BajaNomad

80th birthday

Osprey - 10-18-2016 at 10:02 AM

Any other octo Nomads out there? Tomorrow is the day I celebrate logging 48,000,000,000 miles around our sun.

The only other distinctive thing I've done is to outlast my liver, my penis and my enemies.

I did it the hard way: got up every morning, inhaled, exhaled, did that over and over again.

My thanks to all those heroes out there, dead and alive, who protected me from being bombed or shot --- down here in Old Mexico I guess I owe those who kept me from grabbing that one really bad shrimp taco.

Fishbuck is having one helluva time deciding what to do next. He's one of my heroes because he is a model for the quote "Better to have flunked your Wasserman test than never to have loved at all."

If I had it all to do over again I probably would do the very same things only worse.

Thanks to Doug and all of you for enriching my life.

Jorge



[Edited on 10-18-2016 by Osprey]

David K - 10-18-2016 at 10:12 AM

A very happy birthday to you Jorge!!!

I hope we will meet so I may thank you in person for the countless well written words you have given us.

Skipjack Joe - 10-18-2016 at 10:13 AM

Feliz cumpleanos, Jorge. You just keep on ticking.

DENNIS - 10-18-2016 at 10:13 AM


Happy Birthday, Jorge. I guess if you outlasted your penis the hard way, you have been blessed indeed. Keep "up" the good work.

woody with a view - 10-18-2016 at 10:13 AM

Lemme be the first to congradulate you on your journey! I'll be reading my binder of your stories under the salt pine next week.

DENNIS - 10-18-2016 at 10:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
A very happy birthday to you Jorge!!!

I hope we will meet so I may thank you in person for the countless well written words you have given us.



Wadda you mean, "given us?" I've been sending Jorge 20 bucks a month for the last five years. He said it was mandatory.

AKgringo - 10-18-2016 at 10:21 AM

Well happy birthday, and good to hear from you! I will turn 70 in January, which is a lot better than the other option.

Since I was in my mid twenty's, my definition of 'Old' has been my age, plus ten years. According to that floating scale, I am not old yet, but that doesn't help you much!

DENNIS - 10-18-2016 at 11:04 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
...... which is a lot better than the other option.




Like they say at the VA, "We're still on the right side of the dirt."

sancho - 10-18-2016 at 11:34 AM

A milestone, hope you have many more. Reminds me of a story
of my great grandfather, his son would take him to Old Sacaramento, like in the early 50's, to at that time, well you
know, brothels. The guy reportedly died of vd in his late 80's
so at least I have some of his dna,
haven't seen any of your musings about small Baja Sur life
lately



DanO - 10-18-2016 at 12:15 PM

Best wishes George. Keep up the good work.

Osprey - 10-18-2016 at 12:30 PM

Thanks one and all. Sancho, I've never stopped writing but I've been working to finish a couple of books. I set them aside and now I want to finish them before, uh, well, before, you know.....

MMc - 10-18-2016 at 12:47 PM

Osprey, thank you for making many of our lives richer with your stories and insights on the board. Happy Birthday and may you have many more.
I have a friend that says" If I knew I was going to be in kinda shape at this age I would have gone harder.

rogbag - 10-18-2016 at 01:27 PM

Happy birthday neighbor (sorta) - hope you have a bunch more.

ehall - 10-18-2016 at 01:50 PM

Happy Birthday sir. Always enjoy your stories.

A little Mexican village essay for Sancho

Osprey - 10-18-2016 at 02:43 PM

Cicada

The Katydids, Cicadas, are out in force right now and because they are making such a racket, doing me a favor, I chose this time to Google them up to find out more about them.

Here in Baja Sur the school year has just begun and we are affected by that because the Internado, the boarding house for ranch kids who school here in the village from Monday through Thursday, is my neighbor across the street. The kids range from ages 5 to 10 and their noisy play after school is now nicely muted by the omnipresent white noise of millions of Cicada males calling females to them to mate.

These noisy bugs are not the 17 year kind because we hear that sound every year. In the eastern U.S. they can gather in clouds of a billion to the square mile so I suppose what I hear is a hush compared to the din that makes. Each one can pump out up to 120 dB, louder than a gas lawnmower. After they mate, the female lays her eggs in the bark of trees – the eggs become grubs who burrow down to 8 feet below the surface.

The desert lacks trees but each little village like ours becomes an oasis for the bugs --- they thrive because we have few predators here (no crows and very few jays).

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would learn to love the mating sound and look forward to the emergence of what my neighbors consider the pestilence of locusts.

They blame the noisy arrival on the sins of the villagers while I revel in the thought that, for me, they are heaven sent.

DENNIS - 10-18-2016 at 03:16 PM


Five Star, Jorge. Moving more towards introspection in your travels, I believe.

.....................More Please.........................




.

[Edited on 10-18-2016 by DENNIS]

shari - 10-18-2016 at 03:17 PM

Muchas felicidades Osprey y que cumples muchos mas!

David K - 10-18-2016 at 03:36 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  
A very happy birthday to you Jorge!!!

I hope we will meet so I may thank you in person for the countless well written words you have given us.



Wadda you mean, "given us?" I've been sending Jorge 20 bucks a month for the last five years. He said it was mandatory.


Very nice Dennis!

I could only give him the back cover of my book to share... with two other Nomad authors... all three are greatly respected and appreciated by me:


imlost - 10-18-2016 at 04:04 PM

Keep it up, Jorge.
I mean... oh, nevermind. ;)
Happy Birthday!

[Edited on 10-18-2016 by imlost]

Martyman - 10-18-2016 at 04:24 PM

Happy B-day!

Russ - 10-18-2016 at 04:56 PM

Happy Birthday !
Don't know how you endure the noise! Kids, cicadas and a neighborhood in a town.
Happy Times to you

AKgringo - 10-18-2016 at 05:13 PM

Cicada's call out loudly for a mate.....and this works? Huh! If I could just figure out what to call out.

fishbuck - 10-18-2016 at 07:56 PM

You're a tough old bird!

BajaBlanca - 10-18-2016 at 08:15 PM

How lucky am I to have seen you only last week! Jorge gave me many seeds for one of my favorite trees....we stopped by on our way to Cabo Pulmo:











Our friend Jenesta with one of Jorge's dogs:









And the boys discussing something serious:









Thanks Jorge! I wish I had known your birthday was so close. Have a good day tomorrow. The seeds are in water and soon to be planted!







dtbushpilot - 10-18-2016 at 08:26 PM

Happy Birthday Jorge!

Skipjack Joe - 10-18-2016 at 08:53 PM

When did the beard go Jorge? I'm not used to seeing you like this.

We're lucky that the mind is one of the last things to go. At least for most people.
Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  




watizname - 10-18-2016 at 08:59 PM

Happy birthday Jorge. 48,000,000,000 miles. You must have gotten the extended warranty

pauldavidmena - 10-19-2016 at 07:24 AM

Happy Birthday, Jorge!

Just remember that the memory is the second thing to go. I've forgotten the first...

Udo - 10-19-2016 at 11:48 AM

Best of being an octogenarian, my good friend!

Barry A. - 10-19-2016 at 04:32 PM

I am right behind you, Osprey, in one more year. Have a great one tomorrow.

Barry