Remembering the Dead at Christmas on the Roads of the Mojave Desert
It's rough right now.
My buddy Matthew Sheffield advised me to start getting out and taking Jasmine for more regular walks to try and feel better from Sally Shideler Swindle’s Thanksgiving miscarriage. He was right so I’ve pushed myself and started doing that. I’m trying especially to take her out at sunrise and sunset when it’s especially beautiful out here.
This morning I came across something that moved me and that seemed worth sharing.
This little memorial is right by our neighborhood on the edge of town in Yucca Valley, Callifornia. I had never stopped to inspect it so closely before and had not noticed that the family apparently kept it well-maintained and seasonally updated:
I don’t know who this man was yet or how he died. I’ll look him up soon and report what I find. I should do it now but just do not have the wherewithal for research now.
This evening I ventured out to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries and holiday supplies. I didn’t really want or need to go, but felt I should push myself. Perhaps I might find some useful supplies or something to rise the spirits.
It was unbearable. All the families with children running around were too much. Each young person running around from toddler to teenager was now a future vanished.
At multiple times I literally had to stop in the aisles as tears poured down my cheeks.
At the self-check-out area two boys, perhaps 7 and 9, played swords with the tall, thin slim jims as who appeared to be their grandma scanned their items. Everything felt in slow motion as I tapped through my items to eagerly escape and return home.
I found this image circulating on Substack Notes courtesy of Joel J Miller and it’s basically my “vibe” of this season:
Yes, it’s a Grinch Christmas out here in the Mojave. But we’ll get through.
I hope everyone else is feeling more of the holiday spirit than we are.
sending you both best wishes.