Picto Diary - 25 May 2016 - Vietgone

Above: Grizzly Mountain, Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Image taken (looking east) through hotel room window about 7:00 AM Ashland Springs Hotel.

Post breakfast at Brothers with Technical Writer (cousin) and her husband, Theater Critic, I went for a walk in Lithia Park... looking for a Stellars Jay.

Above: Deer. Lithia Park. Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Definitely tame. Deer wander throughout Ashland, seemingly oblivious to any threat.

Above: Stellars Jay. Lithia Park. Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Eureka!

Above: Sign. Lithia Park. Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Apparently, as a result of humans feeding the ducks the ducks lose their ability to feed themselves... and become dependent on humans for food. ie. the ducks are denied the ability to live out their full potential as ducks, ultimately threatening the survival of the entire species.

Above: Bishop and revered Aunt Joyce visit Perfesser (sic). Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Perfesser (sic), military historian, soon off to Oslo for three months on a Fulbright research grant.

Bishop intrigued by Monkey Puzzle tree in Perfesser's (sic) yard. Bishop remembers giant Monkey Puzzle tree in Ooty, India and proliferation of same in their native Patagonia.

Above: Curtain Call. "Vietgone." Qui Nguyen. Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Ashland, OR. 25 May 2016.

Fall of Saigon 1975. Playwright mines refugee, Vietnamese parents' love story in wake of their US sponsored evacuation from Saigon to Arkansas.

Lotta language. Rap used for soliloquies of leads.

Counter "conventional wisdom" play denouement as playwright father character cites atrocities of Viet Cong and expresses gratitude for American assistance.

Segue.

Orange County refugee, former head of South Vietnam Hospital system, and, earlier, personal physician to NVA General Giap (he went south after French disengagement), joined our motorcycle tour of Vietnam in 2004.

He asked me, "why would a country fight a war with one hand tied behind its back?" He was referring to US failure to interdict Ho Chi Minh Trail, North Vietnamese forces, supply chain, south, through "neutral" Laos and Cambodia.

Addendum:

Above: New Ducati Enduro. 19" front wheel. 17" rear. Tubeless. Sounds great. I didn't think it was too tall bit others did. Not a bad thing for you. Still had the keyless thing. I had fun on it. Dealer in SLC has a demo for you to try.

Guzzi,
Park City, UT

ummm..... keyless thing.... ummmm