now I have to slowly but surely have patience with my son and especially my relationship...
that has been the most difficult challenging problem to overcome...
I will learn how to play this game of life like a chess...
already I'm way past the opening and all the pieces are piling up on the king
as he looks for his pieces to come to his aid...
and then learn after staving off this attack on my king
I will learn how to gather my pieces to go on to victory...
and help my pawns reach their 8th rank and become whatever they want...
the pawns could be metaphors for my talents or the people that I can pay it forward to...
and they will help me in my hours of need...
i hope

posted by Garvald # 4/24/2011 10:52:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

posted by Garvald # 4/24/2011 10:35:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

wow... finally here... looking out the window and across the ocean...
and the next moment, we are here...
a little rest at a Microtel hotel to get over jet lag...
Im missing out some surf club activities this Sunday...(which is now Monday morning in Oz)
hardly slept at all on the flight, but at least we were on a nonstop domestic flight!

Thank you,Lord, for being born in OZ!

Excuse me? You want to see my birth certificate?

what happened to America, Daddy??

it's great having Stu as a friend to give us a ride to the train station!

Gosh, I can't be president! I was born in Oz! Oh, Lord, what else is there for me?

posted by Garvald # 4/24/2011 06:21:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Play it forward!

u think about nice things... and serendipitous occasions... and when I was worried about a razor...my friend, stu had a razor waiting for me.. and then friends .. I need to help others when I have the chance.... and makes me want to actuallyh believe there is a god!

posted by Garvald # 4/19/2011 06:48:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Monday, April 18, 2011

posted by Garvald # 4/18/2011 07:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ok..

Iok… so I won the senior event for our club… and the coolest thing was when cap’n Pete grabbed my shoulders just as we were coming in….

… there were better open swimmers but I won for folks over 30!

posted by Garvald # 4/15/2011 10:40:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

ok... so Im escaping from reality as much as possible... but not everyone loves the dream....

but if its my family... they are the most important to me...

there is so much to do but my better half has trouble walking down the steps to the beach...

but shes getting better..

we used up a little of the tank we actually filled up in early november...

its more traumatic for us to deal with driving in the bizarre way of Oz

than suspecting im often swimming with the sharks...

Daddy, quit taking so many pictures!

today I will be sleep deprived for the end of the season club championships...
will I be lethargic or take a guarana be stimulated enough to take the surf... and then we have club pics..
always a little nervous about being with lots of people...and not appearing as a foolish old rip van beach bum!

posted by Garvald # 4/15/2011 09:58:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Thursday, April 14, 2011

it was feeling good working out this avo and what a beautiful day here on the Gold Coast!.. I just wish that it could go on!.. I was really working out hard in the ocean this evening trying to grab as much as I could from the ocean... feeling the rip and the various waves as I took them in!

posted by Garvald # 4/14/2011 08:09:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Monday, April 11, 2011

ok... when i was just a young virgin I had this obsession with Julie Christie...especially after seeing her on a cold winter night in Rochester, New York.. I imagined walking 100s of miles in the snow to be with her...I realize after watching her in her recent movie that she was the perfect woman to grow old with... so understanding and just drop dead beautifull.... for her to say my name in the most sexiest sultry English voice that she has... she was the most beautiful older generation actress ive seen!!! that is one of the few women that has kept her beauty through time....mmmmm

oh...when will he come out of the surf?

but would understand my mental frailties?? perhaps not and if she seemed to be the perfect soul mate, I would perhaps be needy... wondering when i was going to see her next..

or just waiting for her to come in from the blizzar in her sexy white russian fur hat next to warm fire and sheet for me to warm up her chilled yummy body... ok... a little carried away...

even happilly married men (and women have it with Johnny Depp) have their secret fantasies...

posted by Garvald # 4/11/2011 09:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Saturday, April 09, 2011

The Aussie's (national surf life championships) are the best and coolest sports that I have ever been involved in!

posted by Garvald # 4/09/2011 09:05:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Thursday, April 07, 2011

