BajaNomad

An Attempt to Explain

Baja Bernie - 8-6-2007 at 06:10 PM

Wow! And golly gee! I really feel like a huge failure here. I posted this thread http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=26069 and for the most part folks just rained on my parade.

I did what I normally do when I am confused and not totally sure of the ground that I stand on—I turned on my favorite philosopher, Jimmy Buffett, and listened to him for a few days as I thought about progress—if you know his music then you know that he has said many interesting things about—well, you know progress. I refer you to these pieces in support of my humble position:

• Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
• Volcano
• Jolly Man Song
• Mental Floss
• AND my all time favorite because you can change a few words to Baja and it would fit my Baja to a ‘T’ and that would be “The Legend of Norman Paperman or Kinja. Take a look at the lyrics and see if you don’t agree.

Anyway, relaxed and with my feet firmly back in the sand I reviewed my attempt to communicate something’s that have a basic importance to me.

I started out by saying they were merely my attempts to share the Baja I know…………not the one that was or the one that might have been or one that is or even one that might someday be.

I did mention that many of us, not by any silly age designator, had left our hearts in Baja. I went on the say that the naïve and simple era was over, done and gone—and it sure as heck is! I spoke of being thankful for being allowed the simple pleasures of Baja and its wonderful people–I did not mention any race or color of folks or the language they spoke—just people.

I also spoke to the fact that many newer folks had a very strong need to bring the very things that they were running away from in the states with them to Baja and that this need was engulfing Baja and changing her forever—A fact!

I even said that I know that ‘progress’ is good—but losing the freedom to roam around Baja is not progress.

I guess because I am one of the oldest guys who still tries to share an older and more comfortable Baja with the younger folks here I get painted with a target on my back that says that I am an old fart and therefore against any progress—well my friends that just ain’t true—but progress for its own sake is what put our home country in the straits that we are in now. One simple example—our progressive laws have given us so many pedophiles in every town and village in America that our kids and grandkids are no longer allowed to roam as we were once allowed to—no my friends progress has to have some redeeming value or worthwhile purpose before I will accept it and label it progress.

Now, let’s turn Jimmy on, grab a beer, and Chill.

toneart - 8-6-2007 at 08:08 PM

Bernie,

I read that string and do read all your posts. They are very colorful and your use of description evokes the images in my brain. It is obvious that those are your personal experiences and your love of Baja is based on, for the most part, good times as a pioneer, and your love of its people and fellow trekkers. Your writing brings the characters to life and I feel I know them.

It is hard to hear negative criticism about ones own labor of love. You have something your critics have not experienced, nor will they ever experience the same events in the same time period as you. It is impossible. But if they open their minds and allow you to take them there, they will find you a most credible guide.

Your experiences are unique to you and are timeless, even though the timeline has moved forward. In my opinion, it is not valid to invalidate another persons experience. It is yours. It is true. It happened. It was and it is!

Sometimes I get discouraged and disgusted with the rudeness I see on this board. Like you, I take a break and then realize that the BN is merely a microcosm of the real world. It takes all kinds. You have the advantage of having developed your observation skills and your literary skills as a medium of expression. Those unfortunate enough to not see the big picture are condemned to wallow on a lower plane unless or until they learn to shut their ignorant mouths and open their minds.

You certainly know how to lift yourself out of a funk by calling on Dr. Buffet. :bounce: And thank you, Bernie, for your warm contributions.

bajadock - 8-6-2007 at 08:13 PM

Keep writing Bernie! "...honed by our life experiences..."

jerry - 8-6-2007 at 08:24 PM

keep it up burnie your one of the few worth reading

David K - 8-6-2007 at 08:33 PM

Hi Bernie,

My time on Baja Nomad since returning from our wonderful week on the peninsula has been primarily trying to get my trip report posted... and just brief looks.

After I have finished, I promiss to look at what you posted.

If few are reading it, consider changing the title... Many do judge a book by its cover (or consider opening a thread by its title)!:light:

Ken Cooke - 8-6-2007 at 08:59 PM

Bernie, as a writer, you don't have to self-censure yourself to satisfy the tastes of the few. Just go ahead and tell it the way you see things.

Sallysouth - 8-6-2007 at 09:06 PM

Write On Ken! Thank goodness someone (you!) finally spoke up!! (I don't have the huevos....:no:)

[Edited on 8-7-2007 by Sallysouth]

toneart - 8-6-2007 at 09:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Hi Bernie,

My time on Baja Nomad since returning from our wonderful week on the peninsula has been primarily trying to get my trip report posted... and just brief looks.

After I have finished, I promiss to look at what you posted.

If few are reading it, consider changing the title... Many do judge a book by its cover (or consider opening a thread by its title)!:light:


David,
I don't think Bernie is having the problem of "few reading it".
He has had 895 views as of now.

Bedman - 8-7-2007 at 01:07 AM

Bernie,

Don't change a thing..... Please remain you, with your own past, present and future.

If you need help burying the bodies you know how to reach me.

Bedman

Cypress - 8-7-2007 at 05:30 AM

Baja Bernie There are lot's of folks that share your sentiments.:bounce: Progress isn't always what it's cracked-up to be. :bounce:

Russ - 8-7-2007 at 05:53 AM

"Bernie
`Normal` Correspondent" I don't think so.
What they say above works for me.

Thanks to all of you for your most nice words they are muchly appreciated

Baja Bernie - 8-7-2007 at 03:56 PM

Told Mr. Dennis I wouldn't post a poem so I decided on this:


Cogitating

“Come see the future as it once was!” Bernie Swaim 2005

I have been pondering this for some time now and I have decided to expand upon the thought and carry it forward and backward and see what we come up with.

“The future never is what it seems, but rather what it will be.”

