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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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JR's neck injury
bajabernie - No, he was never one to complain about aches and pains, etc. Let's see, when he was "about" 20 ..... that would have been about 1973,
I'm petty sure he was living (mostly) in Los Gatos, CA. and Casper and possibly Gillete, WY. around that time. We both did a lot of traveling,
sometimes together, sometimes not. But most everyplace he'd been, there'd be plenty of opportunities to fall out of swings and to damage himself in
ways undreamable to us ordinary folk.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm gonna try to put together a short (hah !) biography of mi bro, and I can see that I'm gonna have to do some
serious research.
I just got off the phone w/his first girlfriend, to whom i'd told the sad news a few days ago. When they were an "item", 1956 - 1960, he was
already climbing the sugar maple in our front yardand seeing how many of the steps down into our cellar he could jump without breaking a leg.
Thanks for your concern and I hope to get together with you someday, as well as with as many of his Baja compadres as I can find. Best regards,
Bruce
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academicanarchist
Senior Nomad
Posts: 978
Registered: 9-7-2003
Member Is Offline
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Jr will be missed
Indeed very sad news, and he will be missed.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
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having been offline for a couple weeks i was blown away to hear of JR's sudden death. it only serves to remind how precious life is, and how we should
live and love each day and each of those who are near to our hearts.
hey JR-
put in a good word for me with the man up there, and save me a spot!!!
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DDurrell
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: 12-13-2005
Member Is Offline
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JR's neck injury
Bruce, I don't remember any swing incident, but he did fall out of the back of my VW van and did a few summersaults as I was getting on the freeway
That would have been around that time. I forgot about Los Gotos and Wyoming. Wasn't he there with Duane for a while?
No luck with Saltystarfish yet. I'll keep you posted.
Dave
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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it sure is quiet around here. I think we are going to miss him for a long time
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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capn.sharky
Senior Nomad
Posts: 686
Registered: 9-4-2003
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Gone but not forgotten
Sometimes you just have to go to be missed. From his postings I would think J.R. had a full life. We are shared his love for Baja and he will be
missed by us all.
If there is no fishing in heaven, I am not going
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Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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Another memory
floats to the surface in this "Auld Lang Syne" time.
As I recall, JR took great pride in the "hits" to his posts.
Is he the alltime Response King?
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9010
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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Jr sounds more and more
like a Kerouac character, the more I read from this thread.
That's a complement, IMB.
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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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Mr. Hook, I gotta thank you for the insight (Kerouac character). I've been trying to organize sumkinda bio to fill y'all in on JR, pre-baja. I
think I'll just post the occasional tale, anecdote, "substance" induced episode, etc. & see how it goes.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Qvanbruce
Mr. Hook, I gotta thank you for the insight (Kerouac character). I've been trying to organize sumkinda bio to fill y'all in on JR, pre-baja. I
think I'll just post the occasional tale, anecdote, "substance" induced episode, etc. & see how it goes. |
I think you can tell by the number of hits on this thread that we are all waiting . maybe you could do it in chapters. one at a time.
I also think it would be good If you attach them to this original thread to keep it going.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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seem like he always received more hits than any other person that posted
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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tim40
Senior Nomad
Posts: 574
Registered: 3-29-2004
Location: Manhattan Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: There yet?
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Time has not been on my side for several months......and I am just now reading this post. An original has past, and the mold was long since broken.
The views always stirred a near reflex action in many for the need to respond and suggest how out of touch, line, whack....etc..the comment or
implication was. Ah, although we generally don't appreciate it at the time, we often miss those the most that forced us to defend or think
differently.
When searching for the end of your rainbow, you only have until dusk.. tm 87
Until next time our friend.
When searching for the end of your rainbow you only have until dusk....
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zforbes
Nomad
Posts: 334
Registered: 4-11-2005
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
Mood: Living the dream
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Shades of JR
I see that Target is now marketing sheets and towels of 50% bamboo and 50% cotton...I wonder how JR would have responded to that!
