xtcian

7/16/03 Columbia County, NY (24

7/16/03 Columbia County, NY (24 days until wedding)

I tried to take a picture of the fabulous syzygy of the Moon and Mars tonight, but instead ended up with something that hardly does it justice:

I mean, that's Mars and the Moon all right, but I think they could have done better with a daguerreotype in 1853. It doesn't matter; these things have to be experienced to be appreciated, and when Tessa and I entered the Taconic Valley tonight with both celestial objects lighting up the forest floor, it was truly stunning. Not to mention an apt metaphor for our times: Mars in conjunction with the Moon, linguistically, means "insane war."

I was especially horrified to learn what happened in Santa Monica, CA today - an 86-year-old man plowed into the farmers market, killing eight people and injuring 45. This is a market I have been to a hundred times, and no doubt some of our friends had just been there hours or minutes before this geriatric wrecking crew smashed through. I mean, even a two-year-old died.

This news came after a car ride when we discussed the "twilight" of our parents' lives, and what might happen to them, and how we might help. Getting into your late 80s is scary, and there has to be a plan, and damned if we know exactly what that might be. I'd also just read an unwittingly timely article by an 86-year-old woman in last week's Newsweek about how she gave up driving when she knew it was time.

I know this accident will raise the cackles of the second-only-to-the-Freemasons power legions of the AARP, who will no doubt jump to the defense of elderly drivers. But this accident is absolutely inexcusable. That motherfucker should not have been on the road. After the age of 80, I think all drivers should take a mandatory skills test, whereby they measure visual acuity and reaction time. I mean, if you're not allowed to drive for the first fifteen years of your life, maybe you shouldn't drive for the last five or six. Call me, I'll come over and take you to In'n'Out burger, fer chrissakes.

mackerel moonlight over the farm tonight