patrickjegan

February 10, 2016

The Big Empty: Where Nothing Is Everything

If you have a mind to go someplace where you can think without distraction, pray without a preacher, sin without a society to judge, see the night sky in its true black star-filled glory, see a snake, an ant, a spider or a bird…then come to The Big Empty. One thing you may not see,…

February 8, 2016

Reality Check: 66% Of The Road Trip Is Behind Us

[Organ Pipe Cactus] We are roughly two-thirds of the way through our long and event-filled road trip. As I write this, I’m sitting in a Starbucks, about 263 dusty, windy and empty miles from Tucson. According to my four weather apps on my iPhone, it’s going to be nearly 80 F today. We need warmth.…

February 6, 2016

Honky Tonks, Bordellos And Celery

[This soiled dove was from Cripple Creek, CO.] We watched January turn into February in Silver City, New Mexico. A former mining town from the 19th Century, was a place where miners, tired and in need of a drink and a little love to purchase, would come up from the valleys and down the mountains…and…

January 31, 2016

On A Dusty Street Corner In Juarez

“When you’re lost in the rain, in Juarez, and it’s Easter Time too, And your gravity fails you and your negativity can’t pull you through…” –Bob Dylan Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues Let’s be realistic. You didn’t think I was going to write a blog about crossing the border bridge to visit Juarez, Mexico, and…

January 28, 2016

I Heard The Secrets Of The Grackle’s Song

[Image: Google search] A short time ago, perhaps a week, maybe more, I spent a few days in Austin, Texas. We were visiting with a gentleman, William, that I had met during a writers workshop in Westport, New York in October, 2012. He has been a good friend and faithful follower of my blogs since…

January 25, 2016

Mix Mesquite, Sage, Fire, Oil And A Dash Of White-Line Fever

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You shall wander far in safety, though you do not know the way. –From Be Not Alone, a hymn commonly sung at funerals. Words by John Michael Talbot. “Somewhere on a desert highway, she rides a Harley-Davidson…her long blonde hair flying in…

January 23, 2016

My Moonlight Sonata

“Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your hair. You certainly know the right thing to wear…” –Popular song For many years, the Full Moon has fascinated me. In the North Country, in the death-like silence of the mid-winter, and the snow on the ground is seven inches deep, and bending the branches of the cedar…

January 20, 2016

At The Alamo: All The History I Needed Was On My Pajamas

[Source: Google search] I grew up in a time when kids had heroes. Mythic heroes. These days, it seems like anyone who performs his or her duties is a “hero”. It’s fair to say that most children, throughout history, had their own heroes. The ancient Greek boys had their Spartans and the Irish youth had…

January 18, 2016

Dear Moxie…

So long, honey baby Where I’m bound, I cannot tell But goodbye’s too good a word So I’ll just say “Fare thee well…” –Bob Dylan “Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right“ Dear Moxie, We’ve been through a lot in our short life together, Moxie. But there comes a time when the best thing to do…

January 15, 2016

Confessions Of My Scrabble Nemesis

Mariam thought she was going to be visiting her fellow high school graduate…from the Class of ’63, the Long Island City High School in Queens, NY. Why else would we be driving for hours through the Texas Hill Country to the small town of Burnet, TX? We had three days to spend in the great…