There must be some word today...
Showing posts with label Jeep Wrangler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeep Wrangler. Show all posts
6/10/17
5/29/17
Jeep Thrill
Deconstructed and ciphered...
There was a time I posted every day. It was a compulsion.
The same was true of social media in its infancy. An early adopter I was burned out by 2010 and I was off all platforms except somehow I got sucked in by Google+. Mostly because I wasn't about to let go of my blog which originally was an adjunct to my YouTube channel. Google suddenly switched and it became connected to Google+. My daily blog posting evolved into interaction on Google+ which is a ghost town to me now. An introvert living in an extroverted world doesn't mind that.
Taking photos every day and editing them was once a necessary compulsion. More recently I still edit daily finding it a fulfillment and a creative outlet more than ever. I break pictures apart and create an enigma that I may or may not be able to resolve. Usually they turn out fairly well and occasionally not. It makes perfect sense to me in a nonsensical world. Nowadays I post sporadically. Time for a rethink on my blog and we'll see what happens on Google+ since it is highly unlikely I'll be on another platform.
It seems right to post regularly here again. The backlog is pretty large.
There was a time I posted every day. It was a compulsion.
The same was true of social media in its infancy. An early adopter I was burned out by 2010 and I was off all platforms except somehow I got sucked in by Google+. Mostly because I wasn't about to let go of my blog which originally was an adjunct to my YouTube channel. Google suddenly switched and it became connected to Google+. My daily blog posting evolved into interaction on Google+ which is a ghost town to me now. An introvert living in an extroverted world doesn't mind that.
Taking photos every day and editing them was once a necessary compulsion. More recently I still edit daily finding it a fulfillment and a creative outlet more than ever. I break pictures apart and create an enigma that I may or may not be able to resolve. Usually they turn out fairly well and occasionally not. It makes perfect sense to me in a nonsensical world. Nowadays I post sporadically. Time for a rethink on my blog and we'll see what happens on Google+ since it is highly unlikely I'll be on another platform.
It seems right to post regularly here again. The backlog is pretty large.
1/17/15
10/31/14
8/9/13
4/26/13
4/9/13
11/5/12
5/11/12
4/27/12
1/2/12
12/29/11
8/18/11
4/17/11
4/14/11
5/10/10
California Dreamin'
There is a lake in California...
In a Jeep with a name: "Dusty"
It's summer for all practical purposes here in the desert and I will be making my annual trek to the high desert of inland California very soon to visit my friend there. We shoot and edit video, play music and sing as well as laugh and dance...heat be damned!
Here is a replay of a video from last year's trip taken on the way, at a stop at Ford Dry Lake during the peak of heat, in August.
http://www.vimeo.com/9262701
There Is A Lake in California... from JR Snyder Jr on Vimeo.
A visit to Ford Dry Lake in California in August, peak heat of the year. In the desert, things are not always what they seem.
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In a Jeep with a name: "Dusty"
It's summer for all practical purposes here in the desert and I will be making my annual trek to the high desert of inland California very soon to visit my friend there. We shoot and edit video, play music and sing as well as laugh and dance...heat be damned!
Here is a replay of a video from last year's trip taken on the way, at a stop at Ford Dry Lake during the peak of heat, in August.
http://www.vimeo.com/9262701
There Is A Lake in California... from JR Snyder Jr on Vimeo.
A visit to Ford Dry Lake in California in August, peak heat of the year. In the desert, things are not always what they seem.
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4/15/10
No Planes, Just Trains and Automobiles
Traffic...
The reduction in traffic in central Phoenix in the past two years is dramatic and it's not because of the light rail, it's due to the Economic Crisis.
4/12/10
Five Years Ago
Death Takes A Holiday...
On August 29, 2005 I rolled this Jeep Wrangler over three times across several lanes of highway between Tucson and Phoenix at high speed. Lesson learned.
May 2005
This is what the Jeep looked like at the salvage yard where it had been towed.
September 2005
If I ever had any doubt that there is not some shroud of protection around me, this was another reminder of several I've had in my life, that there is a Higher Power watching over me.
This occurred midday as I was driving back from Tucson to Phoenix travelling in the left lane at the speed limit, 75 mph. I reached to the console to get my drink and slightly tilted the steering wheel to the left and the road pavement had a significant drop off onto the median. This is an area where the natural landscape is hard desert pavement. At that point I lost consciousness but I later learned I had over-corrected and flipped the Jeep over to the right three times across lanes of traffic with cars following behind me in all lanes. All I remember is coming to, strapped in with my seat belt, hanging half sideways and hearing voices and commotion outside. Now fully conscious, I was unable to free myself since most of my weight was strapped in by the seat belt and it wouldn't unlatch. I don't recall exactly how I did get out but I do remember a lot of discussion going on outside about whether I should move or not and whether people should stick around because "gas is spilling everywhere and this thing is gonna blow to kingdom come."