Even though JR was able to tweak my buttons, I was really interested in his bamboo setup and would have wanted to see it sooner or later. I found him
to be a pretty constant irritant until one particular post where I "listened" to him as if he were my brother instead of an unknown poster. What I
heard was someone who wanted recognition for what he had accomplished without having to make a big deal of it himself. I had the idea that he meant
well, even when he wasn't able to phrase it in a way that people could respond to positively. After that post, I had a more generous heart toward him,
and he seemed a lot more human to me. I regret that I won't ever have a chance to meet him at his bamboo outpost to see what he is up to. I think he
will be in our thoughts for a long time. Zoe
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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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Travels with JR
So, sometime in the winter of, uhh, probably '73 or '74 I was living the good life in N. San Diego County. Some friends had a huge ol' dormitory of a
house right across the street from "thousand steps", an easy five minute walk to a reasonably good and consistent surf break where I spent a
significant portion of my plentiful free time.
My extremely self-indulgent lifestyle was made possible by my natural (New England upbringing, Scot/English heritage) parsimony and a fairly easy
work schedule at an upscale "natural" food restaurant in La Jolla. A Labrador retreiver and a couple of undemanding girlfriends made Bruce a happy
camper.
JR, as far as I knew, was living in Wyoming, gainfully employed and comfortable. We didn't communicate on a regular basis in those days, it was
one of those times when our paths had diverged and a call on or near a birthday or Christmas was pretty much the extent of our keeping in touch.
But, and I remember this well, one afternoon after a session with the waves I wandered into our kitchen after a post surf shower to find a note
from one of my roommates: "Call your brother" with a phone no. and an unidentifiable area code.
"Uh oh", thinks I, "stuck truck", or "legal difficulties resulting from herbal medication" or ... ",Oh hell, Might as well just call, if law
enforcement, or worse a lawyer's office is at the other end I can always hang up. Or not".
So I called, he answered (whew!), and, strangely enough he wasn't in any difficulties (bigger whew!!) We chatted awhile and I discovered that he
was living in Casper with a couple of friends and working (!!!) for an oil rig maintenance company.
He asked about what I was doing, I think I'd changed jobs since we'd last spoken and I filled him in on the details of my life and loves, he
came back with "How'd ya like to come to Casper?" " There's plenty of room in the house'n I can fer sure get ya a job where I work, or some place
else. Aaand.."
"Back'er down there, buckwheat," sez I, "I'm doin' fine right where I am." "Got a job I almost like, a car that runs, usually, and the surf's
almost always pretty good."
"As I was trying to say" he broke in, "and I've got a ride for you from a friend that lives in Orange County and she'll pick you up."
"Wait a minute" I got in while he caught his breath, "What about Gandalf?"
Gandalf, a somewhat elderly Lab/Weimeraner, liked to travel and, being the child of a broken home, with a very casual, undefined shared custody
agreement with one of my ex-girlfriends, had a place to seek refuge, in the unlikely event that I should actually up anchor and take off for cowboy
country. JR, of course, knew this, and he knew I was weakening and that it was time to strike.
"By the way," he said, "Did I mention that there's about a foot of snow on the ground here in Casper and up on Mt. Hogadon there's new powder
on a couple feet of base, no lift lines, even on weekends, and lift tickets are twelve bucks on weekdays."
"So, uh, when's your friend planning on leaving" Giving up all hope of resisting his campaign. Thinking, way back in the somewhat obscured
parts of my brain: "There's more to this than he's letting on."
But no matter, I realized. I really don't have any good reason not to go. And, besides, payday's tomorrow and my rent's paid for another week.
"So, anything I should bring along?"
"Some avocados'd be great! And maybe some fresh fruit"
"Okay, then, let me have your friend's phone no. and we'll sort out the details."
"Great, Bro. Your gonna love it here." He enthused. "Oh, by the way, do you have some gas money? I'm not sure Connie'll have enough for the
whole trip.
"Yeah, well, I'm sure that if you're setting me up for something I'm not yet fully aware of, It will, at least, be interesting." I said,
already starting to have second thoughts.
"Hey," he countered, "Don't worry!" "Think Snow!"
About three days later, after "crashing" the first night with old friends of mine in Berzerkely, then the second night with friends of Connie's
in Tahoe City and driving straight thru from there with only stops for fuel, food and repairing a slightly shredded tire, we arrived in Casper.
No fear, no loathing.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
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Ski Baja
I'll bet he was good!
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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keep um coming Qvanbruce
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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Sharksbaja, Yep, as those of you who read his posts, went back and forth with him on Baja politics & sociology, and actually met the man know,
there were many parts to JRbaja.
I think one of his best traits though, was his ability to share his enthusiasm for his myriad plans and projects and to involve many of the local
folks and visitors in accomplishing them.
