FROM THE FAR WEST

When the moon is in the seventh house,
and Jupiter aligns with mars
then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!

harmony and understanding
sympathy and trust abounding
no more falsehoods or derisions
golden living dreams of visions
mystic crystals revelations
and the minds true liberation


Aquarius! Aquarius!

I was singing this song in the shower this morning. I wonder if people still sing this song, how well it still thrives in the collective imagination.

I wonder also if things will turn out well for me this summer. Things are uncertain and I am afraid of the changes that are near, more near than I want to think. This is the beginning of the second week of AILDI, the summer program I've been enrolled in at the University of Arizona. Having never been out west, I'd like to think that I will have a little more time to explore Arizona; I am most eager to see the Grand Canyon. However, it seems like I will have to MAKE the time to do these things--apart from the time that has been allotted for my participation in this program. As a participant, I am enrolled in two 3-credit courses that take up my day from 7am to 5pm, five days a week, somewhat of a full time job.

Though I need at least four hours to do the work for each course, I have only about 5 hours after the end of the school day to do the assignments due on the following day. This leaves the weekend for the crucial catching up work that will without question be necessary if I am to fare well in this program. All in all, a trip to the grand canyon will, at best, make for a very tight fit on my busy schedule.

The most plausible thing would be to stay here after the program ends and make my visits then. However, this requires some serious planning--planning which will not be secured and protected by the overarching framework of an official University of Arizona summer program and the interactions I make therein. In short, for all practical purposes, I feel that I am on my own.

The good news is that, unlike in other summer programs that I've joined, this one is has a pool of participants with good, if not exceptional intellectual, cultural, and artistic curiosity. All I have to do is gather the courage to make a plan worth carrying out, and advertise it along with myself.

How is this for an ad?: "AILDI participant seeks colleague with whom to hike along Salt River Canyon, toward Cibuque Creek, on such and such weekend. Will pay for gas and supply water." It's a start.