Saturday Night Soup for the Soup (25)

hen we left off last week, I had just crossed the bridge over the mighty Columbia at The Dalles and crossed back into Washington state. From there, i cranked a hard right turn and continued east. Waiting for me, on the other side of the bridge, was the star of the Columbia River Swim Team: that smooth and slippery, lickity split, seal boy you may have heard about, Number 17, and his handsome friend, Biffers. Here we see Columbia River Swim Team member Biffers trying to get into "the zone" before his event: the Cross River swim. Portland Flyboy Lewis is waiting on the other side to help him out of his postage stamp sized Speedo, and to towel him off. Lewis is a great athletics supporter... The rock is part of the largest basalt lava flow on earth comprising 40,000 cubic miles of layer upon layer of glowing molten goop. In Washington state near Vantage, the lava is the thickest of any lava flow on earth measuring in at an incredible one mile thick. The great ice age floods ripped through the gorge on their way to the ocean like a hot knife slicing through butter. And speaking of a pointy things sliding through hot butter... "The Couch by the Side of the Rock" (one man's discard is another man's treasure) I keep looking for a place to fit Where I can speak my mind I've been trying hard to find the people That I won't leave behind They say I got brains But they ain't doing me no good I wish they could I found a huge massive chunk of lava that juts out into the Columbia. Remarkably, it withstood the cataclysmic ice age floods, with waves 350 feet high that tore through everything else in its path. I stopped there are hiked out to the edge, admiring the drama of rock, wild flowers, and lichens. Luckily it was too early for rattlesnakes to be crawling around. "Cathy I'm lost" I said though I knew she was sleeping I'm empty and aching and I don't know why Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike They've all come to look for America All come to look for America All come to look for America Another digitally constructed wide angle shot with mismatched colours at the seam This Road Trip Diary mercifully ends next week at Stonehenge. 1. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times is another gem from Brian Wilson's masterpiece LP “Pet Sounds” . This song has become mythical and is often quoted in a myriad of places (If you do not believe me, Google it and see all the stuff you get that have notheing to do with Brian). It speaks of that unsettling feeling of not fitting into any recognizable mainstream in the time in the time and place in which you dwell. I know that feeling only too well. 2. America from Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel. Another one of those gems by Paul Simon. The lyrics use the metaphor of a bus trip across America, and snippets of scenes and bits of conversation with a fellow traveler (his Anima which is portrayed as a woman). This just fits my unsettled mood too well. It fits like a glove. 3. Bless You is John Lennon from 1974's Walls and Bridges. This is about changing relationships and the art of moving on with heart. Bless you wherever you are Windswept child on a shooting star Restless Spirits depart Still we're deep in each other's hearts Some people say it's over Now that we spread our wings But we know better darling The hollow ring is only last year's echo Bless you whoever you are Holding him now Be warm and kind hearted And remember though love is strange Now and forever our love will remain All of this makes it's way into this week's soup. You can get your bowl of Saturday Night Soul for the Soul by clicking the jukebox.