His collection and distribution of clothes and medicines to the victioms of the big hurricane a couple years ago comes to mind, as well as his
attempts to increase the economic options for the teenagers and young adults in his adopted "hometown", San Bartolo.
Thanks for your post, I'm working along with his bio. Bruce
No fear, no loathing.
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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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Travels w/JR ch. 2
So, arriving in Casper Wyo. after a relatively uneventful three-day trip from N. San Diego County, JR's girlfriend Connie and I found his house, a
two story, sorta decrepit place, out in the suburbs.
JR was home, surprised to see us so soon. Previous "road trips" that we'd shared nearly always included various dramas that played havoc with
schedules and arrival times. But he was glad to see us, almost suspiciously so.
He, and a couple of his current housemates helped get our luggage, skis and Connies' Saint Bernard into the house and we settled down inside to get
warm, have a wee smoke, and catch up on our various adventures. Mine were quickly dealt with, as my life for the previous year or two, with the
exception of having the house I was renting a room in burn pretty much to the ground, had been pretty much settled, and dull.
JR's, on the other hand, included traveling around, mostly by thumb, N. California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho & Montana. Getting an occasional job as a
carpenter or whatever he could get to survive on, and occasionally supplementing his marginal income by redistributing la yierba verde y majica from
places where it was available to places where it wasn't. We thought of it as public service logistics.
One of his stories, having to do with a trip from, I think, Teton Nat'l Park, where he'd worked in the local community driving, of all things, a
laundry truck, to Gillette, Wyo., where, someone had told him, there were good jobs available in some mining operation. He and a couple of his
buddies, one of whom had a car, pooling their cash, were able to nearly fill the gas tank and off they went.
The trip, for most of the way was apparently uneventful until they got caught in a blizzard somewhere along the way, ran their car off the road,
(chains ?, snow tires ?, nah, not necessary) and had to spend several hours in the car keeping warm in the below freezing temperatures, first, until
the car used up all the gas, by using the car's heater and then by just keeping bundled up in every piece of clothing they had and occasionally
getting out of the car and running around in the snow to keep the blood moving.
They did make it to Gillette, and probably found some work but soon were on their (or at least his) way to Casper.
Soon after making it to Casper, finding some work there, I guess, but having a difficult time paying the rent on their house and keeping food on the
table, JR made the call to me in Leucadia, extolling all the wonderful virtues of Casper and hoping that if and when I got there I'd have enough cash
to at least pay the rent for another month. I did, but they'd already been given an eviction order and so another residence was found, a nicer
house, really, just a block or so from the North Platte River. We all moved, I managed to bluff my way into a welding job at a local factory that
produced heavy equipment for strip mining (up 'til then I had approximately zero welding experience, but having inherited just a bit of the same "gift
of gab" that served JR so well, and figuring that even if they fired me, they'd have to pay my wages for the time it took them to discover my
ineptitude, and that would indeed improve our finances) and ended up staying there, on the swing shift, for two or three months.
Just an aside to any of you who might find yourself in the vicinity of any heavy equipment, especially those giant dump trucks in the strip mining
areas of Wyoming and Utah, don't stand too close to them, eh? Might be some "iffy" welds holding some of them together.
While I was learning to weld on the swing shift, JR found work for an outfit that did the tarring and shingling on the roofs of the ever growing
number of two and three-story apartment buildings that were going up in Casper. It was still winter, so working on roofs, always windy and always
near freezing temperatures, was challenging. Fortunately, though, due probably to an accident or two, when the wind speed got to the point that it
was difficult to stay upright on the roofs or the temp got so low that the melted tar would re-solidify on its ascent from the tar pot on the ground
to the roof, the foreman would shut things down, sometimes for the rest of the day. On those happy days JR'd rush home, get me out of bed (usually
just a couple hours after I'd gotten home from my night job), and off we'd go to Mt. Hogadon.
In terms of vertical drop, or amenities available, Mt. Hogadon is nothing to write home about. It is, however, blessed during the winter months with
perfect, and regularly renewed, natural powder. And, as JR had told me in his pitch to get me to Wyoming, on weekdays and even most weekends the lift
lines were somewhere between non-existent and negligible. We spent a lot of time up on the mountain.
We both did work quite a bit though, as did the other folks living in our house by the N. Platte. By now the household included a couple more friends
with wives, girlfriends, dogs, etc. that JR'd convinced to make the trek to Casper and, with at least two or three of us steadily employed most of the
time, we were getting along quite nicely.
