THE EXISTENTIAL SLAP
[The Existential Slap is what Dr. Nessa Coyle calls, “That moment “when a dying person first comprehends, on a gut level, that death is imminent. It changes everything. It is what Israel received on October 7, 2023, and America would be wise to wake up to that Slap, as well.
I beg your pardon for this graphic picture, but this is not a Hollywood shot. This is real. It happened. And it could happen here. **SLAP**]
On the morning of October 7, ordinary Israelis left their offices, closed their laptops, and abandoned their fields to pick up weapons, in many cases without waiting for instructions from the state or its army.
ELEPHANTS IN THE SAHARA
10,000 years ago, the Sahara was green, with lakes, rivers, and such an abundance of animals it was a hunting paradise for people who lived here. You’ll find their petroglyphs carved on to rock outcroppings like this that my son Jackson and I found on a Trans-Sahara Expedition in 2003.
The Milankovitch astronomical cycles that drive Earth’s climate produced a West African monsoon that greened the Sahara back then. When the cycles shifted ending the monsoon, the Sahara turned dry desert as it remains today. Political cycles that permitted a peaceful crossing of the world’s greatest desert have also shifted, making this too dangerous now.
A Trans-Sahara Expedition is one of the world’s great adventures. Hopefully, one will be possible again in the not-too-distant future. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #7 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY PEACEFUL PLACE IN IRELAND
St. Finnbarr’s Oratory, Gougane Barra, County Cork. St. Finnbarr (550-623) is the patron saint of the city of Cork, now Ireland’s second largest city, on the south coast of the Emerald Isle. He established this tiny church in the late 500s, and has been built and rebuilt on a small island on Lake Gougane, with the one you see finished some 150 years ago.
Gougane Barra is a remote valley distant from Cork, almost uninhabited, of legendary beauty. The oratory or chapel has been a holy place of summer pilgrimage for Christians for fifteen centuries, revered for its complete serenity and peacefulness. Rarely visited outside of summer due to its remoteness, you may have this holy place all to yourself. Here is where you come to rest and reinvigorate your soul. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #218 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
BEYOND THE PALE
[This Monday’s Archive is TTP’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day with its “nutshell history” of Ireland, first written in 2006. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all TTPers!]
Ronald Reagan’s origins are even more humble than Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin.
His great-grandfather, Michael O’Regan, was born in a hut of mud and slats in farmland called Doolis near the village of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, in 1829.
In June 1984, Ronald Reagan came to Ballyporeen as President of the United States. In his speech to the townspeople in the village square, he said, “I can’t think of a place on the planet I would rather claim as my roots more than Ballyporeen, County Tipperary.”
A friend of mine was there as a member of Reagan’s staff. After the speech, the President commented to him, “I really am proud to be from here.” With a wink, he explained: “You see, I’m from Beyond the Pale.”
BORDER CONFUSION
HALF-FULL REPORT 03/15/24
The Irish Story
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It is hard to believe that St. Patrick's Day is upon us again. My great-grandfather from Cashel, in County Tipperary, left home at 15 after hearing that gold had been discovered near San Francisco. He secured work on a cargo ship bound for Halifax, where he again signed onto the crew of another vessel bound for California. This second vessel was a clipper with a long and narrow design, sporting a copper-clad hull and a high ratio of sail-to-weight.
In exchange for passage, he served as a deckhand, sail handler, or general sailor and arrived in San Francisco quite penniless. He found work as a wheelwright and later as a livery driver when he was fortunate enough to transport baggage for Ellen Ewing Sherman, wife of the later famous Civil War general, on her way to the wharf.
That was over 170 years ago. An Irish man could find work if he encountered the right employer. But for many, perhaps most, it was an era of No Irish Need Apply. We want to think that those days are gone, yet we have discovered the federal country club locking arms and chanting No MAGA Vote needs to Be Counted.
The attitude is the same, and the solutions are the same. As in my great-grandfathers' era, evil must be confronted and defeated. There is no choice.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – TIGER LEAPING GORGE
Many centuries ago, a tiger was plaguing the Naxi people who live in the mountains where the Yangtse River cascades off the plateau of Tibet. He was eating the goats the Naxi needed to feed themselves. So Naxi hunters chased the tiger into a deep narrow gorge of the Yangtse where they were sure they had him trapped. Suddenly, the tiger sprang onto a large rock in the center of the raging river and from there leapt to the other side and escaped, never to be seen again.
Ever since, where this took place has been known as Tiger Leaping Gorge. Here you see Tiger Leaping Rock. I was first here in July 2002 on our overland expedition across eastern Tibet. Last time 2015. Maybe again? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #141 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
A VIEW OF MOUNT EVEREST YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE
Photo taken at an altitude of 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) in a AS 350 B3 ultra-high altitude Eurocopter on our Himalaya Helicopter Expedition. We are looking into the Western Cwm (valley), West Shoulder of Everest in the left forefront, entire Southwest Face of Everest summit (29,029 ft-8,848m) to base on the left, Lhotse (4th highest on earth at 27,949ft-8,516m) straight ahead, the flank of Nuptse on the right.
The climbing route is from Base Camp to Camp I past the top of the Khumbu Ice Fall (bottom of photo), up the Cwm to Camp II at the foot of the Lhotse wall, scale via fixed ropes to Camp III perched on the wall, then up to the notch between Everest and Lhotse (on the horizon in the photo) that is the South Col and Camp IV. The summit is reached from there via the Southeast Ridge on the other side of the photo.
We’ll be here again in late April-early May next year and we hope you can come along with us (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #91 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 03/14/24
Try to contain your excitement, but a Nobel Prize-winning Leftist economist has finally realized that mass migration may not be such a great idea after all! Plus, more proof of malfeasance by Fauci and Liz Cheney; spying by the PTB (powers that be); continued Lawfare; and Chinese sabotage in our ports – reality is making itself felt. Pop some corn and sit back. But first, let’s start with some humor, shall we?
John Kerry Praises Haitian Cannibals’ Efforts to Reduce Humanity’s Carbon Footprint
HORSESHOE BEND
Looking down 1,000 feet above world-famous Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River at sunset is one of most iconic views our planet offers us. It is to be found near Page, Arizona near the border with Utah. Yet in truth, the number of different mind-blowing iconic views is uncountable in this part of the American West.
Close by are the Vermillion Cliffs, and the simply psychedelic Antelope Canyon. Just a bit further is the Grand Escalante Staircase, a little bit further Zion and Bryce Canyons and Monument Valley. And of course, right next door is something called The Grand Canyon.
There are people who have explored this region for years and will tell you there’s so much they’ve yet to see. You can explore the world over – what I’ve done my whole life – and yet there is so much of Creation to be soul-thrilled by just in this one region of northern Arizona and southern Utah – and I haven’t mentioned Moab which is a total mind-blow all by itself.
Take a break from all the worries of the world to come to here. Pick a place that will thrill your soul for a few days. That’s what’s needed now. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #134 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)