There’s been a decent crowd at the campground this week. RVs (and a tent or two) started rolling in Wednesday, and it looks like most are staying through the weekend. License plates are from all over the map.
One especially intriguing rig, at least to me, is a Super C-class motorhome pulling a Chevy dually with a utility bed, which itself is carrying a Polaris General side-by-side. Pretty slick.
Two events might help explain the influx — a monster truck show at the Harrison Roundup Club’s arena (see today’s header image, captured last September), and a big revival at the Free Will Baptist church south of town. We haven’t polled our fellow guests, but we’ve been told that many are here for one or the other.
And y’know what? We really can’t tell the monster truck fans from the Baptists. (There must be a lesson in there somewhere.)
The weather’s been pleasant here all week. We sat out under the awning for a few hours this morning, drinking coffee and watching the passing parade.
Though we’ve been keeping house in this bus for 19 of the last 24 months, it’s safe to say that we’ve stepped back from The RV Life. Yes, we’re staying in a campground, and technically we’re part of that community, but months ago we directed our focus to the next chapter of our American Life.
So it’s a little strange for us. We don’t feel like we belong among RVers the way we once did.
We’re Ozarkansans now, not nomads. We’re done roamin’ — when we landed here last July, we came Home. Our eyes, along with our hearts, are on The Mountain, and that’s where we belong.
Time for an update on the pups — a pupdate, if you will (and even if you won’t).
Scout has reached a plateau in recovering from her second blown-out knee. This may be as good as she’ll ever be, unsteady in her hind quarters, but I suspect she’ll improve a little more. She gets around fine, though, and her attitude is off the charts. Good dog.
Dipstick is Dipstick, sweeter with age and now sporting a stylish facial trim.
At six months, Smudge’s personality has tilted in a new direction — still a delight, a great dog, but more protective of Deb and me. She’s a challenge, a product of both her age and her breed. She’ll be spayed this Wednesday.
“Gorilla hail.”
That’s been the inescapable weather phrase the last two days. Forecasts called for north-central Arkansas to get hammered (literally) by iceballs the size of baseballs between 3pm and 6pm today.
Smashed windshields. Dents-a-million.
We stowed the outdoor stuff, checked our auto-insurance policies and waited.
Nothin’.
No hail. A few rumbles of thunder. Deb’s cousin reports that The Mountain got a little rain.
I want to close with a brief word about the “leak” of classified documents by a young National Guardsman. No matter what media you consume, you’ll find the same story — that the act was treasonous; that a 21-year-old gamer shouldn’t’ve held TSCI clearance; that the national-security apparatus is broken; that the “leak” of these documents damages US diplomatic and military efforts around the globe; and that it undermines the credibility of the US government, at home and abroad.
All of that is, on its face, true.
But none of it is important — it’s a tidy narrative meant to distract you and me from what should draw our undivided attention.
Brave Ukrainians are getting their asses kicked, and US special forces are on the ground. China has hypersonic missiles capable of reaching the US mainland. And by the way, US military and intelligence assets tracked four other Chinese “spy balloons.”
It’s not that these things (and more) were merely hidden from the American People — no, in each and every case we were told the opposite, officially. The retired admiral who serves as mouthpiece for the NSC lied. SecDef and SecState lied. The raggedy spokestoken for the White House lied. The current occupant of the Oval Office lied.
They didn’t misspeak — they lied.
The child-in-uniform who “leaked” the classified information acted stupidly. There’s no credible argument against him receiving severe punishment for what he did. But while he betrayed his oath to the State, he did a great service to the People.
He exposed — and to some of us, he only confirmed — that the Permanent State is in the business of plying disinformation. Call it “propaganda” if you want a friendlier word, but the State’s primary mission is to mislead the People.
Smart folks don’t trust government anyway. We were justifiably suspicious of the Patriot Act, and we saw right through the whole “pandemic” charade. We don’t believe the talking points spewed at press briefings — White House, Pentagon, State, Justice, all of them. We don’t buy the line about Ukraine, the fairy tale about balloons, chest-thumping about military superiority or anything else we’re sold.
This latest “leak” of documents shows (again) that we’re right. Only a fool trusts his government.
Now, I suggest you take a hard look at something called the “RESTRICT Act of 2023.” Ignore the propaganda you’re hearing “officially,” even from the Right — this thing makes the “USA PATRIOT Act of 2001” look like a parking ticket.
You’ve been warned. Again.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB