WHY THE GODS WANT TO BE PEOPLE---Part 2

OR--- SPECULATION ON WHY ETERNITY YEARNS TO EXPERIENCE TIME.  The point I hope to make is that LIVING IS SO DEAR.
I hold this myth in my head because it  helps propel me into deeper and richer experience----keeps me mindful of the briefness of my being---emboldens me to seize the day.
"Let us then be up and doing
With a heart for any fate;
still achieving, still pursuing;
Learn to labor and to wait."
(Longfellow: A Psalm of Life)

A recognizable sphinx at the sand castle festival.

An ....Ugly face!

One day I visited an old fort and engaged the host--

Learned of his hobby--told him mine--suggested we perform for each other.

He agreed--we exchanged 3 songs for 3 poems.  By the time we finished, we had an audience.

Went to an Indian Pow Wow.  This one a series of dance contest for money.

Went to a unique boat show in Toledo, Or. ---featuring CARDBOARD and wooden boats.  The town lets you settle in along this river.  

There, dear readers is a rare sight---a functioning cardboard boat.

Here is the idea man and director of the festival--with his personal cardboard boat----chose not to float it.  He explained the rules:  One month ago, the local paper mill gave out lots of cardboard to anyone wishing to build a boat for the big race. Wood  is not permitted---only glue, paint and duct tape.

Here's a sample of what the contestants came up with. These are after-the-race shots of course.

Some survived splendidly,

others, not so splendidly.

Some were a hilarious disaster---the paddler had to swim for his life.

I think this was the winner---the situation was confusing.

Aaah but there was more to this festival.  for $425 you would be furnished with everything you needed to build your own kayak--including instructions.  You were given the weekend to finish your project.  Amazingly, most got their boat built.

And as you can see, they were exquisite, serviceable kayaks.

Engaged this pretty lady.  Meet Patti---and guess what---she's an inventor!  Posing here she wears her patented invention around her neck:  A "wine bra".  It's the answer to that troubling problem of where to put your wine glass as you move about in a social situation.  Read about it here .

Someone called my name---always a pleasant surprise. Fellow travelers I met in Quartzsite, Az at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous.

At the local rail museum I quizzed this expert on an obscure puzzlement of mine: How did the railroad builders finally solve the problem of eliminating the  noisy clack, clack, clack as trains passed over the once-considered-necessary expansion joints? Not only noisy, he said, but wearing on the wheels.  So RIBBON RAIL ---with no gaps is now standard.  But "How do they allow for expansion on hot days", I asked.  He smiled and punched up the answer: 

THEY WELD THE JOINTS WHEN THE RAILS ARE HOT--- making them hot with a temporary fire.   mystery solved!

Another guy answered questions about life in a caboose. Lets me hold the job for a jiffy.

Here's a shocker for you---on at least 3 occasions human beings were sent by mail.

The highlight of the day was engaging this brilliant guy---Steve---an attorney from Portland.  We are both Unitarians with much to share.  On another day he took me on a farm tour near Yachats, Or.

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  I believe that life is a zone of mystery because we do not know, ultimately, where we come from---why---if any reason-- we are here ---and what-- if anything--becomes of us.  So we speculate---and make up stories (myths) that ease our anxiety a bit and help us generate some temporary meaning for ourselves.  Most of the world's worst problems are caused by believers who take their myths too seriously. Everyone on the planet who does not know that they do not know is a part of the problem.  Everyone who embraces the mystery joyfully, is part of the solution.