Now the past, we believe, is etched stone. It has happened and that is that—the end That is until we realize that the past is what makes the present—well present. Then look around and see if you know what the present really is and not what you wish it to be. It may not be at all what you hope for and has more than likely been changed by others to make you think it is really something else.

Going back to the past, you find that it is really as fluid as historians wish it to be………….All that is needed to change the present and perhaps the future is to tweak the past………….So! I re-wrote it as follows:

“Come see the future as it once was! It is never as it is—but it is always what it will be.”

Thank you for taking the time to read and ponder upon these words…………Realize that your response may impact my present and will surely change my future.

Realize, however, that my past is mine alone and that no one, not even I, may change it.

Now back to the Beach House on the Moon that I share with my younger friend, Senor Buffett.

Please have a wonderful ‘old’ Baja Day and remember my saying, “Baja IS about People helping People.




"True passion is tempered by much thought, honed by our life experiences, and kept warm by shared friendships."
by Bernie Swaim


Http://www.mibaja.com

DENNIS - 8-7-2007 at 03:59 PM

Aw, c'mon Bernie.........
I like your poetry. Never said otherwise.

Minnow - 8-7-2007 at 04:25 PM

Bernie, Kudo's to you. The many, varied, and well thought out responses to your post only reflect the power of your words. Maybe people will think a little longer, care a little more, and have a better understanding of what is and what will be, thanks to you.

IMHO, I don't think anyone was bashing you in their responses.

Salud Amigo Bernie.

To everyone else. Salud ********

[Edited on 8-8-2007 by Hose A]

Slowmad - 8-7-2007 at 04:57 PM

Bernie, I love listening to the Baja impressions of you old mossbacks.
Jimmy (RIP), JR (RIP), Osprey...the lot of ya.
Once you hack through the cliques, group hugs, and reacharounds on these boards, it's the stories from the old guard that bear re-reading.

Iflyfish - 8-7-2007 at 05:30 PM

Bernie,

I enjoy reading your posts. We are all privileged to share in your experiences. Some of your descriptions of people are priceless.

This medium allows people who would never meet to share their own life experiences and we are all enriched by this. We are not all equal in our capacities to express ourselves. For some the very act of reading is a challenge. I think you are one of those rare folks who loves to spin a yarn and tell a good tale. I recall distinctly the occasion as a young man when I made a conscious decision, that decision was that I wanted to have great stories to tell when I became an old man. I have always appreciated the skill of a good story teller. I appreciate your skill at that. You are one of the wonderful story tellers on this site and I love to read what you write! I often don’t read about the lost trail to this mission, nor care much about some of the racist and sexists rants and personal attacks I read, but figure that for some this is their form of entertainment. I never could figure out bar fights either, I would usually just run like hell, except the time I had a beer with a Gypsy Joker who wanted to fight me. I told him that I really didn’t want to do that because I had decided that the next guy I fought I was going to kill and that I would rather just sit and have a beer with him if that was ok with him. I purchased the next round and it seemed to work out ok.

I hope that you write for you; for the shear joy of doing it, for the plain cussedness of saying it like you saw it and see it. Others will react, maybe even read a different tale than you told, stranger things have happened. The Greek Historian Herodotus said “No man ever walks in the same river twice”.

I sometimes just write for the hell of it, cause it feels so damn good to say it well, you know what I mean?

Our developmental process is like a journey around and up a mountain. We occasionally stop and take in the view, that view is our reality. If we get stuck on one of those views as the ENTIRE reality, we got problems amigo.

Thanks for writing and sharing so much of yourself with us.

Iflyfish

Iflyfish

Baja Bernie - 8-7-2007 at 06:17 PM

"I recall distinctly the occasion as a young man when I made a conscious decision, that decision was that I wanted to have great stories to tell when I became an old man"...............

Well! Now, it surely does seem that you have followed your decision and succeeded in your efforts.........Not sure about you being an old man but you sure do write like one of those mossybacks Slowmad was talking about.

I do write for me but for some reason I have this need to share 'stuff' with others.

Talk about your Gypsy guy...In high school I was not what anyone would call a good student......seldom really went to school other than to deal poker behind the football bleachers. Always made more money than the teachers so I had very little proper respect for them. Besides I had a newer car than any of them.

One day I took too much money from one of the other bad guys and he pulled a switchblade and threatened to "cut me real good." I laughed and told him if he cut me he would never get a chance to get his money back. He did some momma talkin, tried to stare me down............Then he laughed, put the knife away and admitted that I had a point.

Like I told Osprey one time I wish I could write fiction the way he does, but I just don't have the imagination for that so I am stuck with sprucing up the truth and make it a bit more fun to read.

Life is as good as we are willing to allow it to be..........I think!

PS Here is an example of how poorly I strung words together as a kid........When we left for Arizona, right after WWII, squatters were camping all over the dry land at Lake Hodges.......way out in nowhere between San Diego and Escondido......

Way to many service men hit California all at once and you just could not find a house to rent.....

Anyway, when we came back a year or so later and I noticed that the squatters were all gone. I turned to my mother and uttered these words that were to haunt me until she and my dad died, "Lookie there, they musta done took up and went."

They still haunt me.......honest!

DENNIS - 8-7-2007 at 06:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja Bernie
"Lookie there, they musta done took up and went."


John Steinbeck made a fortune writing like that.

bajalera - 8-7-2007 at 07:02 PM

IMO Ken got it right, and without wasting words: Write what you want.

CaboMagic - 8-7-2007 at 08:32 PM

Hi Bernie - please write on - The many of us who enjoy and appreciate can continue to! Your written capture of memories as related to your vast experience/s allows me to think and feel of things I was not so fortunate to expereince as you have.... and I ditto what the others here said 2! With thanks filled with respect and a some hugs .. Lori