I wish that I could be better organized so we could do all the things that life has to offer...
i realize today that ive missplaced or lost the cell phone, remembering that I was charging the mobile phone at the Dr's office because our electricity went out.. and then lost a wallet with my debit card and a little cash... all knowing that I am prone to losing things in my life.. and I have to focus to hold onto what is the dearest and most precious in my new life...Im escaping reality and soon have to go back to face all the easily overwhelming things life has let me pile up....
and then I learn to accept we are just a small little microscopic layer on earth's geologic layer...
or who could believe that the earth is only 5k years old....according to Palin's religion!

posted by Garvald # 4/07/2011 08:31:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

yeh.. its cool... a few more good days.. maybe?

posted by Garvald # 4/06/2011 02:03:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

posted by Garvald # 4/05/2011 04:38:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Monday, April 04, 2011

The dangers of Prograsstination

how do u like my new sunnies??

i suppose the Aussies were anticlimactic coming in last behind my good friend,Stu. He had a little smile as we waited for the waves in that very choppy weather...fighting for last place... or just letting my friend get ahead of me as we struggled to the shore through the turbulent water....
as the others waited for us to run...

later in the morning, I was fighting again for second last place in the first leg of the Taplin relay...
I saw the other competitor when we turned around for the first buoy

I saw the other struggling competitor when we turned around for the first buoy.. I just had the mental energy to relax and hang with him after seeing the rest of the wave of swimmers leaving me in the distance,

that I could overtake him at anytime just keeping with this other poor bloke’s struggling like me in the waves

Stu waiting to race in the ironman event

We took a wave and let it tumble as both and then we looked at each other with the shock of being spun around but having fun …

I came in to tag my teammate, Wayne, waiting patiently for me but still congratulating me for getting through afer I hobbled (my poor left knee blew out in the previous race) around the flags to tap him at the start his leg , the ski (kayak), of the taplin relay … the board leg was last and we came in tenth… we had to be 8th to get in the final

soon it will be back to reality and finally hopefully takin care of business in the many declining states of still being american (maybe I should enter this phrase in the urban dictionary...??)

should have filed, mate! do I have bags from stressing out and losing sleep?
umm, maybe I need a face lift?

i didnt want to open our family care package over the weekend (so it would ruin the weekend of the Aussies) and traumatically see the horrendously big bill from the IRS for putting off filing for the IRS, so now I have to show them how that year was a financial loss with only half a year of teaching....

theyre showing that I earned a lot more ..

.and thinking that Im helping to funding the cost of a soldier to be in wars for control of the declining petroleum wells... a little bit towards the million $$ /year it cost for him/her to be

I kinda wish Dad was still alive ,
according to the butterfly effect, I wouldnt have met Dad
and the chances of Colin's sperm making in that one microcosmic session wonderful love....
and then us finding out we would be parents from a little kit from the dollar store!!
is truth better than fiction??

but id probably still be teaching and not be a father...

being a father was the biggest gift from the Powers that be...

posted by Garvald # 4/04/2011 10:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

"try to understand why some people "backstab" or double-cross. A backstabber is someone who pretends to be your friend, or to be on your side, and then turns around and does or says things that lead to you being harmed, exposed, or treated badly as a result of things they suggest or reveal. Backstabbing is a form of manipulation and reveals a person who is disloyal, insecure, and very unsure of their own place. Understanding the motivations behind backstabbing can help you to find ways to deal with it, as well as showing you that the backstabber is very often a person with poor emotional resources and is probably a very unhappy individual. While that doesn't excuse their behavior, it can reassure you that the backstabber is probably like this with many people and needs to be treated objectively as someone to careful of. Reasons why people resort to backstabbing include: "

(Huffpo)

I could get upset about people... folks that I have trusted and they inevitably stab you in the back...

and wonder where do u draw the line... where its time for u to make a stand and not let them continue walking all over u...

posted by Garvald # 4/04/2011 09:05:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Hey, let's play tennis... cool shoes, Mom!

posted by Garvald # 4/02/2011 04:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post