apology – Loopcircus

APOLOGY:
Heads up… it appears i’m behind on the “Chool Bus” weekly entries. I have no excuses, but here’s the reason: i decided to forego extravagant 2026 fuel prices by packing my “normie” stuff and moving it to a neck of the woods closer to my kids.

No loss. The “Hot Springs or Busk” tour lasted roughly two years with a visit to all 48 mainland United States. I hope to emerge from the experience with a book based on these and other experiences accumulated over several lifetimes (6 7 trips around the solar system).

NOBODY GOING NOWHERE:
It’s my nature…because i don’t know who or what may emerge from any given earthly moment. Try as i might, i can’t direct the waves of fate…it doesn’t work that way. One peak…one trough…one breaker after another is the only available option.

I sail Rocinante chartless, because i must. Others may choose a more popular guided cruise and if that’s your jam, by all means, knock yourself out. Just keep in mind…if you choose the chartless path, this is what it’s like.

And make no mistake, letting go of expectations isn’t the easy path, but it keeps you on your toes. You are compelled to ride with open eyes, attentive ears, and a stout heart. Where it leads or what happens along the way can’t be known by you or anyone else. Maybe a wipeout…maybe a tempest… maybe a wildlife encounter…or maybe none of the above. In any case, it’s not special…just a mystery through and through, and everything you’ll ever need.

Either way, we share the planet with restless souls…haunted by dread and dream…like bobbing corks on the sea of fetters…awareness desperately hampered by limited perceptual bandwidth.

But love is out there too…and love is nothing if not restorative…and vital.

AM “I” IN CONTROL?
No one is special…cognitive scientists don’t even KNOW what an “I” really is. But we enter and exit this mortal existence in similar fashion with exactly the same ultimate result. So…am i the master of my fate? Am i a pinball subject to the push/pull of external forces? Or could it be a little of both?

PRO TIP: When in doubt, i run the questions by Occam’s Razor…from there, i find the simplest explanations usually more than satisfying.

And it can even be funny! I imagine a wry smile on the universe’s face as i succumb to ego-driven thoughts aimed at looking or seeming a certain way…that smile that says, “Oh, yeah, you’re doing that again.” … 😛

What…me worry?

Do caterpillars fret over transformation details…or does it just happen?

And so…going forward in blissful obscurity…the modus operandi of my 15th life (take that, felines) i will be traveling, chartless, in a perpetual state of wonder…nobody going nowhere.

The weekly dispatches will resume once i’ve settled into my new homebase…it shouldn’t be much longer.

See ya soon… Rohlfie

Greetings, future Earthlings! As i write, the last echoes of graduation ceremonies, funeral potatoes, and bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” are fading. And so, looking forward, i turn my attention to a melancholic note. One that spurs a most peculiar thought: an apology is due. Yes, a grand, sweeping apology from us, the bumbling knuckle-draggers of the past, to you, the magnificent inheritors of our glorious mess.

Now, hold your horses, don’t get all misty-eyed just yet. As your Nana, bless her soul, would say, “Things could be worse! You could be fleeing a warzone with the Red Army on your tail!” Perspective, loopers! But even nestled here in the (relatively) stable heartland, the news wafting in from Europe and the Middle East leaves a bitter taste in the mouth – like burnt toast dipped in existential dread. It’s almost as if humanity forgot the whole “war is a racket” memo.

And wouldn’t you know it, the blame falls squarely on our generation, the Boomers. We just can’t seem to learn, can we? First, the Y2K fiasco – imagine the horror, computers bursting into flames! Then, the Neocon warhawks with their delusions of global domination. Then, the financial meltdown of ’07-’09 – a real doozy, that one. And as if that wasn’t enough, we had to throw in the culture wars, turning political disagreements into a grotesque vaudeville show with enough vitriol to power a small sun.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on Trump, the Rona, and the current crop of armchair generals itching for a Civil War 2.0 – a Facebook-fueled spectacle for the ages! You, my dear loopers, didn’t ask for any of this. Yet, the fallout from our relentless greed and short-sightedness lands squarely on your laps. First, you’ll have to survive the mess, then sift through the wreckage, salvaging what’s left to build something better.

Look, i know i’m adding to the cacophony with this rant. But my anger isn’t fueled by the 24/7 news cycle’s relentless negativity. No, it’s a white-hot rage at the sheer waste! We have the resources, the know-how, to create a world where everyone thrives. But that would require dismantling a system designed to reward the greediest, most acquisitive loopers in the room. Yeah, like that’ll ever happen.

So, are we, the supposed “Citizens of the Milky Way,” doomed? Or can we make the changes needed? Only time, and you, the future inheritors of our legacy, will tell.

In the meantime, accept my apologies, my heartfelt (and slightly tearful) apologies, for the world you’ve been handed. May you rise to the challenge and create a future worthy of your dreams, even if it means starting from scratch on a smoking pile of our mistakes.

Sincerely (and with a touch of trepidation),

A contrite boomer… R.H.