"In chains of the mind locked up"

Big Frank tries to keep his eyes open; there is such a tendency to lose yourself in the inner chatter, the unending reevaluation and incessant planning that the mind muddles on with ignoring the fascinating collage of life that tumbles on around you. Abandoning this blocking-out opens up such a puzzling array of phenomena. If you look there is always something out there (outside of you) to lift your spirit, to open a door of new interest, to shock, to sooth, and to illustrate the great mystery of life in which we humans participate.

Today Big Frank saw:
Gangs of prisoners dressed in orange picking up trash along the road. They were accompanied by guards, and seemed as intent on cleaning the roadside as if it were their own backyard. Not one looked up, not one was slouching or loitering. So, why is that? When you see volunteers, or youthful road cleaners (not dressed in orange) they seem to do this is such a haphazard way. Were they given explicit orders: no looking at anyone who drives by; no tarrying, no missing even the smallest piece of paper; etc. etc. Or is there some other explanation; Big Frank doesn’t know.

A raven perched on a light pole preening. This is a more common sight in the wild than in cities. Crows tend to congregate more in urban areas than ravens. However, this was on the edge of the Spokane River, so maybe that explains it. He might have been part of a vanguard of urban raven settlers.

A lone woman standing with head bowed, praying outside a family planning center. This center usually has one or more such attendants. Yesterday there was a man in an even more fervent pose holding a bible. He had various ribbons attached to his coat, and a large standard perched atop his car and held in place by a thick phone book.

A college sports award banquet that Big Frank attended this evening had a stark contrast between how American male athletes dressed and how the women athletes dressed. While about 50% of the women athletes wore dresses, or made some attempt to dress up; only three male athletes put on ties or jackets: one from South Africa, and two Hispanics. Is there something going on here with guys, or what?

This evening Big Frank went for an night walk and the clouds were illuminated from below. There were giant puffy configurations that covered the sky. These were mottled dollups of clouds covering the sky. At dead north looking directly down on Big Frank was the unmistakeable figure of Urizen - straight out of a William Blake engraving (see the above figure). And so Blake has the final word tonight, from his poem "The First Book of Urizen":

Forgetfulness, dumbness, necessity,
In chains of the mind locked up,
Like fetters of ice shrinking together,
Disorganiz’d, rent from Eternity,