The cultural and social realities of Casper at that time were somewhat complicated. Those who could trace there ancestry back to the ranchers and
cowboys, not really that
many generations ago, were considered the "real" Casper-ites. Next in the social order would be sheep ranchers, not quite as good a pedigree as those
who'd been, or still were, cattle ranchers,then would come the "nouveau riche" of the recent oil and uranium booms, after them would be the
professors, staff and students at the nearby University of Wyoming, and, at the bottom of the list would have been those recently arrived roustabouts,
riggers, mechanics, etc. and people of indeterminate skills who were looking for most any kind of paying job. The "real" locals considered, and
called, all those of the last group "hippies".
The various groups mixed, but not always successfully. One of the places in town that seemed to have the most eclectic mixes of folks was the
"WonderBar", offering live music, and of course, dancing to mostly 60's and 70's rock n roll along with a generous helping of Country, or to us
hippies, "chitkicker" music.
JR, of course, got along pretty well with most everyone on some level, despite his shoulder-length hair and general "hippie-ness". I do remember,
however, more than one occasion when it was necessary to beat a hasty retreat pursued by, usually, some cowboys who'd made some unnecessarily rude
remarks regarding our appearance and, being appropriately chastised, most often by JR, escalated the disagreement with fists and boots, to the point
that a strategic withdrawal was the best option.
The writer's situation changed when, one evening at work he was offerred a ride to Denver the next day, a Saturday, I believe, to attend a Jefferson
Airplane concert at the University of Colorado. Appropriate substances were administered on the way there, the concert was very much enjoyed and,
when it was over the writer was unable to find his amigos from work who'd brung him, or their car. Not a huge problem - hitchike into Denver, find
some hippies, arrange for some space on the floor, maybe even a couch and off to Casper the next day. It all worked out: the couch was comfy, the
new friends interesting and generous and the extra day that I stayed there, inconsiderately not trying to contact JR to let him know I was OK, cost me
the welding job, and a well-deserved lecture from my younger brother about responsiblities.
He, of course, turned the lemons to lemonade, though, by getting me a job with the roofing co. he was working for. We both seemed to be able to
convince bosses, foremen, etc. that we were worthy of the more responsible jobs and we ended up sharing the "tar-pot" operator responsibilities which,
in the middle of a Wyoming winter, is a real plum!
Not too long after acquiring that job though, a narrow escape involving an insufficiently ballasted crane on a three story roof, a foreman that
insisted on lifting more weight on the crane than was sensible, and a view of JR from the edge of the roof that I'll never forget of him in full race
mode trying to avoid being the point of impact for a pallet full of shingles, the crane and various other bits and pieces. After racing down the
three story staircase and finding JR shaken, winded, but generally OK, we had a brief strategy meeting, decided there were better ways to go, and
walked off the job.
Winter was over, no more powder up on the mountain, and the thought of working in the dust and heat of a Wyoming summer, and the fact that I didn't
feel like looking for another job, anyway, got me on my way back to Leucadia. JR, coming to much the same conclusions as I had about Casper, made
some calls and headed back to Yellowstone and a job fencing pastures. I visited him there a few months later and found him living in a cabin a few
steps from the Snake River. Smelling like roses, as always.
W
No fear, no loathing.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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I also was in that aria at that time working in the coal mines and oil fields.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Qvanbruce
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-11-2004
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: progressing (gracias a los nomads)
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JR in Casper
Indeed! and did you ever happen to find yourself in WonderBar? Did you ever get into a confrontation with the hippies?
Seriously, It was a most interesting place to spend the Winter and, mostly, I enjoyed my time there, as did JR and all us other hippie/workers.
I even remember a couple of very civilized encounters with the local cops.
One evening, driving to my night job @ Western Oil Tool Co., Stopped by a sheriff for general suspiciousness, the sheriff: "What's that smell,
young man? Not some of that dope you kids smoke now, is it?"
"No sir, that's patchouli oil."
sheriff: "Patchouli oil, huh. What does that do for you?"
me: "Oh, nothing. I just like the way it smells."
sheriff: "Isn't that a WATCO hard hat you got there? You on your way to work?"
"Yessir, welder on the swing shift."
sheriff: "Waal, I'm glad to see you damn hippies doin' something besides smokin' dope and causin' trouble, but don't think you're foolin' me with
that story about P'chooly damn oil. Get on off to work now, before you're late for your shift."
"Yessir, you have a good night now. Peace."
No fear, no loathing.
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