Somehow I got out and by this time the Gila River Indian Paramedics and the Arizona Highway Patrol had arrived. I was on the median, laying flat on my back, the paramedic asking me questions and I was answering everything affirmatively. The question that struck me as I was laying staring up in the bright sky and glaring sun was "Why are there helicopters buzzing around above me in the middle of nowhere?" They were air evac helicopters and I determined I was having none of that and said so.
Fortunately neither was the very proficient and excellent paramedic who assessed that I was amazingly relatively unharmed. I still needed to be transported to a trauma center, miles away in Phoenix, to be checked since I wasn't exactly unscathed. This was amazing because the eye witnesses, including the preacher who had been following me and stayed with me, described the incident as being spectacularly scary and dramatic to watch. Not quite so comforting were the people who were clucking they were surprised I "wasn't dead."
In the end I was transported by ground in a rather long, freeway traffic stopping trip to a trauma center in Phoenix. I was treated for a concussion and slight head injury and basically banged up and sent home every early the next morning. Now, that was truly amazing.
You see after reconstructing what must have happened, I was saved by the roll bar (which I hit my head and slammed the back of my right hand against) and the seat belt. I figured out what actually happened during my blackout by several letters from eyewitnesses kind enough to write and inquire about me, the Highway Patrolman who I happened to be acquainted with, the preacher, the accident report and injuries that showed up later. (I still have trouble with my right hand which I smacked the back of on the roll bar, a natural reaction, fracturing it which didn't become evident until a few days later.)
I believe because at the time I was aware enough to know that I had escaped a very close call and open to learning from it that lessons came in their time. It would make the story more dramatic if I said that I immediately made big changes in my life but that would be untrue. I have progressed a long way and I do believe this incident had a lot to do with my development to a better understanding and maturity but it was in a series of steps and small leaps. Life is more often like that.
On August 29, 2005 I rolled this Jeep Wrangler over three times across several lanes of highway between Tucson and Phoenix at high speed. Lesson learned.
May 2005
This is what the Jeep looked like at the salvage yard where it had been towed.
September 2005
If I ever had any doubt that there is not some shroud of protection around me, this was another reminder of several I've had in my life, that there is a Higher Power watching over me.This occurred midday as I was driving back from Tucson to Phoenix travelling in the left lane at the speed limit, 75 mph. I reached to the console to get my drink and slightly tilted the steering wheel to the left and the road pavement had a significant drop off onto the median. This is an area where the natural landscape is hard desert pavement. At that point I lost consciousness but I later learned I had over-corrected and flipped the Jeep over to the right three times across lanes of traffic with cars following behind me in all lanes. All I remember is coming to, strapped in with my seat belt, hanging half sideways and hearing voices and commotion outside. Now fully conscious, I was unable to free myself since most of my weight was strapped in by the seat belt and it wouldn't unlatch. I don't recall exactly how I did get out but I do remember a lot of discussion going on outside about whether I should move or not and whether people should stick around because "gas is spilling everywhere and this thing is gonna blow to kingdom come."
Fortunately neither was the very proficient and excellent paramedic who assessed that I was amazingly relatively unharmed. I still needed to be transported to a trauma center, miles away in Phoenix, to be checked since I wasn't exactly unscathed. This was amazing because the eye witnesses, including the preacher who had been following me and stayed with me, described the incident as being spectacularly scary and dramatic to watch. Not quite so comforting were the people who were clucking they were surprised I "wasn't dead."
In the end I was transported by ground in a rather long, freeway traffic stopping trip to a trauma center in Phoenix. I was treated for a concussion and slight head injury and basically banged up and sent home every early the next morning. Now, that was truly amazing.
You see after reconstructing what must have happened, I was saved by the roll bar (which I hit my head and slammed the back of my right hand against) and the seat belt. I figured out what actually happened during my blackout by several letters from eyewitnesses kind enough to write and inquire about me, the Highway Patrolman who I happened to be acquainted with, the preacher, the accident report and injuries that showed up later. (I still have trouble with my right hand which I smacked the back of on the roll bar, a natural reaction, fracturing it which didn't become evident until a few days later.)I came across these pictures and it made me think about how that incident was the beginning of my making significant changes in my life. There is much more to what actually happened but there are a lot of wrecks on the highway and lots of people who will tell you in explicit detail everything that happened. What is important is what we learn and usually it isn't in the form of an "Ah Ha!" moment immediately after. Truthfully it is only now, nearly five years after, that in hindsight I see the positive impact it had on my life.
I believe because at the time I was aware enough to know that I had escaped a very close call and open to learning from it that lessons came in their time. It would make the story more dramatic if I said that I immediately made big changes in my life but that would be untrue. I have progressed a long way and I do believe this incident had a lot to do with my development to a better understanding and maturity but it was in a series of steps and small leaps. Life is more often like that.To make this more intriguing, this is the third time I have had close calls with death. It is an indication to me that there is a reason I'm still here. To that point, I will defer to "we see through the glass darkly" and that some day I will know in full as I have been fully known.
(I drive another Jeep Wrangler now, this one with a removable hard top.)
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